Heavy Cruiser
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A heavy cruiser was a type of
cruiser A cruiser is a type of warship. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and can usually perform several operational roles from search-and-destroy to ocean escort to sea ...
, a naval
warship A warship or combatant ship is a naval ship that is used for naval warfare. Usually they belong to the navy branch of the armed forces of a nation, though they have also been operated by individuals, cooperatives and corporations. As well as b ...
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 The Washington Naval Treaty, also known as the Five-Power Treaty, was signed during 1922 among the major Allies of World War I, Allies of World War I, which agreed to prevent an arms race by limiting Navy, naval construction. It was negotiated at ...
of 1922 and the
London Naval Treaty The London Naval Treaty, officially the Treaty for the Limitation and Reduction of Naval Armament, was an agreement between the United Kingdom, Empire of Japan, Japan, French Third Republic, France, Kingdom of Italy, Italy, and the United Stat ...
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 A battleship is a large, heavily naval armour, armored warship with a main battery consisting of large naval gun, guns, designed to serve as a capital ship. From their advent in the late 1880s, battleships were among the largest and most form ...
. Heavy cruisers were not considered
capital ship The capital ships of a navy are its most important warships; they are generally the larger ships when compared to other warships in their respective fleet. A capital ship is generally a leading or a primary ship in a naval fleet. Strategic i ...
s, unlike battlecruisers, battleships, and fleet carriers. Heavy cruisers were assigned a variety of roles ranging from
commerce raiding Commerce raiding is a form of naval warfare used to destroy or disrupt logistics of the enemy on the open sea by attacking its merchant shipping, rather than engaging its combatants or enforcing a blockade against them. Privateering is a fo ...
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 The battlecruiser (also written as battle cruiser or battle-cruiser) was a type of capital ship of the first half of the 20th century. These were similar in displacement, armament and cost to battleships, but differed in form and balance of att ...
, an intermediate ship type between the battlecruiser 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 turbine A steam turbine or steam turbine engine is a machine or heat engine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work utilising a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Sir Charles Par ...
s rather than the reciprocating steam engines of the armored 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 center-line
superfiring Superfiring armament is a naval design technique in which two or more turrets are located one behind the other, with the rear turret located above ("super") the one in front so that it can fire over the first. This configuration meant that both ...
turrets rather than casemates. Casemate guns and a mixed battery were eliminated to make room for above deck
torpedoes A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, such ...
, and ever-increasing and more effective
anti-aircraft Anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) is the counter to aerial warfare and includes "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It encompasses surface-based, subsurface ( submarine-launched), and air-ba ...
armaments. They also benefited from the superior fire control of the 1920s and continually upgraded through the 1950s. Late in the development cycle
radar Radar is a system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), direction ( azimuth and elevation angles), and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It is a radiodetermination method used to detect and track ...
and
electronic countermeasure An electronic countermeasure (ECM) is an electrical or electronic device designed to trick or deceive radar, sonar, or other detection systems, like infrared (IR) or lasers. It may be used both offensively and defensively to deny targeting info ...
s would also appear and rapidly gain in importance.


History


Development

At the end of the 19th century, cruisers were classified as first, second or third class depending on their capabilities. First-class cruisers were typically
armoured cruiser 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, independent warship, capable of defeating any ship apart from a pre-dreadnought battles ...
s, with belt side armour, while lighter, cheaper, and faster second- and third-class cruisers tended to have only an armoured deck and protective coal bunkers, rather than armoured hulls; they were hence known as
protected cruiser Protected cruisers, a type of cruiser of the late 19th century, took their name from the armored deck, which protected vital machine-spaces from fragments released by explosive shells. Protected cruisers notably lacked a belt of armour alon ...
s. Their essential role had not changed since the age of sail—to serve on long-range missions, patrol for enemy warships and raid and defend commerce. Armoured cruisers had proved less versatile than needed to do this adequately. In a race to outsize and outgun one another, they had grown to around 15,000 tons and up to in main gun calibre—very close to the
pre-dreadnought battleship Pre-dreadnought battleships were sea-going battleships built from the mid- to late- 1880s to the early 1900s. Their designs were conceived before the appearance of in 1906 and their classification as "pre-dreadnought" is retrospectively appli ...
s of the day, although they were generally ascribed to be weaker than the battleship due to their lack of armour and not appreciably faster due to the limits of engine technology at the time. While Japanese armoured cruisers had distinguished themselves at the
Battle of Tsushima The Battle of Tsushima (, ''Tsusimskoye srazheniye''), also known in Japan as the , was the final naval battle of the Russo-Japanese War, fought on 27–28 May 1905 in the Tsushima Strait. A devastating defeat for the Imperial Russian Navy, the ...
in 1905, the armoured cruiser as it was then known had reached the pinnacle of its development. Tactics and technology were gearing towards naval encounters held over increasingly longer ranges, which demanded an armament of primarily large calibre guns. The demand for speed with which to outflank a potential enemy and fulfil its traditional role as scout for the fleet demanded a speed preferably 30 percent faster than battleships. Thirty percent was the ratio by which frigates had been faster than ships of the line in the days of sail. If a battleship sailed at 20 knots, this would mean that an armoured cruiser would have to steam at least 26 or 27 knots. Armoured cruisers could not fulfil these criteria without being built much larger and taking on a different form than they had in the past. The result was the
battlecruiser The battlecruiser (also written as battle cruiser or battle-cruiser) was a type of capital ship of the first half of the 20th century. These were similar in displacement, armament and cost to battleships, but differed in form and balance of att ...
. HMS ''Invincible'' and her two sister ships were designed specifically to fulfil these requirements. In a sense they were an extension of the armoured cruiser as a fast, heavily armed scout, commerce protector and cruiser-destroyer, reflected in the term originally ascribed to them, "large armoured cruiser". However, they were much larger, faster and better-armed than armoured cruisers, able to outpace them, stay out of range of their weapons and destroy them with relative impunity. Because they carried the heavy guns normally ascribed to battleships, they could also theoretically hold their place in a battle line more readily than armoured cruisers and serve as the "battleship-cruiser" for which William Hovgaard had argued after Tsushima. All these factors made battlecruisers attractive fighting units, although Britain, Germany and Japan would be the only powers to build them. They also meant that the armoured cruiser as it had been known was now outmoded. No more were built after 1910 and by the end of
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, the majority of them had been taken out of active service. Although Lord Fisher, the man behind the building of ''Invincible'', had hoped to replace practically all forms of cruisers with battlecruisers, they proved to be too costly to build in large numbers. At the same time, the third class cruiser (of about 3,000 tons) started to carry thin steel armour on the outside of its hull and became known as a light cruiser. This new type was then joined by 5,000-ton light cruisers, analogous to the older second-class cruisers. The wide gap between the massive battlecruiser of perhaps 20,000 tons and 305 mm (12-inch) guns and the small light cruiser of up to 5,000 tons and 100 mm (4-in) or 155 mm (6-inch) guns naturally left room for an intermediate type. The first such design was the British 'Atlantic cruiser' proposal of 1912, which proposed a long-range cruiser of about 8,000 tons displacement with 190 mm (7.5-inch) guns. This was a response to a rumour that Germany was building cruisers to attack merchant shipping in the Atlantic with 170mm guns. The German raiders proved to be fictional and the 'Atlantic cruisers' were never built. However, in 1915 the requirement for long-range trade-protection cruisers resurfaced and resulted in the . Essentially enlarged light cruisers, being referred to in contemporary reference works as an "improved Birmingham" type after the 6-inch gunned 5,000-ton second-class light cruisers then entering service, the ''Hawkins''-class cruisers each carried seven 190 mm (7.5-inch) guns and had a displacement just under 10,000 tons. The difference between these light cruisers and ones that would follow with the heavy cruiser were almost as pronounced as that between the armoured cruiser and the battlecruiser. One reason for this difference was the intended mission of these light/heavy cruisers which were not intended to serve as a junior battleship, as the armoured cruiser had been, and were not built or designed to serve in that capacity. Armored cruisers were often pressed into the main line of battle against battlecruisers and dreadnought battleships (
Battle of the Falkland Islands The Battle of the Falkland Islands was a First World War naval action between the British Royal Navy and Imperial German Navy on 8 December 1914 in the South Atlantic. The British, after their defeat at the Battle of Coronel on 1 November, ...
, Battle of Dogger Bank (1915),
Battle of Jutland The Battle of Jutland () was a naval battle between Britain's Royal Navy Grand Fleet, under Admiral John Jellicoe, 1st Earl Jellicoe, Sir John Jellicoe, and the Imperial German Navy's High Seas Fleet, under Vice-Admiral Reinhard Scheer, durin ...
). By contrast, heavy cruisers and light cruisers were not expected to be deployed as such, although there had been some notable engagements ( Battle of the Denmark Strait,
Battle of Cape Matapan The Battle of Cape Matapan () was a naval battle during the Second World War between the Allies, represented by the navies of the United Kingdom and Australia, and the Royal Italian Navy, from 27 to 29 March 1941. Cape Matapan is on the so ...
,
Naval Battle of Guadalcanal The Naval Battle of Guadalcanal took place from 12 to 15 November 1942 and was the decisive engagement in a series of naval battles between Allies of World War II, Allied (primarily American) and Imperial Japanese Armed Forces, Imperial Japan ...
, Battle of Surigao Strait). The heavy cruiser's main armament of 203 mm (8-inch) guns was smaller than the typical guns of the last armoured cruisers so their intended targets were other cruisers and smaller vessels. Further reasons for the difference were the advances in technology and naval design, both of which the heavy cruiser was able to take advantage. Heavy cruisers, like all contemporary ships, were typically powered by oil-fired
steam turbine A steam turbine or steam turbine engine is a machine or heat engine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work utilising a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Sir Charles Par ...
engines and were capable of far faster speeds than armoured cruisers had ever been (propelled by coal-fired reciprocating steam engines of their era). Nonetheless, heavy cruisers often had a larger number of main guns (some armoured cruisers had a mixed instead of uniform complement of main guns), discarded the mounting of main guns in
casemate A casemate is a fortified gun emplacement or armoured structure from which guns are fired, in a fortification, warship, or armoured fighting vehicle.Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary When referring to antiquity, the term "casemate wall" ...
s in favour of centre-line
superfiring Superfiring armament is a naval design technique in which two or more turrets are located one behind the other, with the rear turret located above ("super") the one in front so that it can fire over the first. This configuration meant that both ...
turrets (saving tonnage and enabling the ship to fire all guns on one broadside), and benefited from the introduction of fire control in the 1920s and 1930s, meaning that the heavy cruiser was considerably more powerful.


Washington Treaty

The
Washington Naval Treaty The Washington Naval Treaty, also known as the Five-Power Treaty, was signed during 1922 among the major Allies of World War I, Allies of World War I, which agreed to prevent an arms race by limiting Navy, naval construction. It was negotiated at ...
of 1922 imposed a moratorium on new battleship construction, with the exception of the two s by Great Britain, and set very strict limits on the tonnage and firepower of future battleships and battlecruisers. It also set the definition of a capital ship as a warship of more than 10,000 tons standard displacement or with armament of a calibre greater than 8 inches (203 mm). There was the concern that a subsequent race in building larger, more powerful cruisers might subvert the usefulness of the prohibition on capital ship construction and encourage navies to squander their now-limited permissible tonnage for capital ships on fast vessels designed specifically to hunt down large cruisers. To avert these challenges, representatives of the United States, Great Britain, Japan, France and Italy set limits on the tonnage and firepower of cruisers to 10,000 tons in standard displacement and 8 inches for maximum main gun caliber. These limits were in the interests of the U.S. and Britain especially. Planners in the U.S. Navy had spent two years prior to the start of negotiations designing 10,000 ton, 8-inch cruisers and were convinced that smaller vessels would not be worthwhile. Britain had just built its ''Hawkins''-class cruisers and wanted to ensure they would not fall prey to a much larger type of super-cruiser. Despite these intentions and set limitations, a number of new, powerful cruiser classes emerged from these nations, which sparked off something of a cruiser arms-race. The Japanese navy had a doctrine of building more powerful ships in every class than its likely opponents, which led to the development of several very impressive heavy cruiser classes. British and American building was more influenced by the desire to be able to match the Japanese ships while keeping enough cruisers for their other global responsibilities. With battleships heavily regulated by the Washington Treaty, and aircraft carriers not yet mature, the cruiser question became the focus of naval affairs. The British, with a strained economy and global commitments, favoured unlimited cruiser tonnage but strict limits on the individual ships. The Americans favoured the opposite: strictly limited numbers of powerful cruisers. Disagreements between the British and Americans wrecked the 1927 conference on naval affairs. Even during the 1920s, the 10,000-ton limit was not always strictly observed, although British, French and American designers generally worked to the limit with precision. The British built 13 of the with four twin 8-inch gun turrets but with very minimal armour. The ships had fine sea-keeping qualities and a long range, but were virtually unprotected, and were easily damaged in combat. The Japanese , however, grew during its construction as the naval general staff prevailed on the designers to increase the weapons load. As well as a breach of the Treaty, this was a poor decision from the design point of view and the ships had to be reconstructed in the 1930s to reduce weight. The German was classified as armoured coast defence ships under the terms of the
Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles was a peace treaty signed on 28 June 1919. As the most important treaty of World War I, it ended the state of war between Germany and most of the Allies of World War I, Allied Powers. It was signed in the Palace ...
. They superficially resembled contemporary battleships due to their massive main gun turrets and unusually high
conning tower A conning tower is a raised platform on a ship or submarine, often armoured, from which an officer in charge can conn (nautical), conn (conduct or control) the vessel, controlling movements of the ship by giving orders to those responsible for t ...
/
bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...
. However, they were in effect a heavy cruiser being up gunned to 11-inch batteries at the cost of slower speed; their displacement was declared at 10,000 tons but was in practice considerably greater. The Italian Navy first built two s, which sacrificed protection for speed, and then four , a much more balanced and better-protected design, plus an improved replica of the ''Trento''s (); all of them, however, surpassed the displacement limit. The s were the US Navy's first "treaty cruisers" designed in line with Washington Naval Treaty restrictions. Their main battery consisted of ten guns, in two twin turrets on the main deck, and two triple turrets two decks above, making it one of the two US Navy ship classes (besides the s) to have different-sized turrets for main armament (Subsequent US cruisers would mount nine 8" guns in three triple turrets 2 fore 1 aft). Their thin armour on the belt (varying from in thickness) and deck was no better than that on 6-inch-gunned cruisers and was inadequate to protect their vitals from enemy 8-inch shells. Also, their unusual main battery layout and heavy tripod fore-masts made these ships top-heavy and prone to excessive rolling. This combined with low freeboard forward made them inferior sea boats compared to later designs. Rework in the shipyards modified the hull and superstructure in the 1930s to eliminate the rolling. The two vessels in this class, ''Pensacola'' and ''Salt Lake City'', were originally classified as light cruisers due to their minimal armour until re-designated in July 1931 as heavy cruisers in accord with international practice of designating all cruisers with guns larger than 6".


London Treaty

In 1930 the Washington Naval Treaty was extended by the
London Naval Treaty The London Naval Treaty, officially the Treaty for the Limitation and Reduction of Naval Armament, was an agreement between the United Kingdom, Empire of Japan, Japan, French Third Republic, France, Kingdom of Italy, Italy, and the United Stat ...
, which finally settled the arguments on cruisers which had raged in the 1920s. The treaty defined limits on both heavy cruisers – those with guns larger than 155 mm (6.1 inches) – and light cruisers – those with smaller-calibre guns. The limit of 10,000 tons displacement still applied to both. This was the point at which the split between "heavy" and "light" cruisers finally became official and widespread. The Treaty satisfied Britain and America. However, it deeply offended Japan, as this severely limited the numbers of heavy cruisers that the Imperial Japanese Navy could have, as they considered heavy cruisers as key warships in a line of battle with their 8-inch guns and heavy torpedo armament. The IJN placed less priority on purpose-built light cruisers, most of their existing types dating back to the 1920s (the five World War I-era light cruisers that the IJN commissioned were less well-armed than light cruisers of the US and Royal Navies), which were largely relegated to leading destroyer squadrons. The solution the Japanese adopted was to build the , which was declared as a 10,000 ton light cruiser with fifteen 6.1-inch guns. In practice, they displaced over 12,000 tons, had what was effectively a heavy cruiser hull design, and it was always intended to replace her turrets to give a final armament of ten 203 mm guns, making something of a nonsense of the light and heavy cruiser classifications. The waters were muddied further when the US Navy ceased laying down keels for new heavy cruisers in 1934 and used their new hull design for the ''Brooklyn'' class light cruiser. This type followed in the steps of Mogami by taking what was effectively a heavy cruiser hull and fitting light cruiser guns to it, and while the US Navy never fitted 8-inch guns to their "light" cruisers, the hull design was used as the basis for future heavy cruiser designs. The German navy also paid lip-service to the treaty limitations, with the displacing 16,170 tons. In the mid-1930s, Britain, France and Italy ceased building heavy cruisers. It was felt that, in a likely cruiser engagement, a larger number of 155 mm (6-inch) guns would be preferable to a smaller number of 203 mm (8-inch). While the 8-inch gun would inflict more damage when it hit, more 6-inch guns could be carried, likely resulting in more shells on target, and a greater chance of scoring the first hit. This led to the construction of cruisers up to the 10,000-tons limit, with twelve to fifteen 155 mm guns. The 1936 London Naval Treaty, principally negotiated between Britain and the United States but never ratified, would have abolished the heavy cruiser entirely by restricting new construction to 8,000 tons and 155 mm (6.1-inch) guns. This suited Britain's needs very well, but was largely a dead letter. The U.S. continued to build heavy cruisers, culminating in the and .


World War II

Heavy cruisers were still being built, and they could be balanced designs when nations decided to skirt the restrictions imposed by the
London Naval Treaty The London Naval Treaty, officially the Treaty for the Limitation and Reduction of Naval Armament, was an agreement between the United Kingdom, Empire of Japan, Japan, French Third Republic, France, Kingdom of Italy, Italy, and the United Stat ...
. Heavy cruiser order of battle between Japan and the United States and its allies: *United States (4 classes and 1 ship) **2 , 10,000 t, 10 guns **6 , 2 , 7 , 10,000 t, 9 guns **, 10,000 t, 9 guns *British Commonwealth (5 classes) **7 , 10,000t, 8 guns **4 , 10,000t, 8 guns **2 , 9,925t, 8 guns **3+1 , 9,800 t, 7 guns **2 , 8,400t, 6 guns *Japan (6 classes) **2 , 2 , 7,000 t, 6 guns **4 , 4 , 4 *, 10,000 t, 10 guns ''*converted from light cruisers'' **2 , 10,000 t, 8 guns Japan was only allowed 12 heavy cruisers by treaty, but had intentionally built the ''Mogami''s with the option to have their main battery changed. The two ''Tone''s were also originally planned as light cruisers, but launched after the treaty system broke down with 8-inch guns. At the start of hostilities there was thus a parity between the United States Navy and the Imperial Japanese Navy with respect to heavy cruisers. The Germans built their heavy cruisers of 14,000 tons, although the Anglo-German Naval Agreement was supposed to limit their displacement to the 10,000 tons specified by the Washington Naval Treaty. The US built the of heavy cruisers during the war. While earlier heavy cruisers were noted for their powerful torpedo armament (especially Japanese heavy cruisers), later ships built by the USN concentrated mainly on anti-aircraft armament, as their main role was escorting aircraft carriers and troop transports instead of engaging in surface actions. Most Japanese heavy cruisers were sunk by aircraft or submarines, rather than in surface engagements. File:Duquesne.svg, Example of heavy cruiser evolution during the Second World War: in original anti-surface layout File:Tourville 1945.svg, after refit: reinforced anti-air armament, removal of sea plane, torpedo launchers and aft mast The US built the last heavy cruisers, which were finished shortly after the war. The consisted of seventeen ships, including three of the slightly different . The were the last heavy cruisers built: though based on the ''Baltimore''s, they were considerably heavier and longer due to their new rapid-firing 203 mm (8-inch) guns. Additionally, two
aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and hangar facilities for supporting, arming, deploying and recovering carrier-based aircraft, shipborne aircraft. Typically it is the ...
s were built on a ''Baltimore''-derived hull, the . The largest heavy cruisers were the large cruisers, which were designed as "cruiser killers". They resembled contemporary battlecruisers or battleships in general appearance, as well as having main armament and displacement equal or greater than that of
capital ship The capital ships of a navy are its most important warships; they are generally the larger ships when compared to other warships in their respective fleet. A capital ship is generally a leading or a primary ship in a naval fleet. Strategic i ...
s of the First World War. However, the ''Alaska''s were actually upscaled heavy cruisers, as their machinery layout and the possession of a single rudder was based on cruisers rather than that of battleships or battlecruisers. Furthermore the ''Alaska''s lacked the sophisticated underwater protection system featured in battleships and battlecruisers, making them vulnerable to shells and torpedoes that hit under the waterline. The ''Alaska''s also had proportionately less weight in armour at 28.4% of displacement, in contrast to the British battlecruiser of 30%, the German and the U.S. Navy's s of 40%.Friedman, ''Battleship Design and Development'', 166–173 Effectively, the ''Alaska''s were ill-protected to stand up against the guns of true battleships and battlecruisers, and as carrier escorts they were much more expensive than the ''Baltimore''s while having only slightly better anti-aircraft capabilities. Given low priority by the USN, only two members of the ''Alaska''s were completed and they saw little service as World War II ended not long after their commissioning. Heavy cruisers fell out of use after the Second World War, with the
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
decommissioning its last three (, , and ) by the early 1950s. Some existing US heavy cruisers lasted well through the 1970s, with the last all-gun ship decommissioning in 1975. , and , which had been converted to guided missile cruisers (US hull symbol CG), were laid up between 1975 and 1980.


Losses

* ESP ''Baleares'', Battle of Cape Palos, 6 March 1938 * KM , Battle of the River Plate, 13 December 1939 * KM , Battle of Drøbak Sound, 9 April 1940 * RN , Raid on Souda Bay, 26 March 1941 * RM , , ,
Battle of Cape Matapan The Battle of Cape Matapan () was a naval battle during the Second World War between the Allies, represented by the navies of the United Kingdom and Australia, and the Royal Italian Navy, from 27 to 29 March 1941. Cape Matapan is on the so ...
, 29 March 1941 * USN , gunfire and torpedoes, Battle of Sunda Strait, 1 March 1942 *RN , Second Battle of the Java Sea, 1 March 1942 *RN , , Indian Ocean Raid, 6 April 1942 * IJN , airstrike,
Battle of Midway The Battle of Midway was a major naval battle in the Pacific Ocean theater of World War II, Pacific Theater of World War II that took place on 4–7 June 1942, six months after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor and one month after the Battle of t ...
, 6 June 1942 *RM , 14 June 1942 *
Guadalcanal Campaign The Guadalcanal campaign, also known as the Battle of Guadalcanal and codenamed Operation Watchtower by the United States, was an Allies of World War II, Allied offensive against forces of the Empire of Japan in the Solomon Islands during th ...
**USN , , , gunfire and torpedoes, Battle of Savo Island, 9 August 1942 ** RAN , Battle of Savo Island, 9 August 1942 **IJN , torpedoes, aftermath of the Battle of Savo Island, 10 August 1942 **IJN , gunfire and torpedo, Battle of Cape Esperance, 12 October 1942 **IJN , airstrike,
Naval Battle of Guadalcanal The Naval Battle of Guadalcanal took place from 12 to 15 November 1942 and was the decisive engagement in a series of naval battles between Allies of World War II, Allied (primarily American) and Imperial Japanese Armed Forces, Imperial Japan ...
, 14 November 1942 **USN , torpedoes, Battle of Tassafaronga, 30 November 1942 **USN , airstrike, Battle of Rennell Island, 30 January 1943 *
French Navy The French Navy (, , ), informally (, ), is the Navy, maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the four military service branches of History of France, France. It is among the largest and most powerful List of navies, naval forces i ...
, , , , Scuttling of the French fleet at Toulon, 27 November 1942 *RM , airstrike, La Maddalena harbour, 10 April 1943 *
Battle of Leyte Gulf The Battle of Leyte Gulf () 23–26 October 1944, was the largest naval battle of World War II and by some criteria the largest naval battle in history, with over 200,000 naval personnel involved. By late 1944, Japan possessed fewer capital sh ...
**IJN , , submarine attack in the Palawan Passage, 23 October 1944 **, surface action in the Battle of Surigao Strait and subsequent airstrike, 25 October 1944 **, , , Battle off Samar, 25 October 1944 *IJN , airstrike, Manila Harbour, Philippines 4 November 1944 *IJN , airstrike, Santa Cruz Harbour, Philippines, 25 November 1944 *KM , airstrike Kiel, 9 April 1945 *KM ''Lutzow'', airstrike in Swinemunde, 16 April 1945 *KM , scuttled in Kiel following airstrike, 3 May 1945 *IJN , destroyer torpedoes, Battle of the Malacca Strait, 16 May 1945 *IJN , submarine, 8 June 1945 *IJN , , airstrike, Bombing of Kure, 24 July 1945 *USN , submarine torpedoes, 30 July 1945


Surviving heavy cruisers

The last heavy cruiser in existence is the , now a
museum ship A museum ship, also called a memorial ship, is a ship that has been preserved and converted into a museum open to the public for educational or memorial purposes. Some are also used for training and recruitment purposes, mostly for the small numb ...
in
Quincy, Massachusetts Quincy ( ) is a city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the largest city in the county. Quincy is part of the Greater Boston area as one of Boston's immediate southern suburbs. Its population in ...
.


See also

* BL 7.5 inch Mk VI naval gun prototype heavy cruiser main battery armament * BL 8 inch Mk VIII naval gun British heavy cruiser armament * 203mm/50 Modèle 1924 gun Early French heavy cruiser armament * 203mm/55 Modèle 1931 gun Later French heavy cruiser armament * 20.3 cm SK C/34 Naval gun German heavy cruiser armament * 203 mm /50 Model 1924 Early Italian heavy cruiser armament * 203 mm /53 Italian naval gun Later Italian heavy cruiser armament * 20 cm/50 3rd Year Type naval gun Japanese heavy cruiser armament * 180mm Pattern 1931-1933 Soviet heavy cruiser armament * 8"/55 caliber gun United States heavy cruiser armament * List of ships of the Second World War * List of cruisers of the Second World War * List of cruisers of World War I * List of heavy cruisers of the Imperial Japanese Navy *


References


Works cited

* * {{Warship types of the 19th & 20th centuries Ship types Naval ships Heavy cruisers