The Modern Warship 125 



part in the late war, indeed, no ship had 

 the limelight so much as this class. 



Perhaps we should do better to trace 

 them upwards from the cruiser rather 

 than from a side issue of the big battle- 

 ship. From the swift and well-armed 

 Powerful and Terrible of the 'nineties, 

 came the " Cressys " at the opening of 

 the present century boasting a tonnage 

 of 12,000, allied with a speed of 21 J knots. 

 They cost three-quarters of a million each 

 to build, and were looked upon as extremely 

 useful craft, their speed allowing of their 

 getting away from a battleship, whilst 

 they were ideal for convoying duty. 



We all remember the shock we had in 

 the early days of the War when the Cressy 

 herself, and two of her class, were sent 

 to the bottom in one day by a German 

 submarine. Then came a slight reversion 

 in the " County ' class, which, whilst 

 considerably smaller, had some advantage 

 in the matter of speed. The 9.2-in. guns 

 of the " Cressys " were supplanted by a 



