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Light cruiser

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.

For instance, in the World War II era, heavy cruisers usually had a battery of 8-inch (203 mm) guns, while light cruisers had 6-inch (152 mm) guns. This was a significant difference in destructive power, since 8-inch shells were over twice the weight of 6-inch shells, but light cruisers were nevertheless useful for fire support and as fleet escorts, and heavily used.

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
1 Heavy cruisers and Light cruisers were classified under CL
after 1931, hence there are some missing hull numbers
2Nine Cleveland-class cruisers were converted to
Independence-class aircraft carriers

(mention light cruisers of other countries)