There are many different ships in the world’s navies today. They all have different applications
and some classifications are exclusive to certain countries. Different countries have
put their effort into different kinds of ships and some have invested in almost all of them.
Strictly Speaking, in recent years the distinction between these ship types have become increasingly
blurred. During World War II, cruisers had displacements ranging from 6,000 to 15,000
tons, while destroyers were around 2,000 to 2,200 tons. Today, Arleigh Burke-class "destroyers"
have a displacement of over 7,000 tons, while Ticonderoga-class cruisers are barely larger
at 9,000 tons. A strong argument could be made that the current U.S. Navy, rather than
having 22 cruisers and 62+ destroyers, actually has 84+ cruisers and no destroyers.
So today we are going to discuss the difference between a cruiser, a destroyer, a frigate,
and a littoral combat ship Let's start with the "Cruiser"
A cruiser is a medium-sized ship that is optimized for general warfare. They can interdict surface
traffic, provide anti-aircraft cover to the fleet, perform anti-surface ship warfare,
and since the Cold War, they have had anti-submarine warfare capabilities as well. One can think
of a cruiser as being the standard navy surface warship, roughly equivalent to a sailing frigate
in 18th and early 19th Century fleets. In addition, cruisers are faster with smaller
guns and less armor than battleships with 8–10 in guns. The difference came out of
the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922, which would stop all future wars by limiting cruisers
to a maximum of 10,000 tons displacement and a maximum main battery caliber of 8 inches
after President Thomas Woodrow Wilson planned fleet of 50 modern battleships. In the cold
war, they were armed with guided missiles. Ticonderoga Aegis class were actually upgraded
the hull and machinery designs of Spruance-class destroyers.
And now we will discuss about "Frigates" By frigate, I will assume you are referring
to how that classification has been used in the 20th Century. The definition of a frigate
changed in 1975. Prior to 30 June 1975, a frigate was a ship that was somewhere between
a cruiser and a destroyer in both size and capabilities. It had the anti-aircraft systems
in the design spirit of a light cruiser and also the anti-submarine capabilities of a
destroyer. On 30 June 1975, all ships designated as frigates in the U.S. Navy were re-designated
as cruisers or destroyers, and the frigate designation now refers to escort vessels that
are essentially miniature destroyers. Frigates according to the modern classification
of U.S. navy warships are smaller ships than destroyers. They are designed primarily to
protect other ships such as merchant convoys and perform some Anti-Submarine Warfare duties.
They are cheaper but of more limited capability than destroyers. The last active class of
frigates in the US Navy was the Oliver Hazard Perry-class, decommissioned in September 2015,
leaving the navy no active frigates. Then let's take a look at "Destroyers"
Destroyers are smaller warships that have a large number of uses. They are well-suited
to escort missions, though they are also both large enough for and vital to combat fleet
operations. It is designed to destroy inbound threats to the carriers from subs, aircraft/missiles,
and other small, fast, agile threats. Destroyers are meant to have lots of firepower for knocking
things down, but are lightly armored and not built to soak up damage themselves. Newer
ones rely on stealth, speed, and countermeasures to avoid being damaged. Destroyers were first
developed by the Spanish Navy in the 1880s as a countermeasure to the new torpedo boats
that were viewed as a major threat to battleships at the time. They were fast ships equipped
with small-caliber guns. The U.S. Navy commissioned its first destroyer in 1902. Being fast and
nimble, destroyers were themselves soon equipped with torpedoes such that they took on the
role of fleet torpedo boat as well as fleet torpedo boat destroyer. With the threat posed
by submarine warfare in World War I, the destroyer was the logical countermeasure to this threat
as well, and destroyers became equipped with hydrophones and depth charges. When aviation
became a crucial aspect of naval warfare in World War II, destroyers were equipped with
anti-aircraft guns too. The destroyer had become an indispensable
ship used for all aspects of naval warfare, with crucial tasks such as anti-submarine
warfare, patrol, escort, air defense, screening, and torpedo platforms. Like cruisers and frigates,
destroyers incorporated guided missiles and helicopters during the Cold War, although
unlike cruisers they retained much of their gunnery as well, though this gunnery was low
caliber to begin with. And the last one is Littoral Combat Ship or
(LCS) LCS is a new class of ship, smaller than a
frigate but larger than a traditional patrol boat. It is built with the express intention
of waging battle at the Littoral, which is shallow water near land level. They were also
made in a modular fashion in which modular mission-specific (anti-sub, air warfare, anti-piracy,
minesweeping, etc) System packages could be easily and quickly changed out. The LCS is
also one of the first “smart ships” requiring far less crew than other warships of similar
size due to the large amount of automated equipment. Like the Frigate, it is a small,
fast, and agile ship measuring between 378–418 feet long (depending on Freedom Class or Independence
Class), 57–114 feet wide, and 2,300–3,500 metric tons. And top speeds range from 44–47
knots. The LCS seems to be the natural evolution
for the 21st century, however its ability to project power seems limited due to its
smaller size, which would be OK for smaller nations but against a well-armed naval power,
it may not be so good in such a confrontation and its going to be susceptible to the same
stresses and strains that WWII smaller ships found on arctic convoys that it may not be
able to weather heavy seas as well as a cruiser hence why a good naval policy is to ensure
you have craft able to work in any seas and in any conditions but maybe American policy
is seeing the future demand for its navy may not be such a global presence and of course
the LCS will be ideal for defense of the realm and close shore conflict management.
In conclusion, I'll try and make this as succinct as possible.
Each type of ship has a specific role in the mission of the Navy and as part of a combat
group. Cruisers use the prefix CG before the hull
number have a mission of anti-aircraft support, Frigates use prefix FF, are considerably smaller
with smaller crews and have a task of being escort and miscellaneous mission ships, while
destroyers use the prefix DD, have an anti-submarine defense. Both of these ships are similarly
sized and crewed but have different systems to accomplish their missions. The last one
is Littoral Combat Ships which use the prefix LCS are the newest ship and I believe add
additional capability to the amphibious fleet of the Navy.
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