Talk:General Discussion/@comment-114.160.71.148-20140714003939/@comment-23.28.25.108-20140716002711

"what is a battlecruiser" is a question guaranteed to start an argument on any naval forum. :-)

The British originated the class, sacrificing armor for speed. The Germans accepted slightly lower speeds, kept the protection, and had a smaller number of slightly smaller guns. (typical a step down from the current BB class.)  During the interwar years, with the new technological ability to make fast battleships, the line got real blurry between a battlecruiser and a second line fast battleship. The Germans considered the Twins to be battleships, despite their 11 inch guns, and they were armored as well as Bismarck or Tirpitz, and faster. The French considered the Dunkerques to be (second line) fast battleships, the rest of the world called them battlecruisers. The Alaskas were the prime example of a ship designed for the classic battlecruiser role of killing cruisers, but they were by design and designation "large cruisers" to the USN.

queek.