cruiser
A middle-large type of warship, so named for being a cruising warship. Smaller than a battleship, larger than a destroyer.
Cruisers have many sub-types, some overlapping with battleships (battlecruiser being one). The two most common types of cruisers are "light cruisers" and "heavy cruisers". The London Naval Treaty of 1930 limited light cruiser to 6.1 inch guns, heavy cruisers to no more than 8 inch guns, and both classes to a maximum of 10000 tons. Once the various naval treaties were discarded during the Second World War the tonnage of heavy cruisers began to increase. The role of light cruisers was scouting and anti-air protection, while the role of heavy cruisers was to engage enemy surface targets.
This tag implicates warship (learn more).