Merchants weapons

[phavoc]

For Britain, at least, the allure for a full scale implementation, didn't last long.

Being rather thirsty engines, especially at speed.

But it was also a solution looking at a problem that could have been resolved with enough light cruisers.

As to where you'd get said light cruisers, I tend to think this where keeping mothballed second and third classes come in.

The Royal Navy didn't have enough warships, even with 2nd and 3rd tier ships being used, to perform all the patrols required. What they did have was a number of liners that were available, and enough light guns and crews to arm them.

Not sure what you mean in reference to 'thirsty engines' - nearly all ships for the time were coal burners. England had coal, but had to import oil from Persian gulf. England had a number of older warships, and much to their chagrin, the U-boats found the slower capital ships to be great targets. They were too old and slow to be used with the more modern fleets, and when relegated to secondary duties they ended up getting sunk with a large loss of life (think Brittania). Or when one U-boat sank 3 cruisers sailing together in less than 2hs (HMS Aboukir, HMS Hogue, and HMS Cressy). Stupidity knows no bounds.

 

[Condottiere]

Passenger liners tended to optimize speed, so their engines consumed quite a lot of fuel.

Also, once they caught up with their prey, armament and protection was comparatively lacklustre, and even if on the level of a light cruiser, those had been designed with a view to combat damage containment, and had better fire control.

The question is always what enemy vessels they had expected to encounter, and counter, and for light cruiser on trade protection, it would be commerce raiders, which could be converted merchantmen, or enemy light cruisers detached for that role.

Anything larger would be hunted down by more heavier units.

As regards the cruiser massacre, later details indicate it was foreseeable, and smaller, faster units should have been assigned.

My estimation is that Fisher was correct, in getting rid of most of the older vessels, but they should been reactivated for trade protection, not to patrol European waters.