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74-425: The heavy cruiser is part of a lineage of ship design from 1915 through the early 1950s, although the term "heavy cruiser" only came into formal use in 1930. The heavy cruiser's immediate precursors were the light cruiser designs of the 1900s and 1910s, rather than the armoured cruisers of the years before 1905. When the armoured cruiser was supplanted by the battlecruiser , an intermediate ship type between this and

148-629: A Baltimore -derived hull, the Saipan -class aircraft carrier . The largest heavy cruisers were the Alaska -class large cruisers, which were designed as "cruiser killers". They resembled contemporary battlecruisers or battleships in general appearance, as well as having main armament and displacement equal or greater than that of capital ships of the First World War. However, they were actually upscaled heavy cruisers, as their machinery layout and

222-754: A sub-lieutenant and later as a lieutenant in the Royal Danish Navy . He later attended the Royal Naval College, Greenwich , from which he graduated in 1887. He worked for some years for Burmeister & Wain , before attaining the rank of commander in the Royal Danish Navy . He next transferred to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology , working as a professor, teaching courses such as Warship Design, Theory of Warship Design, and History of Modern Warship Construction. In 1915 Hovgaard served as an expert witness after

296-540: A 2-inch protective armored belt as well as deck. Thus, by definition, they were armored cruisers, despite displacing only 4,800 tons; the light armored cruiser had arrived. The first true modern light cruisers were the Arethusa class which had all oil-firing and used lightweight destroyer -type machinery to make 29 knots (54 km/h). By World War I , British light cruisers often had either two 6-inch (152 mm) and perhaps eight 4-inch (102 mm) guns , or

370-730: A 4.5-inch (114 mm) belt in the Towns and were capable of 32.5 knots, but for the most part tried to stay within past treaty limitations. The US also attempted to follow treaty limitations as it completed seven of its nine Brooklyn -class cruisers between 1938 and September 1939. These ships were an answer to Japan's Mogami s and were an indication of rising tensions in the Pacific theater. Japan, now considering itself under no restrictions, began rearming its Mogami s with 10 8-inch (203 mm) guns. They were thus converted into heavy cruisers. In World War II light cruisers had guns ranging from

444-588: A different form than they had in the past. The result was the battlecruiser . HMS Invincible and her two sister ships were designed specifically to fulfil these requirements. In a sense they were an extension of the armoured cruiser as a fast, heavily armed scout, commerce protector and cruiser-destroyer, reflected in the term originally ascribed to them, "large armoured cruiser". However, they were much larger, faster and better-armed than armoured cruisers, able to outpace them, stay out of range of their weapons and destroy them with relative impunity. Because they carried

518-578: A handful of scout cruisers while Japan and Spain added a few examples based on British designs; France built none at all. During World War I, the Germans continued building larger cruisers with 150 mm guns while the British Arethusa class and early C-class cruisers reverted to an emphasis on superior speed with a more lightly-armed design for fleet support. The United States resumed building light cruisers in 1918, largely because

592-468: A larger number of main guns (some armoured cruisers had a mixed instead of uniform complement of main guns), discarded the mounting of main guns in casemates in favour of centre-line superfiring turrets (saving tonnage and enabling the ship to fire all guns on one broadside), and benefited from the introduction of fire control in the 1920s and 1930s, meaning that the heavy cruiser was considerably more powerful. The Washington Naval Treaty of 1922 imposed

666-476: A long range, but were virtually unprotected, and were easily damaged in combat. The Japanese Myōkō class , however, grew during its construction as the naval general staff prevailed on the designers to increase the weapons load. As well as a breach of the Treaty, this was a poor decision from the design point of view and the ships had to be reconstructed in the 1930s to reduce weight. The German Deutschland class

740-829: A mixed battery were eliminated to make room for above deck torpedoes , and ever-increasing and more effective anti-aircraft armaments. They also benefited from the superior fire control of the 1920s and continually upgraded through the 1950s. Late in the development cycle radar and electronic countermeasures would also appear and rapidly gain in importance. At the end of the 19th century, cruisers were classified as first, second or third class depending on their capabilities. First-class cruisers were typically armoured cruisers , with belt side armour, while lighter, cheaper, and faster second- and third-class cruisers tended to have only an armoured deck and protective coal bunkers, rather than armoured hulls; they were hence known as protected cruisers . Their essential role had not changed since

814-403: A moratorium on new battleship construction, with the exception of the two Nelson -class battleships by Great Britain, and set very strict limits on the tonnage and firepower of future battleships and battlecruisers. It also set the definition of a capital ship as a warship of more than 10,000 tons standard displacement or with armament of a calibre greater than 8 inches (203 mm). There

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888-422: A much larger type of super-cruiser. Despite these intentions and set limitations, a number of new, powerful cruiser classes emerged from these nations, which sparked off something of a cruiser arms-race. The Japanese navy had a doctrine of building more powerful ships in every class than its likely opponents, which led to the development of several very impressive heavy cruiser classes. British and American building

962-570: A much more balanced and better-protected design, plus an improved replica of the Trento s ( Bolzano ); all of them, however, surpassed the displacement limit. The Pensacola -class cruisers were the US Navy's first "treaty cruisers" designed in line with Washington Naval Treaty restrictions. Their main battery consisted of ten 8 in (200 mm) guns, in two twin turrets on the main deck, and two triple turrets two decks above, making it one of

1036-507: A nonsense of the light and heavy cruiser classifications. The waters were muddied further when the US Navy ceased laying down keels for new heavy cruisers in 1934 and used their new hull design for the Brooklyn -class cruiser of light cruiser. This type followed in the steps of Mogami by taking what was effectively a heavy cruiser hull and fitting light cruiser guns to it, and while the US Navy never fitted 8-inch guns to their "light" cruisers,

1110-463: A potential enemy and fulfil its traditional role as scout for the fleet demanded a speed preferably 30 percent faster than battleships. Thirty percent was the ratio by which frigates had been faster than ships of the line in the days of sail. If a battleship sailed at 20 knots, this would mean that an armoured cruiser would have to steam at least 26 or 27 knots. Armoured cruisers could not fulfil these criteria without being built much larger and taking on

1184-525: A prophecy of events that are now taking place. While his professional abilities had been utilized to create instruments of warfare, he sought to prevent war, knowing well its horrors, by creating a better intellectual understanding among nations. At his death he had for some years been working on a new theory of cosmology , but it remained unfinished. Hovgaard graduated from the Royal Danish Naval Academy at age 21, and next served as

1258-834: A scientist and naval authority for many years. In 1934 he addressed the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in Boston regarding "Fundamentals of the Theory of Relativity ". In 1937 Hovgaard was honored at a luncheon at the Astor Hotel, under sponsorship of the American Society of Danish Engineers, the Danish Officers' Club, and the Danish Luncheon Club. A letter read at the luncheon from

1332-524: A uniform armament of 6-inch guns on a ship of around 5,000 tons, while German light cruisers progressed during the war from 4.1-inch (104 mm) to 5.9-inch (150 mm) guns. Cruiser construction in Britain continued uninterrupted until Admiral "Jacky" Fisher 's appointment as First Sea Lord in 1904. Due in part to the desire to curtail excess expenditures in light of the increasing cost of keeping up with German naval production and in part because he felt

1406-649: Is the USS ; Salem , now a museum ship in Quincy, Massachusetts . Light cruiser A light cruiser is a type of small or medium-sized warship . The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser ", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck. Prior to this smaller cruisers had been of the protected cruiser model, possessing armored decks only. While lighter and smaller than other contemporary ships they were still true cruisers, retaining

1480-523: The Hawkins class . Essentially enlarged light cruisers, being referred to in contemporary reference works as an "improved Birmingham" type after the 6-inch gunned 5,000-ton second-class light cruisers then entering service, the Hawkins -class cruisers each carried seven 190 mm (7.5-inch) guns and had a displacement just under 10,000 tons. The difference between these ships and ones that would follow with

1554-643: The Magdeburg and Karlsruhe -class cruisers ) were faster but maintained a lighter 104 mm main armament compared to their British Town-class counterparts. With the Pillau and Wiesbaden -class cruisers the Germans followed the British example of heavier guns. Earlier German light cruisers were in competition with a series of British scout cruisers which had a higher speed of 25 knots, but smaller 3-inch 12 pounder guns or 4-inch guns. The Germans completed

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1628-548: The British Royal Navy with HMS Mercury launched in 1878. Such second and third class protected cruisers evolved, gradually becoming faster, better armed and better protected. Germany took a lead in small cruiser design in the 1890s, building a class of fast cruisers—the Gazelle class —copied by other nations. Such vessels were powered by coal-fired boilers and reciprocating steam engines and relied in part on

1702-580: The Hunter-Killer cruiser (CLK) , the Antiaircraft cruiser (CLAA) , the light Command cruiser (CLC) , and the light Guided missile cruiser (CLG) . All such ships have been retired. William Hovgaard William Hovgaard (born 1857, Aarhus , Denmark d. 1950, Summit, New Jersey ) was a Danish , later American professor of naval design and construction at Massachusetts Institute of Technology until his retirement in 1933. Hovgaard

1776-677: The Kara Sea on the steamship Dijmphna in 1882/83. According to Hovgaard's National Academy of Sciences biographical memoir, His contribution to the shipbuilding art in this country, and particularly to the education of the officers of the Corps of Naval Constructors of the United States Navy, is incalculable. In 1912 he helped organize the American-Scandinavian Foundation , New York City , and

1850-607: The London Naval Treaty . Heavy cruiser order of battle between Japan and the United States and its allies: Japan was only allowed 12 heavy cruisers by treaty, but had intentionally built the Mogami s with the option to have their main battery changed. The two Tone s were also originally planned as light cruisers, but launched after the treaty system broke down with 8-inch guns. At the start of hostilities there

1924-474: The Norsemen to America (1914) where he comments on this subject-matter based on his knowledge of ships and navigation. He comes to the conclusion that Leif Ericsson reached the south coast of Cape Cod. Hovgaard wrote, "He landed on the shores of the cape at some point where there was a long, narrow beach outside a large expanse of water, a pond or a lagoon, into which he entered. A river or brook flowed into

1998-492: The shipping lanes . The Arethusa class , launched three years later, was also successful. British designers continued enlarging and refining subsequent cruiser designs throughout the war. The C class ships were started in 1913, and of these, HMS Caroline remains - the only extant survivor of the Battle of Jutland . The Germans built a number of light cruisers in the belief that they were good multi-purpose vessels. Unlike

2072-621: The 5 inch (127 mm) of the US Atlanta -class and 5.25 inch of the British Dido -class anti-aircraft cruisers, up to 6.1 inch, though the most common size was 6 inch, the maximum size allowed by the London Naval Treaty for a ship to be considered a light cruiser. Most Japanese light cruisers had 5.5-inch guns and could hardly be considered to be in the same class as a U.S. Navy light cruiser twice

2146-423: The 8-inch gun would inflict more damage when it hit, more 6-inch guns could be carried, likely resulting in more shells on target, and a greater chance of scoring the first hit. This led to the construction of cruisers up to the 10,000-tons limit, with twelve to fifteen 155 mm guns. The 1936 London Naval Treaty, principally negotiated between Britain and the United States but never ratified, would have abolished

2220-740: The Advancement of Scandinavian Study , American Society of Danish Engineers, and the Massachusetts Historical Society . In 1928 he was an Invited Speaker of the ICM in Bologna. Hovgaard wrote a number of books and scientific articles on a number of subjects. Pertaining to his warship expertise, he wrote Structural Design of Warships (1915) and General Design of Warships and Modern History of Warships (1920). Books by Hovgaard on other subjects include The Voyages of

2294-514: The British, who built both long-range cruisers like the Town class for commerce protection and short-range "scout" cruisers for fleet support, the Germans built a single series of light cruisers for both functions. Compared to the British "scout" type the German ships were bigger, slower and less manoeuvrable but, through a successive series of classes, improved consistently in seagoing qualities. However,

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2368-770: The German Scharnhorst and the U.S. Navy's North Carolina -class battleships of 40%. Effectively, the Alaska s were ill-protected to stand up against the guns of true battleships and battlecruisers, and as carrier escorts they were much more expensive than the Baltimore s while having only slightly better anti-aircraft capabilities. Given low priority by the USN, only two members of the class were completed and they saw little service as World War II ended not long after their commissioning. Heavy cruisers fell out of use after

2442-668: The Germans were very late in adapting 5.9-inch guns (not doing so until the Pillau class of 1913); Grand Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz 's recalcitrance over the issue overrode the desires of others in the German Navy . For about a three-year period after the British Weymouth class of the Town series, completed with a uniform armament of 6-inch guns, and before the German Pillau class, German light cruisers (such as

2516-654: The Second World War, with the Royal Navy decommissioning its last three ( HMS  London , HMS  Cumberland , and HMS  Devonshire ) by the early 1950s. Some existing US heavy cruisers lasted well through the 1970s, with the last all-gun ship USS  Newport News decommissioning in 1975. USS  Chicago , USS  Columbus and USS  Albany , which had been converted to guided missile cruisers (US hull symbol CG), were laid up between 1975 and 1980. The last heavy cruiser in existence

2590-607: The US and Royal Navies), which were largely relegated to leading destroyer squadrons. The solution the Japanese adopted was to build the Mogami class , which was declared as a 10,000 ton light cruiser with fifteen 6.1-inch guns. In practice, they displaced over 12,000 tons, had what was effectively a heavy cruiser hull design, and it was always intended to replace her turrets to give a final armament of ten 203 mm guns, making something of

2664-451: The age of sail—to serve on long-range missions, patrol for enemy warships and raid and defend commerce. Armoured cruisers had proved less versatile than needed to do this adequately. In a race to outsize and outgun one another, they had grown to around 15,000 tons and up to 9.2 and 10 inches (230 and 250 mm) in main gun calibre—very close to the pre-dreadnought battleships of the day, although they were generally ascribed to be weaker than

2738-403: The armoured cruiser as it had been known was now outmoded. No more were built after 1910 and by the end of World War I , the majority of them had been taken out of active service. Although Lord Fisher , the man behind the building of Invincible , had hoped to replace practically all forms of cruisers with battlecruisers, they proved to be too costly to build in large numbers. At the same time,

2812-484: The armoured cruiser. Also, the heavy cruiser was designed to take advantage of advances in naval technology and design. Typically powered by oil-fired steam turbines rather than the reciprocating steam engines of the armoured cruiser, heavy cruisers were capable of far faster speeds and could cruise at high speed for much longer than could an armoured cruiser. They used uniform main guns, mounted in centre-line superfiring turrets rather than casemates . Casemate guns and

2886-474: The arrangement of coal bunkers for their protection. The adoption of oil-fired water-tube boilers and steam turbine engines meant that older small cruisers rapidly became obsolete. Furthermore, new construction could not rely on the protection of coal bunkers and would therefore have to adopt some form of side armoring. The British Chatham group of Town-class cruisers were a departure from previous designs; with turbine propulsion, mixed coal and oil firing and

2960-512: The battleship due to their lack of armour and not appreciably faster due to the limits of engine technology at the time. While Japanese armoured cruisers had distinguished themselves at the Battle of Tsushima in 1905, the armoured cruiser as it was then known had reached the pinnacle of its development. Tactics and technology were gearing towards naval encounters held over increasingly longer ranges, which demanded an armament of primarily large calibre guns. The demand for speed with which to outflank

3034-709: The class to be built seriously overweight. They provided AA screening for the fast carriers, shore bombardment, and anti-destroyer screening for the US fleet. They traded a main gun turret for additional AA, fire control, and radar installations, over the Brooklyn class. Four are preserved as museum ships : HMS Belfast in London , HMS  Caroline in Belfast , USS  Little Rock in Buffalo, New York , and Mikhail Kutuzov at Novorossiysk . Similar ships include

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3108-410: The difference were the advances in technology and naval design, both of which the heavy cruiser was able to take advantage. Heavy cruisers, like all contemporary ships, were typically powered by oil-fired steam turbine engines and were capable of far faster speeds than armoured cruisers had ever been (propelled by coal-fired reciprocating steam engines of their era). Nonetheless, heavy cruisers often had

3182-552: The extended radius of action and self-sufficiency to act independently around the world. Cruisers mounting larger guns and heavier armor relative to most light cruisers would come to be known as heavy cruisers , though the designation of 'light' versus 'heavy' cruisers would vary somewhat between navies. Through their history light cruisers served in a variety of roles, primarily as convoy escorts and destroyer command ships, but also as scouts and fleet support vessels for battle fleets. The first small steam-powered cruisers were built for

3256-478: The heavy cruiser entirely by restricting new construction to 8,000 tons and 155 mm (6.1-inch) guns. This suited Britain's needs very well, but was largely a dead letter. The U.S. continued to build heavy cruisers, culminating in the New Orleans class and USS  Wichita . Heavy cruisers were still being built, and they could be balanced designs when nations decided to skirt the restrictions imposed by

3330-556: The heavy cruiser were almost as pronounced as that between the armoured cruiser and the battlecruiser. One reason for this difference was the intended mission of these ships. They were not intended to serve as a junior battleship, as the armoured cruiser had been, and were not built or designed to serve in that capacity. With their main armament of 203 mm (8-inch) guns, smaller than the typical 9.2-or-10-inch (230 or 250 mm) guns of later armoured cruisers, their intended targets were other cruisers and smaller vessels. Further reasons for

3404-404: The heavy guns normally ascribed to battleships, they could also theoretically hold their place in a battle line more readily than armoured cruisers and serve as the "battleship-cruiser" for which William Hovgaard had argued after Tsushima. All these factors made battlecruisers attractive fighting units, although Britain, Germany and Japan would be the only powers to build them. They also meant that

3478-503: The hull design was used as the basis for future heavy cruiser designs. The German navy also paid lip-service to the treaty limitations, with the Admiral Hipper class displacing 16,170 tons. In the mid-1930s, Britain, France and Italy ceased building heavy cruisers. It was felt that, in a likely cruiser engagement, a larger number of 155 mm (6-inch) guns would be preferable to a smaller number of 203 mm (8-inch). While

3552-578: The individual ships. The Americans favoured the opposite: strictly limited numbers of powerful cruisers. Disagreements between the British and Americans wrecked the 1927 conference on naval affairs. Even during the 1920s, the 10,000-ton limit was not always strictly observed, although British, French and American designers generally worked to the limit with precision. The British built 13 of the County class with four twin 8-inch gun turrets but with very minimal armour. The ships had fine sea-keeping qualities and

3626-433: The last heavy cruisers, which were finished shortly after the war. The Baltimore class consisted of seventeen ships, including three of the slightly different Oregon City class . The Des Moines class were the last heavy cruisers built: though based on the Baltimore s, they were considerably heavier and longer due to their new rapid-firing 203 mm (8-inch) guns. Additionally, two aircraft carriers were built on

3700-511: The last two of their Bremen -class cruisers in 1906 and 1907 and followed them up with four Königsberg -class and two Dresden -class cruisers between 1905 and 1908. These last two classes, larger and faster than the Bremen s, were armed the same (ten 4.1-inch guns) and carried less deck armor. Other major powers concentrated on battleship construction and built few cruisers. The United States , Italy , and Austria-Hungary each built only

3774-412: The light cruiser was found to be needed—one larger and more powerful than the light cruisers of a potential enemy but not as large and expensive as the battlecruiser so as to be built in sufficient numbers to protect merchant ships and serve in a number of combat theatres. With their intended targets being other cruisers and smaller vessels, the role of the heavy cruiser differed fundamentally from that of

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3848-531: The maximum limitations for heavy cruisers allowed under the Washington treaty. Japan laid down its four Mogami -class cruisers between 1931 and 1934. The political climate from 1936 to 1939 gave the renewed building of light cruisers an added urgency. The British built 11 during this period, which culminated in the two Town-class ships, armed with 12 6-inch (152 mm) guns. The new ships were larger and better armored than other British treaty cruisers, with

3922-545: The numbers of heavy cruisers that the Imperial Japanese Navy could have, as they considered heavy cruisers as key warships in a line of battle with their 8-inch guns and heavy torpedo armament. The IJN placed less priority on purpose-built light cruisers, most of their existing types dating back to the 1920s (the five World War I-era light cruisers that the IJN commissioned were less well-armed than light cruisers of

3996-585: The pond. This pond may have been on the east coast of the Cape Cod peninsula, but more probably it was on the south shore, in Nantucket Sound." In 1962 William Francis Gibbs commented on Hovgaard's 1944 book The United World. This is a splendid example of his clear understanding of world politics and the problems that existed or that would arise during the process of making effective peace. His ideas concerning peace and how to secure it read like

4070-417: The possession of a single rudder was based on cruisers rather than that of capital ships. The Alaska -class cruisers lacked the sophisticated underwater protection system of true capital ships, making them vulnerable to shells and torpedoes that hit under the waterline. They also had proportionately less weight in armour at 28.4% of displacement, in contrast to the British battlecruiser HMS  Hood of 30%,

4144-488: The protected cruisers Aurora ( St. Petersburg ) and USS  Olympia ( Philadelphia, Pennsylvania ), and the bow of Puglia ( Gardone Riviera ). In the United States Navy , light cruisers have the hull classification symbol CL . Both heavy cruisers and light cruisers were classified under a common CL/CA sequence after 1931. After World War II, US Navy created several light cruiser sub-variants:

4218-449: The ships it then had in service had become obsolete. The first of these, the ten Omaha -class ships, displaced 7,050 tons and were armed with twelve 6-inch (152 mm) guns. Eight of these guns were mounted in double-story casemates at the bow and stern, a reflection of the US prewar preference for heavy end-on fire. Fast and maneuverable, they were well-liked as seaboats despite being very wet in rough weather. The term light cruiser

4292-535: The shipyards modified the hull and superstructure in the 1930s to eliminate the rolling. The two vessels in this class, Pensacola and Salt Lake City , were originally classified as light cruisers due to their minimal armour until re-designated in July 1931 as heavy cruisers in accord with international practice of designating all cruisers with guns larger than 6". In 1930 the Washington Naval Treaty

4366-683: The sinking of RMS Titanic (later he would also give testimony on the RMS Lusitania ). Later he served as vice-president in The American-Scandinavian Foundation . In 1929, he was appointed to the Department of Commerce's Committee on Ship Construction, and later the same year he became a full member of the National Academy of Sciences . Hovgaard retired in 1933, but continued to be active as

4440-483: The size and carrying more than two times as much firepower. The Atlanta s and Dido s were born out of the tactical need for vessels to protect aircraft carriers, battleships and convoys from air attack. The United States would move into full wartime production of the light cruisers of the Cleveland -class of which 27 would be produced. Unwilling to allow changes to slow production, the United States allowed ships of

4514-520: The third class cruiser (of about 3,000 tons) started to carry thin steel armour on the outside of its hull and became known as a light cruiser . This new type was then joined by 5,000-ton light cruisers, analogous to the older second-class cruisers. The wide gap between the massive battlecruiser of perhaps 20,000 tons and 305 mm (12-inch) guns and the small light cruiser of up to 5,000 tons and 100 mm (4-in) or 155 mm (6-inch) guns naturally left room for an intermediate type. The first such design

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4588-476: The tonnage and firepower of cruisers to 10,000 tons in standard displacement and 8 inches for maximum main gun caliber. These limits were in the interests of the U.S. and Britain especially. Planners in the U.S. Navy had spent two years prior to the start of negotiations designing 10,000 ton, 8-inch cruisers and were convinced that smaller vessels would not be worthwhile. Britain had just built its Hawkins -class cruisers and wanted to ensure they would not fall prey to

4662-741: The two US Navy ship classes (besides the Nevada -class battleships) to have different-sized turrets for main armament (Subsequent US cruisers would mount nine 8" guns in three triple turrets 2 fore 1 aft). Their thin armour on the belt (varying from 2.5 to 4 inches (64 to 102 mm) in thickness) and deck 1.75 inches (44 mm) was no better than that on 6-inch-gunned cruisers and was inadequate to protect their vitals from enemy 8-inch shells. Also, their unusual main battery layout and heavy tripod fore-masts made these ships top-heavy and prone to excessive rolling. This combined with low freeboard forward made them inferior sea boats compared to later designs. Rework in

4736-523: The type to be outdated, Fisher authorized few new cruisers and scrapped 70 older ones. Fisher's belief that battlecruisers would take the place of light cruisers to protect commercial shipping soon proved impractical, as their high construction cost precluded their availability in sufficient numbers to do so, and destroyers were too small for scouting duties. The group of 21 Town-class cruisers begun in 1910 proved excellent in scouting in all types of weather and could carry enough fuel and ammunition to guard

4810-427: The war. While earlier heavy cruisers were noted for their powerful torpedo armament (especially Japanese heavy cruisers), later ships built by the USN concentrated mainly on anti-aircraft armament, as their main role was escorting aircraft carriers and troop transports instead of engaging in surface actions. Most Japanese heavy cruisers were sunk by aircraft or submarines, rather than in surface engagements. The US built

4884-544: Was a Trustee and Vice-President until his death. He was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences , American Geographical Society , Institute of the Aeronautical Sciences , National Academy of Sciences (elected in 1929), Institution of Naval Architects (London), American Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers , United States Naval Institute , American Mathematical Society , American Association of University Professors , Society for

4958-611: Was classified as armoured coast defence ships under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles . They superficially resembled contemporary battleships due to their massive main gun turrets and unusually high conning tower / bridge . However, they were in effect a heavy cruiser being up gunned to 11-inch batteries at the cost of slower speed; their displacement was declared at 10,000 tons but was in practice considerably greater. The Italian Navy first built two Trento -class cruisers, which sacrificed protection for speed, and then four Zara class ,

5032-567: Was extended by the London Naval Treaty , which finally settled the arguments on cruisers which had raged in the 1920s. The treaty defined limits on both heavy cruisers – those with guns larger than 155 mm (6.1 inches) – and light cruisers – those with smaller-calibre guns. The limit of 10,000 tons displacement still applied to both. This was the point at which the split between "heavy" and "light" cruisers finally became official and widespread. The Treaty satisfied Britain and America. However, it deeply offended Japan, as this severely limited

5106-410: Was given a new definition by the London Naval Treaty of 1930. Light cruisers were defined as cruisers having guns of 6.1-inch (155 mm) or smaller, with heavy cruisers defined as cruisers having guns of up to 8-inch (203 mm). In both cases, the ships could not be greater than 10,000 tons. After 1930, most naval powers concentrated on building light cruisers since they had already built up to

5180-483: Was more influenced by the desire to be able to match the Japanese ships while keeping enough cruisers for their other global responsibilities. With battleships heavily regulated by the Washington Treaty, and aircraft carriers not yet mature, the cruiser question became the focus of naval affairs. The British, with a strained economy and global commitments, favoured unlimited cruiser tonnage but strict limits on

5254-441: Was one of the foremost authorities on ship design in his generation, especially on the general and structural design of warships. He wrote several books on naval design and construction and the history thereof, but also on a diversity of other subjects, and he received a significant number of orders, awards and merits during his life. His brother is Danish Navy officer Andreas Peter Hovgaard , who led an Arctic survey expedition to

5328-528: Was the British 'Atlantic cruiser' proposal of 1912, which proposed a long-range cruiser of about 8,000 tons displacement with 190 mm (7.5-inch) guns. This was a response to a rumour that Germany was building cruisers to attack merchant shipping in the Atlantic with 170mm guns. The German raiders proved to be fictional and the 'Atlantic cruisers' were never built. However, in 1915 the requirement for long-range trade-protection cruisers resurfaced and resulted in

5402-432: Was the concern that a subsequent race in building larger, more powerful cruisers might subvert the usefulness of the prohibition on capital ship construction and encourage navies to squander their now-limited permissible tonnage for capital ships on fast vessels designed specifically to hunt down large cruisers. To avert these challenges, representatives of the United States, Great Britain, Japan, France and Italy set limits on

5476-540: Was thus a parity between the United States Navy and the Imperial Japanese Navy with respect to heavy cruisers. The Germans built their Admiral Hipper -class heavy cruisers of 14,000 tons, although the Anglo-German Naval Agreement was supposed to limit their displacement to the 10,000 tons specified by the Washington Naval Treaty. The US built the Baltimore class of heavy cruisers during

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