Battle cruiser

In traditional terminology, a battle cruiser was any large armed cruiser (or warship) with battleship armament and fast speed, that carried lighter armor than a battleship. 
In starship classification, the term battle cruiser was sometimes used synonymously with heavy cruiser. The Klingons once referred to the Federation as a battle cruiser. ()
According to the account of Duras, son of Toral, Jonathan Archer referred to his own as a "battle cruiser" when Duras encountered the Earth Starfleet ship in 2152. ()
The Klingon Empire and Romulan Star Empire utilized battle cruisers throughout the 23rd and 24th centuries.
Beginning in 2268, the Romulans acquired the D7 class battle cruiser from the Klingons as replacement of the Bird-of-Prey. ()
Some Klingon battle cruisers were equipped with cryonic technology, which allowed crews of the late 23rd century to be placed in cryogenic sleep for long voyages. () 
During the late 2370s, Klingon battle cruisers were not always the ship of choice for all missions, however, as more agile craft, like the Klingon Bird-of-Prey, were better suited for some tasks. () 
Tim Watters mentioned a Cardassian battle cruiser as the first combat engagement of Red Squad. ()
== Battle cruisers by race ==
* Andorian battle cruiser
* Earth/Federation battle cruisers
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* Jem'Hadar battle cruiser
* Klingon battle cruisers
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* Krios Battlecruiser
* Promellian battle cruiser
* Rekag battle cruiser
* Romulan battle cruisers
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* Son'a battle cruiser
==Battle cruisers by name ==
* Kohlar's battle cruiser
* Vorok's battle cruiser 
== Unspecified battle cruisers ==
* Cardassian battle cruiser
== Appendices ==
=== Background information ===
In the various scripts written for , the stardrive section of the was referred to as "the Enterprise battle cruiser". 
===External links===
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Category:Spacecraft classifications