Lexington-class battlecruiser
The Lexington-class battlecruisers were officially the only class of battlecruiser to ever be ordered by the United States Navy. While these six vessels were requested in 1911 as a reaction to the building by Japan of the Kongō class, the potential use for them in the U.S. Navy came from a series of studies by the Naval War College which stretched over several years and predated the existence of the first battlecruiser, HMS Invincible. The fact they were not approved by Congress at the time of their initial request was due to political, not military considerations.
A 1922 painting by Louise Larned depicting the definitive design of the Lexington class, with eight 16-inch (406 mm)/50 cal guns and two funnels
IJN battlecruiser Kongō, for which the Lexington class was to be a response
A painting of the Lexington class' original planned configuration
A painting that depicts the Lexington class' definitive design, 1919
The battlecruiser was a type of capital ship of the first half of the 20th century. These were similar in displacement, armament and cost to battleships, but differed in form and balance of attributes. Battlecruisers typically had thinner armour and a somewhat lighter main gun battery than contemporary battleships, installed on a longer hull with much higher engine power in order to attain greater speeds. The first battlecruisers were designed in the United Kingdom, as a development of the armoured cruiser, at the same time as the dreadnought succeeded the pre-dreadnought battleship. The goal of the design was to outrun any ship with similar armament, and chase down any ship with lesser armament; they were intended to hunt down slower, older armoured cruisers and destroy them with heavy gunfire while avoiding combat with the more powerful but slower battleships. However, as more and more battlecruisers were built, they were increasingly used alongside the better-protected battleships.
HMS Hood, the largest battlecruiser ever built, in Australia on 17 March 1924
HMS Shannon, a Minotaur-class armoured cruiser
Invincible, Britain's first battlecruiser
HMS Queen Mary, the last battlecruiser built before World War I