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The Panagaean Navy, like most other navies was caught out by the Royal Navy bringing out the Invincible class with 12" guns rather than the 9.2" that the RN had said they would be armed with. The Panagaean Navy had built a ship with 10" guns as their 'reply' to the Invincible. The Panagaean Navies first true 'battlecruiser' was the Glorious armed with the triple 12" that armed the battleships. The Glorious was the largest ship built, so far, for the Panagaean Navy. Most of the extra size was taken up with space for the much larger powerplant than those fitted to the battleships. One thing the Panagaean Navy learned early was how easily the gun deck casemates could be washed out in moderate seas. The Revenge raised the placement of the casemates by one deck and those were only washed out in the heaviest seas. The Glorious took the concept one step further by mounting the secondary 6" armament in twin turrets.
Where the Invincible and Indomitable classes could realistically only fire six guns to a broadside (they were only ever allowed to fire eight when firing at the enemy - damage to their own ship was caused by firing the eight guns), the Glorious could fire all nine guns at any time. The Glorious started off World war one with the Skirmisher chasing Von Spee's Squadron all over the Pacific and missed being in on the kill by two days. Both ships were sent north to join the Grand Fleet, escorting the victorious Inflexible and Invincible on the way. The Glorious went on to join Admiral Beatty's battlecruiser squadron and took part in the major battles. The ships superior construction meant that it survived in the battlecruiser actions at Jutland where others blew up.
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The Glorious was the oldest full conversion undertaken by the Panagaean Navy. Its speed, armour and firepower made the Glorious a natural escort to the fast carriers, and as a ship of force for the cruiser squadrons. New armoured deck, bridge structures, dual purpose secondary armament and new light AA weaponry all enhanced the original ship.
