Editing Light cruiser (section)

===World War I===
[[File:HMS Gloucester at anchor at Brindisi, Italy, 1917 - IWM SP 459.jpg|thumb|[[HMS Gloucester|HMS ''Gloucester'']], one of the Town class, in 1917]]

By [[World War I]], [[British Empire|British]] light cruisers often had either two {{convert|6|in|mm|adj=on|0}} and perhaps eight {{convert|4|in|mm|adj=on|0}} [[naval gun|guns]], or a uniform armament of 6-inch guns on a ship of around 5,000 tons, while German light cruisers progressed during the war from {{convert|4.1|in|mm|adj=on|0}} to {{convert|5.9|in|mm|adj=on|0}} guns. Cruiser construction in Britain continued uninterrupted until Admiral [[John Fisher, 1st Baron Fisher|"Jacky" Fisher]]'s appointment as [[First Sea Lord]] in 1904. Due in part to the desire to curtail excess expenditures in light of the increasing cost of keeping up with German naval production and in part because he felt the type to be outdated, Fisher authorized few new cruisers and scrapped 70 older ones. Fisher's belief that [[battlecruiser]]s would take the place of light cruisers to protect [[cargo ship|commercial shipping]] soon proved impractical, as their high construction cost precluded their availability in sufficient numbers to do so, and destroyers were too small for scouting duties. The group of 21 {{sclass2|Town|cruiser (1910)|0}} cruisers begun in 1910 proved excellent in scouting in all types of weather and could carry enough fuel and ammunition to guard the [[shipping lane]]s. The {{sclass|Arethusa|cruiser (1913)|4}}, launched three years later, was also successful. British designers continued enlarging and refining subsequent cruiser designs throughout the war.<ref>Conroy's, p. 2.</ref> The [[C-class cruiser|C class]] ships were started in 1913, and of these, [[HMS Caroline (1914)|HMS Caroline]] remains - the only extant survivor of the [[Battle of Jutland]].

[[File:SMS Bremen 1907.jpg|thumb|left|[[SMS Bremen|SMS ''Bremen'']]]]
The [[German Empire|Germans]] built a number of light cruisers in the belief that they were good multi-purpose vessels. Unlike the British, who built both long-range cruisers like the Town class for commerce protection and short-range "scout" cruisers for fleet support, the Germans built a single series of light cruisers for both functions. Compared to the British "scout" type the German ships were bigger, slower and less manoeuvrable but, through a successive series of classes, improved consistently in seagoing qualities. However, the Germans were very late in adapting 5.9-inch guns (not doing so until the {{sclass|Pillau|cruiser|4}} of 1913); [[Grand Admiral]] [[Alfred von Tirpitz]]'s recalcitrance over the issue overrode the desires of others in the [[Imperial German Navy|German Navy]]. For about a three-year period after the British ''Weymouth'' class of the Town series, completed with a uniform armament of 6-inch guns, and before the German ''Pillau'' class, German light cruisers (such as the {{sclass|Magdeburg|cruiser|5}} and {{sclass|Karlsruhe|cruiser|1}}s) were faster but maintained a lighter 104&nbsp;mm main armament compared to their British Town-class counterparts. With the ''Pillau'' and {{sclass|Wiesbaden|cruiser|0}} cruisers the Germans followed the British example of heavier guns.

Earlier German light cruisers were in competition with a series of British [[scout cruiser]]s which had a higher speed of 25 knots, but smaller 3-inch [[12 pounder 12 cwt naval gun|12 pounder guns]] or 4-inch guns. The Germans completed the last two of their {{sclass|Bremen|cruiser|0}} cruisers in 1906 and 1907 and followed them up with four {{sclass|Königsberg|cruiser (1905)|0}} and two {{sclass|Dresden|cruiser|1}}s between 1905 and 1908. These last two classes, larger and faster than the ''Bremen''s, were armed the same (ten 4.1-inch guns) and carried less deck armor. Other major powers concentrated on [[battleship]] construction and built few cruisers.<ref>Conway's, pp. 152–53; Osborne, p. 73-75.</ref> The [[United States]], [[Kingdom of Italy|Italy]], and [[Austria-Hungary]] each built only a handful of scout cruisers while [[Imperial Japan|Japan]] and [[Spain]] added a few examples based on British designs; [[French Third Republic|France]] built none at all.

During World War I, the Germans [[Königsberg-class cruiser (1915)|continued building larger cruisers]] with 150&nbsp;mm guns while the British ''Arethusa'' class and early {{sclass2|C|cruiser|1}}s reverted to an emphasis on superior speed with a more lightly-armed design for fleet support.