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HMS Frobisher, a Hawkins-class cruiser around which the Washington Naval Treaty limits for heavy cruisers were written.
A heavy cruiser was a type of cruiser, a naval warship designed for long range and high speed, armed generally with naval guns of roughly 203 mm (8 inches) in calibre, whose design parameters were dictated by the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922 and the London Naval Treaty of 1930. Heavy cruisers were generally larger, more heavily-armed and more heavily-armoured than light cruisers while being smaller, faster, and more lightly-armed and armoured than battlecruisers and battleships. Heavy cruisers were assigned a variety of roles ranging from commerce raiding to serving as 'cruiser-killers,' i.e. hunting and destroying similarly-sized ships
The heavy cruiser is part of a lineage of ship design from 1915 through the early 1950s, although the term "heavy cruiser" only came into formal use in 1930. The heavy cruiser's immediate precursors were the light cruiser designs of the 1900s and 1910s, rather than the armoured cruisers of the years before 1905. When the armoured cruiser was supplanted by the battlecruiser, an intermediate ship type between this and the light cruiser was found to be needed—one larger and more powerful than the light cruisers of a potential enemy but not as large and expensive as the battlecruiser so as to be built in sufficient numbers to protect merchant ships and serve in a number of combat theatres.
With their intended targets being other cruisers and smaller vessels, the role of the heavy cruiser differed fundamentally from that of the armoured cruiser. Also, the heavy cruiser was designed to take advantage of advances in naval technology and design. Typically powered by oil-fired steam turbines rather than the reciprocating steam engines of the armoured cruiser, heavy cruisers were capable of far faster speeds and could cruise at high speed for much longer than could an armoured cruiser. They used uniform main guns, mounted in centre-line superfiring turrets rather than casemates. Casemate guns and a mixed battery were eliminated to make room for above deck torpedoes, and ever-increasing and more effective anti-aircraft armaments. They also benefited from the superior fire control of the 1920s and continually upgraded through the 1950s. Late in the development cycle radar and electronic countermeasures would also appear and rapidly gain in importance.
A heavycruiser was a type of cruiser, a naval warship designed for long range and high speed, armed generally with naval guns of roughly 203 mm (8 inches)...
had heavier armament at the expense of speed compared to standard heavycruisers, and the American Alaska class, which was a scaled-up heavycruiser design...
and heavier armor relative to most light cruisers would come to be known as heavycruisers, though the designation of 'light' versus 'heavy' cruisers would...
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armament; they were intended to hunt down slower, older armoured cruisers and destroy them with heavy gunfire while avoiding combat with the more powerful but...
creating an all-around warship. The early aircraft cruisers were usually armed with relatively heavy artillery, mines and a number of aircraft fitted with...
The armored cruiser was a type of warship of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It was designed like other types of cruisers to operate as a long-range...
cruiser tanks (for example the Cruiser Mk I) carried less armour and were correspondingly faster, whilst "heavy" cruiser tanks (such as the Cruiser Mk...
German fleet were sent to the region. The heavycruisers Deutschland and Admiral Scheer, and the light cruiser Köln were the first to be sent in July 1936...
The heavycruiser was designed for long range, high speed, and heavy calibre naval guns. The first heavycruisers were built in 1915, although it only...
Protected cruisers, a type of cruising warship of the late-19th century, gained their description because an armoured deck offered protection for vital...
Deutschland was the lead ship of her class of heavycruisers (often termed pocket battleships) which served with the Kriegsmarine of Nazi Germany during...
without re-numbering. Heavycruisers CA-149 and CA-151 to CA-153, light cruisers CL-154 to CL-159, and nuclear guided missile cruiser CGN-42 were canceled...
had attacked Pearl Harbor six months earlier—were sunk, as was the heavycruiser Mikuma. The United States lost the carrier Yorktown and the destroyer...
Admiral Scheer ([ˌatmiˈʁaːl ʃeːɐ̯]) was a Deutschland-class heavycruiser (often termed a pocket battleship) which served with the Kriegsmarine (Navy)...
(German pronunciation: [ˈpʁɪnts ɔʏˈɡeːn]) was an Admiral Hipper-class heavycruiser, the third of a class of five vessels. She served with Nazi Germany's...
by the British battleships King George V and Rodney supported by the heavycruisers Norfolk and Dorsetshire. After about 100 minutes of fighting, Bismarck...
all with heavy loss of life. The light carrier Chiyoda and the cruiser Tama were crippled. Ozawa transferred his flag to the light cruiser Ōyodo. Shortly...
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