The ''Cressy''-class cruiser was a class of six
armoured cruisers built for the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...
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.
Service
Until 1908, the ships served in
Home waters, the
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa ...
and the
Far East
The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons.
The ter ...
. On the outbreak of the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
''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
''The Naval Annual'' was a periodical that provided considerable text and graphic information (largely concerning the British Royal Navy) which had previously been obtainable only by consulting a wide range of often foreign language publications. ...
revised costs quoted for British ships between the 1905 and 1906 editions.
Image gallery
File:Cressy class diagrams Brasseys 1906.jpg,
File:BL 9.2 inch gun turret Cressy class Right Elevation.jpg, Right elevation of 9.2 inch gun turret
File:BL 9.2 inch gun turret Cressy class Rear Elevation.jpg, Rear elevation of 9.2 inch gun turret
Notes
1. All three ships Cressy, Hogue and Aboukir were sunk 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''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cressy Class Cruiser
Cruiser classes
Ship classes of the Royal Navy