A loose 19th-century cruiser analogy

Could Ticonderoga be understood like a 19th-century unprotected or protected cruiser, with the strike cruiser filling the armoured-cruiser role?

Only loosely. Ticonderoga had Kevlar splinter protection, while protected cruisers could rely on coal for protection, and the comparison remains tentative.

A viewer proposes treating the Ticonderoga class as an unprotected cruiser, with the unbuilt strike cruiser occupying something like the protected or armoured-cruiser role. The answer accepts the comparison only tentatively. Kevlar gives Ticonderoga some splinter protection, but the passage jokes that the coal protection used in earlier cruisers may have been better. The analogy is useful for thinking about relative protection and fleet roles, although the exchange does not establish an exact historical equivalence.