Forward-class cruiser

The Forward class was a two ship class of scout cruiser serving with the Royal Navy in World War I, and consisting of the ships HMS Forward and HMS Foresight.

Design
They were one of four pairs of scouts ordered to a general specification with the exact design left up to the individual builders. The ships were built by Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Govan at a cost of £289,000 each. The class was originally designated as Nore but this was changed before their construction. Their main disadvantage in action proved to be a lack of range and endurance, having been designed at a time when destroyer operations were planned to take place relatively close to home bases, rather than on long patrols on the open sea. Fairfield's original design was criticised by the Admiralty for lacking structural strength and being unrealistic regarding coal consumption. A complete redesign was undertaken but in practise the problem of their lack of range was never satisfactorily addressed. Not long after completion the two additional 12 pounder guns were added and the 3 pounder guns were replaced with six 6 pounders. In 1911-12 they were reamed with nine 4 in guns.

They were protected with a 2 in armour belt, with one inch plating on the decks, in an effort to reduce their weight and increase their speed. The 365 ft long ships displaced 2850 tons and produced 15000 hp which gave them a best speed of 25 kn. Despite this, they were slower than the new destroyers they were planned to lead and increasingly were relegated to other roles. Both ships survived the First World War, but were scrapped shortly after its end.

Ships

 * HMS Forward - launched on 27 August 1904 and sold for scrap on 27 July 1921.
 * HMS Foresight - launched on 8 October 1904 and sold for scrap on 3 March 1920.