Admiralty Proposals for Light Cruisers 1918
In early 1918 the Admiralty received intelligence reports to say that the Germans were building new long range overseas raiders to be armed with 8.2" guns. These raiders would outgun the convoy escorts and could prove to be a thorn in the side of the Royal Navy just at a time when US troops were arriving in the UK and onto France. The sinking of any of the troopships would have been a disaster. So the Admiralty drew up plans for a set of new cruisers, based on the E class hull, to be armed with 4 and 5 single 7.5" guns. These were the same guns fitted to the Hawkins class cruisers. While I applaud the Admiralty for giving me something to draw, the plans for these ships with the single 7.5" were just wrong. I like the 7.5" gun and think the Admiralty should have stuck with it for its Washington Treaty heavy cruisers. But the single 7.5" open shielded mounting was a dog. The shells for the 7.5" were just too big to easily be loaded. The loading arrangements were awkward. What they could easily have done was to fit the 7.5" into a twin turret with power assistance. Problem solved.
