Light cruiser Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
A light cruiser is a warship that is not so large and powerful as a regular (or heavy) cruiser, but still larger than ships like destroyers. They were first built in Britain with the "Mercury" in 1879, and gradually became faster and more powerful, with greater numbers of uniform size main guns. Germany took the lead in light cruisers in the 1890s, building a class of fast cruisers copied by other nations. By World War I, British light cruisers often had either 2-6" and perhaps 8-4" guns, or a uniform armament of 6" guns, while German cruisers progressed during the war from 4.1" to 5.9" guns. In the World War II era, light cruisers had guns ranging from 5.25" to 6.1", the most common size being 6" (152mm), while heavy cruisers usually had a battery of 8" (203mm) guns. This was a significant difference in destructive power, since 8" shells were over twice the weight of 6" shells. Light cruisers were nevertheless useful for fire-support and as fleet escorts, and heavily used.In the Washington Naval Arms Limitation Treaty of 1920, light cruisers were defined as cruisers having guns of 6.1" or smaller, with heavy cruisers defined as cruisers having guns of up to 8".
In the United States Navy, light cruisers have the hull classification symbol of CL1.
| United States Navy | ||
|---|---|---|
| Hull Number1 | Class | Years in service |
| CL-1 to CL-3 | Chester | 1908 - 1930 |
| Cl-4 to CL-13 | Omaha | 1923 - 1949 |
| CL-14 | Not Assigned, intended for USS Chicago | |
| CL-15 | USS Olympia | 1895 - 1957 |
| CL-16 to CL-21 | Denver | 1903 - 1933 |
| CL-22 | USS New Orleans | 1898 - 1930 |
| CL-23 | USS Albany | 1900 - 1930 |
| CL-40 to CL-43, CL-46 to CL-48 |
Brooklyn | 1937 - 1992 |
| CL-49 and CL-50 | St. Louis | 1930 - 1951 |
| CL-51 to CL-54 | Atlanta | 1941 - 1959 |
| CL-55 to CL-67, CL-76 to CL-94, CL-99 to CL-105 |
Cleveland2 | 1942 - 1971 |
| CL-95 to CL-98 | Oakland | 1943 - 1966 |
| CL-106 to CL-118 | Fargo | 1945 - 1970 |
| CL-119 to CL-121 | Juneau | 1946 - 1966 |
| CL-144 to CL-147 | Worcester | 1948 - 1970 |
| CL-154 to CL-159 | abortive 1945 antiaircraft cruiser project | none built |
| CLGN-160 (to CGN-160 and then to CGN-9) | USS Long Beach | 1961-1995 |
| 1 Heavy cruisers and Light cruisers were classified under CL after 1931, hence there are some missing hull numbers |
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| 2Nine Cleveland-class cruisers were converted to Independence-class aircraft carriers |
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(mention light cruisers of other countries)
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