Cressy-class cruiser

The Cressy-class cruiser was a class of six armoured cruisers built for the Royal Navy around 1900. Their design's incorporation of a pair of 9.2-inch guns and armoured sides served to address criticism directed against the previous — advances made possible by their 1,000 ton increase in displacement over their predecessors. The ships were notably stable, except for a susceptibility to pitching.Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905, pp. 68–69

Service Until 1908, the ships served in Home waters, the Mediterranean and the Far East. On the outbreak of the First World War Cressy, Aboukir, Hogue, Bacchante and Euryalus formed the Seventh Cruiser Squadron. Due to the obsolescence of the ships and because they were crewed by inexperienced reservists the squadron was known as the "Live Bait Squadron". This epithet proved prophetic when Cressy, Hogue and Aboukir were sunk in a single action on 22 September 1914 by the German submarine U-9 near the Dutch coast. After the first cruiser had been hit, the following cruisers both came to a dead halt to pick up survivors, making themselves easy targets for torpedoes.

Ships

HMS Cressy: launched 4 December 1899, torpedoed and sunk 22 September 1914 HMS Sutlej: launched 18 November 1899, scrapped 9 May 1921 HMS Aboukir: launched 16 May 1900, torpedoed and sunk 22 September 1914 HMS Hogue: launched 13 August 1900, torpedoed and sunk 22 September 1914 HMS Bacchante: launched 21 February 1901, scrapped 1 July 1920 HMS Euryalus: launched 20 May 1901, scrapped 1 July 1920

Building Programme

The following table gives the build details and purchase cost of the members of the Cressy class. Standard British practice at that time was for these costs to exclude armament and stores. The compilers of The Naval Annual revised costs quoted for British ships between the 1905 and 1906 editions.

Ship Builder EngineMakerDate ofCost according toFate Laid down Launch Completion (BNA 1904)Brassey's Naval Annual 1904, p212-219 (BNA 1906)Brassey's Naval Annual 1906, p208-215 Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Govan Fairfield 12 October 1898 14 December 1899 28 May 1901 £780,110 £749,324 torpedoed 22 Sept 1914 John Brown & Company Clydebank ClydebankCompany 15 August 1898 18 November 1899 6 May 1902 £790,706 £755,690 scrapped 9 May 1921 Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Govan Fairfield 9 November 1898 16 May 1900 3 April 1902 £783,883 £751,118 torpedoed 22 Sept 1914 Vickers, Sons & Maxim, Barrow Vickers 14 July 1898 13 August 1900 19 November 1902 £787,507 £749,809 torpedoed 22 Sept 1914 John Brown and Company, Clydebank John Brown 15 February 1899 21 February 1901 25 November 1902 £787,230 £787,230 scrapped 1 July 1920 Vickers Sons & Maxim, Barrow Vickers 18 July 1899 20 May 1901 5 January 1904 £817,880 £782,901 scrapped 1 July 1920

Image gallery

Notes 1. The Cressy, Hogue and Aboukir were all sunk in under an hour by the German submarine SM U-9.

Footnotes

Bibliography Brassey, T.A. (ed) The Naval Annual 1904

Leyland, J. and Brassey, T.A. (ed)The Naval Annual 1906

External links

Loss of HMS Aboukir, Cressy and Hogue Cressy class description