Heavy Cruisers
Welcome
Heavy cruisers were the largest and most powerful traditional cruisers of the interwar and World War Two periods of the early 20th century. They were first defined by the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922 and later the London Naval Treaty of 1930 as having guns of around 203mm (8 inches) in calibre. However, some heavy cruiser primary armament varied with the Hawkins and Kirov-classes featuring 191mm (7.5 inches) and 180mm (7 inches) guns respectively and outliers such as the Deutschland-class featuring 283mm (11.1 inches) guns (and frustratingly termed “pocket battleships” as a result by the British).
Some older cruisers were redesignated following the establishment of the new cruiser definitions that resulted from the 1930 London Naval Treaty, although many armoured cruisers did not meet the new definition of “heavy cruiser” and the role it played in modern navies. With the advent of ever-more powerful destroyers and light cruisers, the heavy cruiser played a role in the potential destruction of these vessels while being able to hold their own and escape from larger surface combatants such as battlecruisers and fast battleships.
The most advanced and powerful heavy cruisers were the Des Moines-class of the late 1940s, when the U.S. Navy arguably perfected the design, albeit too late to see action in the Second World War. These cruisers were classed as a huge threat by the USSR and led to a rapid design programme in the late 1940s and early 1950s to build competing ships, but these led to nothing after the death of Joseph Stalin in 1953. After this point, no more heavy cruisers would be built and with the advent of missile technology, heavy cruisers were either converted to guided missile cruisers or scrapped. The last all-gun heavy cruiser to be decommissioned was USS Newport News, a Des Moines-class heavy cruiser that was decommissioned in 1975 and struck in 1978.
Countries
Argentina
Veinticinco de Mayo-Class
Australia
Cockatoo-Class
Australia-Class
Shropshire
Austria-Hungary
Project VII
China
Monfalcone Heavy Cruiser Design
Chinese Interwar Heavy Cruiser Projects
France
Duquesne-Class
Suffren-Class
Algérie
Saint Louis-Class
Germany
Zenker Heavy Cruiser Projects & German Interwar Design Studies
Deutschland-Class
D-Class
Admiral Hipper-Class
P-Class
German Second World War Heavy Cruiser Projects
Italy
Trento-Class
Zara-Class
Bolzano
Italian Interwar & Second World War Heavy Cruiser Projects
Super-Heavy Cruisers/Large Cruisers
Ansaldo Big Gun Cruiser
Japan
Furutaka-Class
Aoba-Class
Myōkō-Class
Takao-Class
Mogami-Class
Tone-Class
Ibuki-Class
1941 Type A-Class
Japanese Interwar & Second World War Heavy Cruiser Projects
Super-Heavy Cruisers/Large Cruisers
B-65-Class
Russia
Kirov-Class (Project 26)
Maxim Gorkiy-Class (Projects 26bis & 26bis2)
Russian Interwar & Second World War Heavy Cruiser Projects
Tallinn (Project 83)
Project 65-Class
Project 66-Class
Project 84-Class
Super-Heavy Cruisers/Large Cruisers
Kronshtadt-Class (Project 69)
Stalingrad-Class (Project 82)
Spain
Canarias-Class
Spanish Interwar & Second World War Heavy Cruiser Projects
Sweden
Swedish Interwar & Second World War Heavy Cruiser Projects
United Kingdom
Hawkins-Class
County-Class (Kent-Subclass)
County-Class (London-Subclass)
County-Class (Norfolk-Subclass)
County-Class (Surrey-Subclass)
York-Class
British Interwar Heavy Cruiser Projects
Churchill's Heavy Cruiser Projects
Admiral-Class
United States of America
Pensacola-Class
Northampton-Class
Portland-Class
New Orleans-Class
Wichita
Baltimore-Class
Oregon City-Class
Des Moines-Class
American Interwar & Second World War Heavy Cruiser Projects
Super-Heavy Cruisers/Large Cruisers
Alaska-Class
American Interwar & Second World War Large Cruiser Projects
In order of appearance, left-to-right, top-to-bottom. Only where attribution is required has it been provided:
Cockatoo-Class Image: By Tzoli https://www.deviantart.com/tzoli/art/Cockatoo-Heavy-Cruiser-Proposal-765349122
Project VII Image: By Tzoli https://www.deviantart.com/tzoli/art/Project-VII-Heavy-Cruiser-Design-688239702
Monfalcone Heavy Cruiser Design Image: By Tzoli https://www.deviantart.com/tzoli/art/Monfalcone-type-Great-Cruiser-Design-for-China-688181815
Chinese Interwar Heavy Cruiser Projects Image: By Tzoli https://www.deviantart.com/tzoli/art/Harima-Shipyard-Heavy-Cruiser-Design-for-China-881743057
Saint Louis-Class Image: By Garlicdesign of Shipbucket, Available Under CC-BY-NC 4.0 License http://www.shipbucket.com/license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Zenker Heavy Cruiser Projects & German Interwar Design Studies Image: By DG_Alpha of Shipbucket, Available Under CC-BY-NC 4.0 License http://www.shipbucket.com/license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
D-Class Image: By Maomatic of Shipbucket, Available Under CC-BY-NC 4.0 License http://www.shipbucket.com/license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
P-Class Image: By Ashley of Shipbucket, Available Under CC-BY-NC 4.0 License http://www.shipbucket.com/license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
German Second World War Heavy Cruiser Projects Image: By Maomatic of Shipbucket, Available Under CC-BY-NC 4.0 License http://www.shipbucket.com/license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Ansaldo Big Gun Cruiser Image: By Tzoli https://www.deviantart.com/tzoli/art/Ansaldo-Big-Gun-Cruiser-Design-for-Russia-725546481
Italian Interwar & Second World War Heavy Cruiser Projects Image: By Dalamace of Shipbucket, Available Under CC-BY-NC 4.0 License http://www.shipbucket.com/license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Ibuki-Class Image: By BB1987 of Shipbucket, Available Under CC-BY-NC 4.0 License http://www.shipbucket.com/license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
1941 Type A-Class Image: By BB1987 of Shipbucket, Available Under CC-BY-NC 4.0 License http://www.shipbucket.com/license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
B-65-Class Image: By Tzoli https://www.deviantart.com/tzoli/art/B-65-Type-Battlecruiser-Design-729415860
Japanese Interwar & Second World War Heavy Cruiser Projects Image: By Tzoli https://www.deviantart.com/tzoli/art/Tone-Kai-type-Heavy-Cruiser-557681807
Russian Interwar & Second World War Heavy Cruiser Projects Image: By Tzoli https://www.deviantart.com/tzoli/art/Ansaldo-Big-Gun-Cruiser-Design-for-Russia-725546481
Kronshtadt-Class Image: By Gollevainen of Shipbucket, Available Under CC-BY-NC 4.0 License http://www.shipbucket.com/license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Project 65-Class Image: https://wiki.wargaming.net/en/File:Project_65_1_zpsudtejbnw1.png
Stalingrad-Class Image: By Gollevainen of Shipbucket, Available Under CC-BY-NC 4.0 License http://www.shipbucket.com/license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Project 66-Class Image: By Gollevainen of Shipbucket, Available Under CC-BY-NC 4.0 License http://www.shipbucket.com/license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Project 84-Class Image: https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/russian-post-war-aa-cruiser-project.20557/
Spanish Interwar & Second World War Heavy Cruiser Projects Image: By ALVAMA of Shipbucket, Available Under CC-BY-NC 4.0 License http://www.shipbucket.com/license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Swedish Interwar & Second World War Heavy Cruiser Projects Image: https://naval-encyclopedia.com/ww2/sweden/tre-kronor-class-cruisers.php
Surrey-Class Image: By Hood of Shipbucket, Available Under CC-BY-NC 4.0 License http://www.shipbucket.com/license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
British Interwar Heavy Cruiser Projects Image: By Hood of Shipbucket, Available Under CC-BY-NC 4.0 License http://www.shipbucket.com/license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Churchill’s Heavy Cruiser Projects Image: By Tzoli https://www.deviantart.com/tzoli/art/Royal-Navy-Churchill-Type-Heavy-Cruiser-Design-A-871196110
Admiral-Class Image: By Tzoli https://www.deviantart.com/tzoli/art/Admiral-Class-Heavy-Cruiser-Final-Design-874924962
American Interwar & Second World War Heavy Cruiser Projects Image: By Dalamace of Shipbucket, Available Under CC-BY-NC 4.0 License http://www.shipbucket.com/license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
American Interwar & Second World War Large Cruiser Projects Image: By Dalamace of Shipbucket, Available Under CC-BY-NC 4.0 License http://www.shipbucket.com/license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
