 By 1908 , the summer conference had come to favor battlecruisers over armored cruisers . The increasing range of torpedoes and the distances at which future gun battles were expected to be fought seemed to favor speed over armor . Gunnery officers " laid great stress upon the value of getting the range first and then smothering , or beating down , the enemy 's fire before he gets the range . " The conference concluded that battlecruisers would be worth building , with the caveat that they be considered in the same category as armored cruisers , in support of the battle fleet but not to fight in the line with fully armored battleships . A majority report recommended a top speed of at least 20 percent above that of battleships . As U.S. battleships then being built were expected to steam at 21 knots ( 39 km / h ; 24 mph ) , this meant a minimum speed for battlecruisers of 25 @.@ 4 knots ( 47 @.@ 0 km / h ; 29 @.@ 2 mph ) . The Bureau of Construction and Repair ( C & R ) sketched out such ships the following year , at the request of the Secretary of the Navy , as fast equivalents of the Wyoming @-@ class ships being considered . By adopting a 670 @-@ foot ( 204 m ) hull on a displacement of 26 @,@ 000 long tons ( 26 @,@ 417 t ) , it could produce a vessel that could travel at 25 @.@ 5 knots ( 47 @.@ 2 km / h ; 29 @.@ 3 mph ) and carry eight 50 @-@ caliber 12 @-@ inch guns in four twin turrets and equivalent armor ; the savings in weight from eliminating two of the Wyoming 's six turrets more than balanced the added length and height of the armor belt . An enlarged belt was required by a deeper hull , as all American battlecruiser studies required deep hulls to retain their girder strength because those hulls had to be abnormally long to attain their speed . If the armor belt were reduced by an average of three inches , a fifth turret could be added . Four intermediate proposals included one with intermediate armor and eight 12 @-@ inch guns and one with Wyoming armor and six 12 @-@ inch guns . None of these designs included superfiring turrets . The General Board retained these sketches but did not recommend construction . 
