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Ok, so this is my first WI.

Please be gentle.:D

Historically, the Germans went with the choice of building up a fleet of battleships.

But what if...

They had instead taken the road not traveled and the school of thought that a larger number of smaller, cheaper ships would have served their interests better had won out?

Specifically, how would the thinking in the UK have differed from OTL without the Kaiser building up a large battle-fleet, but instead building long range cruisers, in numbers, for the protection of German trade around the world? What if the Germans dismissed ships larger than cruisers as to expensive, to short ranged, and to few for their needs?

Would the French and Russians have remained the two most likely opponents in the minds of the Admiralty in the 1890's to 1910's?

Any thoughts on how the political aspects of this might play out?

Also, what type of ocean going ships would these alternate German naval laws require?

I think that if the Germans were going to go the other way from a powerful, but short ranged fleet of battleships, their ships would have an entirely different character and nature.

I would propose design criteria in this order:

1) Absolute priority to have the ships be able to sail at very low speeds (equivalent to a contemporary merchant ship of the day), to achieve the greatest range possible. Secondarily, the vessels would be designed to have the ability to achieve very high speeds for brief periods of time in combat. Read this as being as fast as a destroyer, more seaworthy, and able to maintain this speed for longer due to larger fuel capacity.

2) Resist the temptation to build any ships armed with guns larger than 5", and ships with armor sufficient to ward off guns heavier than 5", as the role of these ships is to protect commerce around the world, and not to fight large enemy warships. The ships are to be as cheap as possible so as to be as numerous as possible.

3) Have accommodations sufficient for crews to be comfortable on long cruises. Also, each new fiscal years budget would also include the mandatory construction of overseas bases and fueling stations to support the naval vessels operations around the world.

I'm thinking that a fleet of long range, ocean going cruisers would be composed of ships something like 2,00 to 4,000 tons initially, and perhaps end up ranging from 4,000 to 6,000 tons by 1915 of so.

I would very much like to read some alternative designs for this ATL, and the reasoning behind the designs.

Back to the politics for a moment, If the German fleet is composed entirely of such small craft, will Britain see Germany as friend or foe?

And if as a friend, what interesting things might happen in the course of the years 1890-1915 on the diplomatic front?

Any thoughts?
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