I know there are lots of simple answers - smaller guns, etc.
But this was not always the case - in the days of armored cruisers - battleships were often the same size ships
As battlecruisers replaced the armored cruiser - the size difference tilted towards the battlecruiser - then fast battleships replaced the battlecruiser.
The treaty cruisers made the answer simple - treaty legal cruisers -10,000 tons and 8" guns - not really battleships...
Once the War was on, and treaties were retired - cruisers became more balanced - and larger - the Baltimore’s and Des Moines.
And there were Panzerships and "large cruisers" like the Deutschland's and the Alaska’s...
The final US battleships, the Iowa's, have been described as super-cruisers, primarily due to their speed and endurance..
Many later cruisers had protection from the guns they carried - the same standard of protection that applied to battleships, though the scale of protection and angle of impact protected against were reduced in most cruisers.
Besides the later US heavy cruisers, the Italian Zara class and the French Algierie were well protected.
The distinction between battleships and Cruisers was also blurred when the Germans used battleships as raiders - a traditional cruiser role.
So I started a thread about gun cruisers :)
Note: I am not trying to call cruisers battleships - I am looking forward to discussing the differences.
But this was not always the case - in the days of armored cruisers - battleships were often the same size ships
As battlecruisers replaced the armored cruiser - the size difference tilted towards the battlecruiser - then fast battleships replaced the battlecruiser.
The treaty cruisers made the answer simple - treaty legal cruisers -10,000 tons and 8" guns - not really battleships...
Once the War was on, and treaties were retired - cruisers became more balanced - and larger - the Baltimore’s and Des Moines.
And there were Panzerships and "large cruisers" like the Deutschland's and the Alaska’s...
The final US battleships, the Iowa's, have been described as super-cruisers, primarily due to their speed and endurance..
Many later cruisers had protection from the guns they carried - the same standard of protection that applied to battleships, though the scale of protection and angle of impact protected against were reduced in most cruisers.
Besides the later US heavy cruisers, the Italian Zara class and the French Algierie were well protected.
The distinction between battleships and Cruisers was also blurred when the Germans used battleships as raiders - a traditional cruiser role.
So I started a thread about gun cruisers :)
Note: I am not trying to call cruisers battleships - I am looking forward to discussing the differences.
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