The protection of maritime trade routes has always been a vital issue for the vast British Empire spread around the world. At the beginning of the 20th century, up to two-thirds of the main food products and almost all the raw materials for its developed industry were imported and delivered to the Metropolis by sea. Therefore, cruisers received special attention in the British Navy. The beginning of the first generation battlecruisers of the Invincible type, laid down in 1906, was laid 12 years earlier, and goes back to the armored cruisers Powerful and Terrible, which can be considered their predecessors. With a normal displacement of 14,345 tons, they were the same large ships as the squadron battleships of the Majestic class. The presence of 48 Belleville boilers and two triple expansion steam engines, developing a power of 25,000 hp, allowed them to reach a speed of 22 knots - by 4 knots more than “Majestic”.