Larger than a destroyer and significantly smaller than a battleship, the World War II cruiser combined the agility and high speed of the smaller ship with something of the range, armament, and armor of the larger vessel. It was, therefore, a ship of great versatility, used for everything from convoy escort duty, to fleet reconnaissance, to offensive operations, to amphibious fire support. Its name, appropriately enough, was derived from the era of sail, when cruiser was virtually synonymous with frigate and described a fighting ship that was smaller and more maneuverable than a ship of the line (the sail equivalent of a battleship), but still a formidable firing platform. In consequence, the cruiser-frigate became the workhorse of many navies, performing scouting duties and aggressively hunting for enemy vessels. By the end of the 19th century, early in the age of steam propulsion, the cruiser emerged as the frigate of the era.

By the beginning of the 20th century, cruisers were evolving from so-called protected cruisers, which were only partly armored with plating on their decks, to fully armored cruisers, plated on the hull. However, by World War I, the modern cruiser had become, in effect, a small battleship, displacing up to 20,000 tons and resembling a mighty dreadnought, though with limited armor in order to achieve speed. Such vessels were called battle cruisers and, while fast (25+ knots), were vulnerable because of their thin armor.

During the interwar years, the cruiser proper was revived by the Washington Treaty of 1922, which limited displacement of this vessel type to 10,000 tons, about half the size of a World War I-era battle cruiser. However, well before the outbreak of World War II, most of the signatories to the treaty had violated it by building larger cruisers. It was perceived that the function of the cruiser had changed. Aircraft carrier-launched aircraft performed the role of scouts, and submarines were seen as superior to surface ships for purposes of raiding convoys. Therefore, the cruiser mission was redefined as chiefly a firing platform, much like a battleship. The cruiser's guns were used to provide artillery bombardment in conjunction with amphibious operations and also to supply antiaircraft fire as part of the defensive component of aircraft carrier task forces. Indeed, some cruisers were built or reconfigured primarily for the antiaircraft role, bristling with many four- or five-inch rapid-fire guns. . .

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