The Heavy cruiser reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Apr-2004 (provided by Fixed Reference: snapshots of Wikipedia from wikipedia.org)

Heavy cruiser

A heavy cruiser is a type of cruiser, a warship armed with big guns but smaller than a battleship.

In the United States Navy, the term first came into official use in 1930, with hull classification symbol CA. US heavy cruisers typically displaced between 10,000 and 15,000 tons, and mounted 8-inch (203 mm) guns as their main armament. The category fell out of use after World War II, with the existing heavy cruisers being either scrapped or converted to guided missile cruisers (general hull symbol CG).

Many other nations also built heavy cruisers in the 1930s and 1940s, with general characteristics similar to the US type.

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