The objection that cruisers are irrelevant because few modern navies build ships under that name confuses a label with a role. Other combatants still perform cruiser missions even when their navies classify them as destroyers or frigates. Destroyers may become too large and expensive, pushing navies toward ships called frigates until those designs grow in turn. A future navy may invent another label, but it will still have to solve the same operational problems. Historical ship types are best studied as bundles of missions and design choices rather than obsolete names.
Notable Point · 11:14-12:59
Cruiser roles outlive the cruiser label
Studying cruisers remains useful because navies still require their missions even when growing destroyers, frigates, or future combatants inherit the label.