A Quality All of Their Own: Fiji class cruisers and the solution to the Royal Navy’s cruiser conundrum

What fuelled the development of the Royal Navy's Fiji class cruiser? Join historian of naval architecture Conrad Waters to examine the impact of international relations and impending war on the design of ships.  

The importance of protecting the British Empire’s lengthy trade routes meant that the inter-war Royal Navy was unique amongst its contemporaries in being required to field large numbers of cruisers.  

Balancing the capabilities of individual vessels with the need to afford a significant cruiser fleet proved to be one of the Navy’s most complex problems – especially given a backdrop of severe financial austerity.  

Various unsuccessful efforts – most associated with the regime of naval armaments limitation treaties – were made to resolve the issue. Finally, a compromise agreement with the United States on cruiser characteristics and a loosening of the purse strings as the Second World War grew ever closer paved the way towards a potential solution.  

The resulting Fiji class combined design innovation with a somewhat flexible approach to treaty restrictions to provide an adequate number of cruisers of sufficient power. 

Entering service in time to replace early wartime losses, the Fijis proved to be a successful design despite their many compromises, proving Stalin’s maxim that “quantity has a quality all of its own”.     

About the speaker

Conrad Waters is a naval architecture historian. He edited the publication Navies in the 21st Century (Seaforth Publishing) and has been the editor of the annual World Naval Review since 2009. His book British Fiji Class Cruisers and their Derivatives: Design, Development and Performance was published in 2024 (Seaforth Publishing).

About the event

This event is free and open to everyone, and will take place via Zoom. The seminar will also be recorded.

This event is part of Maritime History and Culture Seminars. Find out more

Main image:  Fiji class light cruiser HMS Nigeria (1939) underway in Charleston Harbour, South Carolina 30 June 1943 (Crown Copyright)