Naval Historywith Dr. Alex

Q&A · 1:00:17-1:01:06

Why post-treaty heavy cruisers grow toward 25,000 tons

Once capital ships reached 45,000 to 60,000 tons, a 20,000- to 25,000-ton heavy cruiser restored the older proportional relationship between cruiser and battleship.

Alaska Class Large CruisersCapital ShipsHeavy CruisersLarge CruisersWarship Design
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Question

What would a 20,000- to 25,000-ton Second World War cruiser look like?

Short answer

It would be a large heavy cruiser with roughly 9.2- to 12-inch guns, restoring a sensible scale beneath 45,000- to 60,000-ton capital ships.

Notes

Cruiser size makes more sense when compared with capital ships of the same era. If battleships move from roughly 35,000 toward 45,000 or 60,000 tons, freezing the largest cruisers at 10,000 tons creates an artificial gap. A 20,000- to 25,000-ton ship with 9.2- to 12-inch guns becomes proportionally reasonable. Alaska was called a large cruiser, but its size also represents where unrestricted heavy-cruiser development could lead.