About the book: 1997 / At the end of the 19th century, Germany challenged England, which for two hundred years had been the strongest naval power . To counter the British fleet, a powerful battle fleet was required. But a battle fleet without reconnaissance is blind, and therefore the need arose for high-speed reconnaissance cruisers. In addition, Germany had already acquired remote colonies, and cruisers were also needed to serve in them. But Germany did not have suitable ships for these purposes. There were either giant armored cruisers of the Hertha type, or weakly armed and poorly protected advice notes.