USS Port Royal, a Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser, launched in 1994.

In military terminology, a cruiser is a large warship capable of engaging multiple targets simultaneously. Historically they were generally considered the smallest ships capable of independent operations — destroyers usually requiring outside support such as tenders — but in modern parlance this difference has disappeared. Official Navy photo of USS Port Royal (CG-73) in 1997, from http://www. ... Official Navy photo of USS Port Royal (CG-73) in 1997, from http://www. ... USS Port Royal (CG-73) is a United States Navy guided missile cruiser, the last to be constructed in the 20th century, and the first cruiser to integrate women into the crew. ... Categories: Ticonderoga class cruisers | Ship classes | Stub ... A guided missile is a military rocket that can be directed in flight to change its flight path. ... 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International year of the Family. ... USS Port Royal (CG-73), a Ticonderoga class cruiser. ... USS Lassen, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet or battle group and defend them against smaller, short-range attackers (originally torpedo boats, later submarines and aircraft). ... Lifeboat tender of the Oosterdam; note the face mask over the front windows, and the rolled-up tarp that can be brought down over the entry port to make the boat watertight A ships tender, usually referred to as a tender, is a boat used to service a ship...

History

The term "cruiser" was a mid 19th century invention. During the age of sail, frigates were small, fast, long range, lightly armed (single gun-deck) ships used for scouting and carrying dispatches. The majority of the fleet would be made up of much larger and slower ships of the line, which were expected to deal with fleet combat that the frigates would avoid. The first ironclads also had only a single gun-deck because of the weight of armor, even though they were bigger ships with bigger guns. They were nevertheless referred to as frigates although they were used as ships of the line. Thus the definition of a frigate changed, the smaller ships originally using this term were now referred to as "cruising ships", which was rapidly abbreviated to cruiser. Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... Frigate is a name which has been used for several distinct types of warships at different times. ... Ships of the line were 1st, 2nd, or 3rd-rated ships in the rating system of the Royal Navy. ... Ironclad warships, frequently shortened to just ironclads, were ships sheathed with thick iron plates for protection. ...

For many years cruisers filled a sweet spot between very light craft such as the torpedo boat, and the ships intended to take part in fleet combat, later generally referred to as battleships. Cruisers were large enough to fend off attacks from smaller surface ships and self-sufficient enough to roam far from their home bases. Battleships were more powerful in combat, but so slow and (after the introduction of increased engine power), so fuel hungry that long-range operations were difficult. For much of 19th century and the first half of the 20th, the cruiser was a navy's long-range "force projection" weapon, while the larger ships stayed nearer to home. Their main role was to attack enemy merchant vessels, so much so that this task came to be called cruiser warfare. A sweet spot is a place, often numerical as opposed to physical, where a combination of factors suggest a particularly suitable solution. ... A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval ship designed to launch torpedoes at larger surface ships. ... HMS Victory in 1884 HMS Dreadnought the first all-big-gun battleship. ... (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999 in the... In most seafaring countries, the merchant marine (or merchant navy) is a fleet of ships used for commerce that sometimes complements the navy. ...

Cruisers were also attached to the main battlefleet and used for reconnaissance, sweeping ahead of the fleet looking for the enemy. Mixed reconnaissance patrol of the Polish Home Army and the Soviet Red Army during Operation Tempest, 1944 Reconnaissance is the military term for the active gathering of information about an enemy, or other conditions, by physical observation. ...

The County-class heavy cruiser HMS Devonshire, launched in 1927.

The evolution of the cruiser follows that of their larger cousins, generally growing in size and capability. The conversion from sail to steam resulted in the armored cruiser, essentially a small and faster battleship. This occurred so rapidly during the late 19th century battleships only a few years old could be outperformed by cruisers of the next building run. The United States' Great White Fleet was rendered obsolete in this fashion only a few years after it sailed. During this period it was not uncommon for fleets to contain the very latest of an older generation as well as the latest designs, which were generally much larger. Download high resolution version (1082x758, 75 KB)HMS Devonshire (County-class cruiser). ... Download high resolution version (1082x758, 75 KB)HMS Devonshire (County-class cruiser). ... The County class were the first and last heavy cruisers of the Royal Navy, being built in four sub-classes, that became known as the Kent, London, Norfolk and York classes. ... A heavy cruiser is a type of large warship which originated with the British Hawkins class during World War I. They entered service after the war. ... HMS Devonshire was a County-class heavy cruiser of the Royal Navy, that served in World War II. Devonshire was laid down by HM Dockyard at Devonport in Plymouth on 16 March 1926, launched on 22 October 1927 and completed on 18 March 1929. ... 1927 (MCMXXVII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... Armored cruiser General-Admiral (1873) Armored cruiser USS Brooklyn (1898) Armored cruiser HMS Good Hope (1901) Armored cruiser SMS Blücher (1908) The armored cruiser was a naval cruiser protected by armor on its sides as well as on the decks and gun positions. ... The Great White Fleet steaming in column; the USS Kansas at left. ...

For this reason the terms heavy cruiser and light cruiser started to be used. After World War I these terms were codified during the various naval arms limitation treaties. Light cruisers were defined to be armed with 6.1 in (155 mm) guns or smaller and heavy cruisers to be armed with larger calibers, 8 in (203 mm) being particularly common. 8 in was the largest gun permitted by the Washington Naval Treaty on heavy cruisers of the major treaty signatory nations, and became the de facto international standard for heavy cruisers; only five cruisers would be eventually built with larger guns: three German "pocket battleships" of the Deutschland class and two United States Navy World War II-era Alaska-class "large cruisers". A heavy cruiser is a type of large warship which originated with the British Hawkins class during World War I. They entered service after the war. ... A light cruiser is a warship that is not so large and powerful as a regular (or heavy) cruiser, but still larger than ships like destroyers. ... World War I was primarily a European conflict with many facets: immense human sacrifice, stalemate trench warfare, and the use of new, devastating weapons - tanks, aircraft, machine guns, and poison gas. ... The Washington Naval Treaty limited the naval armaments of its five signatories. ... Pocket battleship is the British Royal Navy description for a class of warships built by German Reichsmarine in accordance with restrictions imposed by the Treaty of Versailles. ... Deutschland (Germany), later re-named Lützow, was the first German large armoured ship built after World War I. Its keel was laid down in February 1929, at the Deustche Werke shipyard in Kiel; it was launched in May 1931. ... The United States Navy (USN) is the branch of the United States armed forces responsible for naval operations. ... World War II was a truly global conflict with many facets: immense human suffering, fierce indoctrination, and the use of new, extremely devastating weapons such as the atom bomb. ... Class Lead Ship USS_Alaska_(CB-1) Builders New York Shipbuilding Corporation Number of Ships 6 ordered, 6 laid down, 2 completed General characteristics Complement 2,251 officers and enlisted Armament Nine 12 inch (305 mm), twelve 5 inch (127 mm), 56 x 40 mm, 34 x 20 mm guns Aircraft...

The Town-class light cruiser HMS Manchester, launched in 1937.

From around 1880 until 1910 smaller ships with considerably less capability were built as protected cruisers. Because they carried less armor, it was distributed as a shaped deck inside the vessel rather than covering the sides. HMS Manchester Gloucester class cruiser. ... HMS Manchester Gloucester class cruiser. ... The Town-class were a ten-ship class of light cruisers built in three distinct sub-classes, Southampton, Gloucester and Edinburgh classes respectively, each sub-class adding on further weaponry. ... A light cruiser is a warship that is not so large and powerful as a regular (or heavy) cruiser, but still larger than ships like destroyers. ... The second HMS Manchester (15) was a Town-class light cruiser of the Royal Navy. ... 1937 (MCMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1880 was a leap year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... 1910 (MCMX) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... Protected cruiser armour scheme — a cross-section (armour in red) Protected cruisers were a type of naval cruiser of the late 19th century. ...

An even more limited type was the auxiliary cruiser, a merchant ship hastily armed with small guns on the outbreak of war. Auxiliary cruisers were used to fill gaps in their long-range lines or provide escort for other cargo ships, although they generally proved to be useless in this role because of their low speed, feeble firepower and lack of armor. In both world wars the Germans also used small merchant ships armed with cruiser guns to surprise Allied merchant ships who didn't realise what they were. Some large liners were armed in the same way, and known as AMCs, or Armed Merchant Cruisers. The British, Germans and French used them in World War I as raiders because of their high speed (around 30 knots or 56 km/h), and they were used again as raiders in World War II by the Germans, Japanese, and in the early part of the war, as convoy escorts by the British. Auxiliary cruisers were merchant ships taken over for conversion into a vessel armed with cruiser-size guns, and employed either for convoy protection against true cruisers, or for commerce-raiding missions, where its appearance was used to trick merchant ships into approaching. ... In most seafaring countries, the merchant marine (or merchant navy) is a fleet of ships used for commerce that sometimes complements the navy. ...

Battlecruisers

Main article: Battlecruiser HMS Hood (left) and HMS Barham (right), in Malta, 1937. ...

One rule of thumb for warship design was that they should be armored against their own armament: a warship should be able to withstand hits from its own guns. Just prior to World War I, a significant deviation from this rule was tried. The intention was to create a ship which was both much faster than a battleship and with guns that were just as powerful, so that it could hunt down and destroy enemy cruisers. A rule of thumb is an easily learned and easily applied procedure for approximately calculating or recalling some value, or for making some determination. ... World War I was primarily a European conflict with many facets: immense human sacrifice, stalemate trench warfare, and the use of new, devastating weapons - tanks, aircraft, machine guns, and poison gas. ...

This battlecruiser role was achieved by building a vessel which had the size and firepower of a battleship but only the armor protection of a cruiser; the weight saving used to provide it with more powerful propulsion. The result was a ship with superior tactical initiative: it could engage and outgun any surface ship up to cruiser size, yet outrun anything that potentially outgunned it. HMS Hood (left) and HMS Barham (right), in Malta, 1937. ...

The concept was successful where battlecruisers were employed in their designed role, as at the Battle of the Falkland Islands in 1914. However the ships proved disastrously vulnerable when they engaged enemy battlecruisers or battleships in a fleet action, as at Jutland in 1916 where three British battlecruisers exploded as a result of German heavy gunfire. The Royal Navy quickly scrapped most of theirs after the war, and upgraded the armor on the rest to the limited extent that was possible. The Battle of the Falkland Islands was a naval engagement of the First World War, fought between units of the Royal Navy and the Kaiserliche Marine on 8 December 1914. ... 1914 (MCMXIV) is a common year starting on Thursday. ... The Battle of Jutland, known in Germany as the Battle of the Skagerrak (Skagerrakschlacht), was the largest naval battle of World War I, and the only full-scale clash of battleships in that war. ... 1916 (MCMXVI) is a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar) // Events January-February January 1 -The first successful blood transfusion using blood that had been stored and cooled. ... The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the senior service of the British armed services, being the oldest of its three branches. ...

The weakness of the battle cruiser concept was further demonstrated in the Second World War, during the hunt for the German battleship Bismarck by the British fleet in 1940. The battlecruiser HMS Hood was the pride of the British fleet, known as "The Mighty Hood". Armed with eight 15-inch guns, she presented equal firepower to that of Bismarck. However, her weak deck armour meant that when she engaged Bismarck at long range, the Bismarck's plunging fire penetrated Hoods deck armour and she exploded. Little was left after the spectacular explosion, and only 3 men of the crew of 1,419 survived. Bismarck was a German battleship during World War II. She was named after Otto von Bismarck and is famous for sinking HMS Hood in 1941, and for the subsequent pursuit which ended with her destruction just three days later. ... 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... HMS Hood was a battlecruiser of the Royal Navy. ...

Later 20th century

The rise of air power during World War II dramatically changed the nature of naval combat. Even the fastest cruisers could not outrun an airplane, which were increasingly able to attack at longer distances over the ocean. This change led to the end of independent operations by single ships or very small task groups, and for the second half of the 20th century naval operations were based around very large fleets able to fend off all but the largest air attacks. This has led most navies to change to fleets designed around ships dedicated to a single role, anti-submarine or anti-aircraft typically, and the large "generalist" ship has disappeared from most forces. The United States Navy, the Russian Navy, and the Peruvian Navy (with a relic kept for historical purposes, the Almirante Grau ) are the only remaining navies which operate cruisers. World War II was a truly global conflict with many facets: immense human suffering, fierce indoctrination, and the use of new, extremely devastating weapons such as the atom bomb. ... Anti-submarine warfare is a term referring to warfare directed against submarines. ... American troops man an anti-aircraft gun near the Algerian coastline in 1943 Anti-aircraft, or air defense, is any method of combating military aircraft from the ground. ... The United States Navy (USN) is the branch of the United States armed forces responsible for naval operations. ... Russian Navy Jack Russian Navy Ensign The Naval Cathedral in St Petersburg is the main church of the Russian Navy. ... The Peruvian Navy (Marina de Guerra del Perú) is the branch of the Peruvian Armed Forces tasked with surveillance, patrol and defense on lakes, rivers and the Pacific Ocean up to 200 nautical miles from the peruvian littoral. ...

In the Soviet Navy, cruisers formed the basis of their combat groups. In the immediate post-war era they built a fleet of large-gun ships, but replaced these fairly quickly with very large ships carrying huge numbers of guided missiles and anti aircraft missiles. The most recent ships of this type, the four Kirovs, were built in the 1970s and 1980s, and are in very poor repair today. The last operational Kirov-class cruiser, Petr Velikiy, was recalled to port in March 2004 with severe reactor problems. The Soviet Naval ensign The Soviet Naval jack The Soviet Navy (Russian: Военно-морской флот СССР, Voyenno-morskoy flot SSSR, literally Naval military forces of the USSR) was the naval arm of the Soviet armed forces. ... A guided missile is a military rocket that can be directed in flight to change its flight path. ... The Kirov class (Soviet designation project 1144 Orlan (Sea Eagle)) nuclear powered missile cruisers are some of the largest and most powerful surface warships of the Russian Navy, though they were originally built for the Soviet Navy. ... The 1970s in its most obvious sense refers to the decade between 1970 and 1979. ... The 1980s in its most obvious sense refers to the decade between 1980 and 1989. ... Kirov, the lead ship of her class of missile cruisers, is one of the major and biggest surface warships of the Russian Navy, though it was originally built for the Soviet Navy. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Core of a nuclear reactor A nuclear reactor is a device in which nuclear chain reactions are initiated, controlled, and sustained at a steady rate (as opposed to a nuclear explosion, where the chain reaction occurs in a split second). ...

The United States Navy has centered on the aircraft carrier since WWII. The Ticonderoga-class cruisers, built in the 1980s, were originally designed and designated as a class of destroyer, intended to provide a very powerful air-defense in these carrier-centered fleets. The ships were later "mis-named" largely as a public relations move, in order to highlight the capability of the Aegis combat system the ships were designed around. In the years since the launch of USS Ticonderoga in 1981 the class has received a number of upgrades that have dramatically improved their capabilities for anti-submarine and land attack (using the Tomahawk missile), and today the name is not mis-applied at all. Like their Soviet counterparts, the modern Ticonderogas can also be used as the basis for an entire battle group. An aircraft carrier is a warship whose main role is to deploy and recover aircraft—in effect acting as a sea-going airbase. ... Categories: Ticonderoga class cruisers | Ship classes | Stub ... The 1980s in its most obvious sense refers to the decade between 1980 and 1989. ... USS Lassen, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet or battle group and defend them against smaller, short-range attackers (originally torpedo boats, later submarines and aircraft). ... An aircraft carrier is a warship whose main role is to deploy and recover aircraft—in effect acting as a sea-going airbase. ... Public relations is, simply-stated, the art and science of building relationships between an organization and its key audiences. ... The Aegis combat system, named for the mythological aegis shield, is a United States Navy weapons system. ... USS Ticonderoga (DDG/CG-47), fifth to bear the name, was a guided-missile cruiser, homeported in Pascagoula, Mississippi. ... 1981 (MCMLXXXI) is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Anti-submarine warfare is a term referring to warfare directed against submarines. ... A Tomahawk cruise missile The Tomahawk Land Attack Missile (TLAM) is a long-range, all-weather, subsonic cruise missile with stubby wings. ...

The US Navy's "cruiser gap"

Main article: United States Navy 1975 ship reclassification In 1975, the United States Navy undertook a major reclassification of many of its surface vessels, including cruisers, frigates, ocean escorts, and carriers, resulting in a variety of changes to the terminology and hull classification symbols used by the Navy. ...

Prior to the introduction of the Ticonderogas, the US Navy used odd naming conventions that left its fleet seemingly without many cruisers, although a number of their ships were cruisers in all but name. From the 1950s to the 1970s, US Navy "cruisers" were large vessels equipped with heavy offensive missiles (including the Regulus nuclear cruise missile) for wide-ranging combat against land-based and sea-based targets. All save one — USS Long Beach — were converted from World War II Baltimore and Cleveland class cruisers. "Frigates" under this scheme were heavy destroyers almost as large as the cruisers and optimized for anti-aircraft warfare, although they were capable anti-surface warfare combatants as well. In the late 1960s, the US government perceived a "cruiser gap" — at the time, the US Navy possessed six ships designated as "cruisers," compared to 19 for the Soviet Union, even though the USN possessed at the time 21 "frigates" with equal or superior capabilities to the Soviet cruisers — because of this, in 1975 the Navy performed a massive redesignation of its forces: Regulus missile The SSM-N-8A Regulus cruise missile was the nuclear deterrent weapon employed by the United States Navy from 1955 to 1964. ... The mushroom cloud of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, 1945, rose some 18 km (11 mi) above the hypocenter. ... A Tomahawk cruise missile A cruise missile is a guided missile which uses a lifting wing and most often a jet propulsion system to allow sustained flight. ... USS Long Beach (CGN-160/CLGN-160/CGN-9) was the first all-new cruiser designed and constructed after World War II (all others were completions or conversions of cruisers begun or completed during the war). ... The United States Navys Baltimore class of heavy cruisers was the last of World War II. The ships looked very much like those of the Cleveland class. ... USS Cleveland (CL-55) The United States Navy designed the Cleveland class of light cruisers for World War II with the goal of increased range and AA armament as compared with earlier classes. ... Frigate is a name which has been used for several distinct types of warships at different times. ... American troops man an anti-aircraft gun near the Algerian coastline in 1943 Anti-aircraft, or air defense, is any method of combating military aircraft from the ground. ... The 1960s in its most obvious sense refers to the decade between 1960 and 1969, but the expression has taken on a wider meaning over the past twenty years. ...

• CVA/CVAN were redesignated CV/CVN (although USS Midway (CV-41) and USS Coral Sea (CV-43) never embarked anti-submarine squadrons).
• DLG/DLGN (Frigate/Nuclear-powered Frigate) were redesignated CG/CGN (Guided Missile Cruiser/Nuclear-powered Guided Missile Cruiser).
• Farragut-class guided missile frigates (DLG), being smaller and less capable than the others, were redesignated to DDGs (USS Coontz was the first ship of this class to be re-numbered; because of this the class is sometimes called the Coontz class);
• DE/DEG (Ocean Escort/Guided Missile Ocean Escort) were redesignated to FF/FFG (Guided Missile Frigates), bringing the US "Frigate" designation into line with the rest of the world.

Also, a series of Patrol Frigates of the Oliver Hazard Perry class, originally designated PFG, were redesignated into the FFG line. The cruiser-destroyer-frigate realignment and the deletion of the Ocean Escort type brought the US Navy's ship designations into line with the rest of the world's, eliminating confusion with foreign navies. USS Midway (CVB/CVA/CV-41) was an aircraft carrier of the United States Navy, the lead ship of her class, and the first to be commissioned after the end of World War II. Active in the Vietnam War, as of 2004 she is a museum ship in San Diego... USS Coral Sea (CV/CVB/CVA-43), a Midway-class aircraft carrier, was the 2nd ship of the United States Navy to be named for the Battle of the Coral Sea. ... Two classes of destroyer of the United States Navy are known as the Farragut class: The Farragut class of 8 ships launched in 1934–1935. ... The keel of the USS Coontz was laid at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in March 1957, just 39 years after Admiral Robert E. Coontz left his post as the shipyard’s commander. ... The USS McInerney (FFG 8), an Oliver Hazard Perry class frigate. ...

See also

• List of cruisers
• United States Navy 1975 ship reclassification
• Cruiser tanks