Editing Cruiser (section)

{{short description|Type of large warships}}
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{{Other uses}}
{{distinguish|cruise ship}}
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[[File:USS Arkansas (CGN-41) at sea in 1985.jpg|thumb|300x300px|The US Navy's {{sclass|Virginia|cruiser|2}} {{USS|Arkansas|CGN-41|6}}. The ''Virginia'' class was the last class of nuclear-powered cruisers to be built in North America.]]
[[File:Russian cruiser Marshal Ustinov MOD 45164874.jpg|thumb|300x300px|Russian {{sclass|Slava|cruiser|2}} ''[[Russian cruiser Marshal Ustinov|Marshal Ustinov]]'']]
A '''cruiser''' is a type of [[warship]]. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after [[aircraft carrier]]s and [[amphibious assault ship]]s, and can usually perform several  operational roles from [[search-and-destroy]] to [[ocean escort]] to [[sea denial]].

The term "cruiser", which has been in use for several hundred years, has changed its meaning over time. During the [[Age of Sail]], the term ''cruising'' referred to certain kinds of missions—independent scouting, commerce protection, or raiding—usually fulfilled by [[frigate]]s or [[sloop-of-war|sloops-of-war]], which functioned as the ''cruising warships'' of a fleet.

In the middle of the 19th century, ''cruiser'' came to be a classification of the ships intended for cruising distant waters, for [[commerce raiding]], and for scouting for the battle fleet. Cruisers came in a wide variety of sizes, from the medium-sized [[protected cruiser]] to large [[armored cruiser]]s that were nearly as big (although not as powerful or as well-armored) as a [[pre-dreadnought]] [[battleship]].<ref>{{cite book |last = Keegan |first = John |author-link = John Keegan |title = The Price of Admiralty |publisher = Viking |date =1989 |location =New York |page =[https://archive.org/details/priceofadmiralty00keeg/page/277 277] |isbn =0-670-81416-4 |url = https://archive.org/details/priceofadmiralty00keeg/page/277 }}</ref> With the advent of the [[dreadnought battleship]] before [[World War I]], the armored cruiser evolved into a vessel of similar scale known as the [[battlecruiser]]. The very large battlecruisers of the World War I era that succeeded armored cruisers were now classified, along with dreadnought battleships, as [[capital ship]]s.

By the early 20th century, after World War I, the direct successors to protected cruisers could be placed on a consistent scale of warship size, smaller than a battleship but larger than a [[destroyer]]. In 1922, the [[Washington Naval Treaty]] placed a formal limit on these cruisers, which were defined as warships of up to 10,000 tons [[Displacement (ship)|displacement]] carrying guns no larger than 8&nbsp;inches in [[Caliber (artillery)|calibre]]; whilst the 1930 [[London Naval Treaty]] created a divide of two cruiser types, [[heavy cruiser]]s having 6.1 inches to 8 inch guns, while those with guns of 6.1 inches or less were [[light cruiser]]s. Each type were limited in total and individual tonnage which shaped cruiser design until the collapse of the treaty system just prior to the start of World War II. Some variations on the Treaty cruiser design included the German {{sclass|Deutschland|cruiser|0}} "pocket battleships", which had heavier armament at the expense of speed compared to standard heavy cruisers, and the American {{sclass|Alaska|cruiser|4}}, which was a scaled-up heavy cruiser design designated as a "cruiser-killer".

In the later 20th century, the obsolescence of the battleship left the cruiser as the largest and most powerful [[surface combatant]] ships (as opposed to the [[aerial warfare]] role of [[aircraft carrier]]s). The role of the cruiser varied according to ship and navy, often including [[air defense]] and [[shore bombardment]]. During the [[Cold War]] the [[Soviet Navy]]'s cruisers had heavy [[anti-ship missile]] armament designed to sink [[NATO]] carrier task-forces via [[saturation attack]]. The U.S. Navy built guided-missile cruisers upon destroyer-style hulls (some called "[[destroyer leader]]s" or [[Frigate#Guided-missile role|"frigates"]] prior to the [[United States Navy 1975 ship reclassification|1975 reclassification]]) primarily designed to provide air defense while often adding [[anti-submarine warfare|anti-submarine capabilities]], being larger and having longer-range [[surface-to-air missile]]s (SAMs) than early ''[[Charles F. Adams-class destroyer|Charles F. Adams]]'' [[guided-missile destroyer]]s tasked with the [[short-range air defense]] role. By the end of the Cold War the line between cruisers and destroyers had blurred, with the {{sclass|Ticonderoga|cruiser|0}} cruiser using the hull of the {{sclass|Spruance|destroyer|0}} destroyer but receiving the cruiser designation due to their enhanced mission and combat systems.

{{As of|2023}}, only two countries operated active duty vessels formally classed as cruisers: the [[United States Navy|United States]] and [[Russian Navy|Russia]]. These cruisers are primarily armed with guided missiles, with the exceptions of the [[aircraft cruiser]] {{ship|Russian aircraft carrier|Admiral Kuznetsov||2}}. {{ship|BAP|Almirante Grau|CLM-81|6}} was the last gun cruiser in service, serving with the Peruvian Navy until 2017.

Nevertheless, other classes in addition to the above may be considered cruisers due to differing classification systems. The US/NATO system includes the [[Type 055 destroyer|Type 055]] from China<ref name="oni_2020_PLAN_ID_Guide">{{Cite report |author=United States Navy Office of Naval Intelligence |author-link=Office of Naval Intelligence |date=19 February 2020 |title=PLA Navy Identification Guide |url=https://www.oni.navy.mil/Portals/12/Intel%20agencies/China_Media/2020_China_Recce_Poster_UNCLAS.jpg?ver=2020-02-19-081430-327 |access-date=29 July 2020 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> and the ''[[Kirov-class battlecruiser|Kirov]]'' and ''[[Slava-class cruiser|Slava]]'' from Russia.<ref name="oni_2020_RFN_ID_Guide">{{Cite report |author=United States Navy Office of Naval Intelligence |author-link=Office of Naval Intelligence |date=19 February 2020 |title=Russian Federation Navy: 2019 Recognition and Identification Guide |url=https://www.oni.navy.mil/Portals/12/Intel%20agencies/russia/Russia_Ship_Silhouettes_Unclassified.jpg?ver=2020-02-19-081844-763 |access-date=30 March 2021 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> [[International Institute for Strategic Studies]]' "The Military Balance" defines a cruiser as a surface combatant displacing at least 9750 tonnes; with respect to vessels in service as of the early 2020s it includes the Type 055, the ''[[Sejong the Great-class destroyer|Sejong the Great]]'' from [[South Korea]], the ''[[Atago-class destroyer|Atago]]'' and ''[[Maya-class destroyer|Maya]]'' from Japan and the Flight III ''[[Arleigh Burke-class destroyer|Arleigh Burke]]'', ''[[Ticonderoga-class cruiser|Ticonderoga]]'' and ''[[Zumwalt-class destroyer|Zumwalt]]'' from the US.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Military Balance 2022 |url=https://www.iwp.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/The-Military-Balance-2022.pdf |work=International Institute for Strategic Studies |date=28 February 2022 |access-date=16 June 2023 }}</ref>