Battlecruiser

**Battlecruisers** (sometimes spelt as **battle cruisers** or **battle-cruisers**) are large warships that are essentially upgraded cruisers that feature more powerful firepower and faster speeds than standard cruisers. They are generally seen as an intermediate link between a cruiser and a battleship.

Battlecruisers appear several times throughout the *Foxtrot: Foxes in Arms* series, commonly being referenced as being used in Russia and Urocyia in more modern times.

## Development

Battlecruisers were initially developed in the first half of the 20th Century as relatively large capital ships. Compared to contemporary battleships, these ships had thinner armor and lighter main batteries comparatively, and thus seen as an intermediate link between battleships and heavy cruisers. To make up for the thinner armor, battlecruisers were typically faster and more maneuverable than most battleships of the First World War era. The British are credited with developing the first battlecruisers, with the aim of being able to hunt down slower armored cruisers while being able to outrun battleships that had a similar or greater armament. During this period, these ships were used by the navies of the UK, France, Germany, the Ottoman Empire (Turkey today), Australia, and Japan, and had been involved in numerous surface engagements during this conflict.

By the end of the war, and in the interwar period, the lines between battleships and battlecruisers were blurring, as new battleships became much faster, and battlecruisers gained more armor. Effectively, the "fast battleships" of the 1930s made the original battlecruiser concept obsolete, with the British still using the term for their original purpose, while Japan's remaining battlecruisers were upgraded into full-fledged fast battleships. They once more saw action during World War II, but the vast majority had been lost, with only one battlecruiser surviving to the end. After this war, efforts were made in building vessels such as convoy escorts, aircraft carriers, and cargo ships instead of battleships and battlecruisers.

However, during the Cold War, the Soviet Navy developed the large *Kirov*-class nuclear powered guided-missile cruisers, which were considerably larger than any cruisers in service at the time. This led to many Western commentators term these ships as "battlecruisers" due to their sheer size, appearance, and firepower. The *Kirov*-class entering service was even a huge factor in the recommissioning of the four *Iowa*-class battleships by the United States Navy in the 1980s.

## History

While the development of battlecruisers is identical to real life, these ships are still being used by a couple of navies in the *FFIA* universe.

Russia operates at least two *Kirov*-class battlecruisers which were inherited from the old Soviet Navy. These ships have been in service since either the late 1980s to the early 1990s and having been in use since, being the largest surface combatants other than aircraft carriers built in more modern times (they're about the size of a First World War-era battleship). One such vessel, the *Pyotr Velikiy*, is in service as the flagship of the Russian Navy's Northern Fleet, and has been involved between several conflicts with Russia as of late, though it's not quite known what all she's done in the series.

The current Imperial Navy of Urocyia is also believed to be operating several battlecruisers. They are believed to be more modernized, or modified, versions of the Soviet *Kirov*-class, but built to serve the needs of the Urocyan Navy. Compared to the Russian battlecruisers, Urocyia's modified *Kirov*-class ships have seen a bit more action in later years, taking part in the Urocyan Civil Wars and Urocyia's more recent conflicts with the United States. At least one such battlecruiser is the flagship of one of the Urocyan Navy's ocean-going fleets.

## Trivia

* Russia refers to the *Kirov*-class cruisers as heavy nuclear missile cruisers, while it was officials in the West that resurrected the term "battlecruisers" to describe the ships
	+ The *Kirovs* have also been sometimes erroneously referred to as battleships by some, both in this series and other medias. A couple of examples is in the *Ace Combat* game series, where a the *Kirov*-class cruiser *Dysnomia* is called a battleship in-game, and in the TV show *The Last Ship*, the *Vyerni*, an older *Kirov*-class, has been called a "Russian nuclear battleship" in an episode.

## References

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battlecruiser

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirov-class\_battlecruiser