It was said that battleships were so expensive, so complex, and so prestigious, that navies wouldn't commit them to battle lightly. They were surrounded by escorts of all types, costing even more money and tying up even more assets that could have been committed elsewhere.
What if Imperial Germany invested in a doctrine that featured squadrons of cruisers as the centerpiece of its fleet rather than getting into a battleship building contest with the UK just before WWI?
Each heavy cruiser could be accompanied by 2 light cruisers and a few destroyers, prowling the oceans, looking for vulnerable British merchant ships to kill. The Royal navy would have to send cruisers of its own to hunt down German cruisers. Since Germany did not invest in battleships, that would have negated the Royal Navy's greatest strengths. Germans could out-build the British in cruisers and achieve a numerical, or even a qualitative advantage. If battleships show up, turn and run.
Would something like this work? Could this have happened?
What if Imperial Germany invested in a doctrine that featured squadrons of cruisers as the centerpiece of its fleet rather than getting into a battleship building contest with the UK just before WWI?
Each heavy cruiser could be accompanied by 2 light cruisers and a few destroyers, prowling the oceans, looking for vulnerable British merchant ships to kill. The Royal navy would have to send cruisers of its own to hunt down German cruisers. Since Germany did not invest in battleships, that would have negated the Royal Navy's greatest strengths. Germans could out-build the British in cruisers and achieve a numerical, or even a qualitative advantage. If battleships show up, turn and run.
Would something like this work? Could this have happened?
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