Why cruisers are gradually being eliminated by navies of various countries?

Why cruisers are gradually being eliminated by navies of various countries?

After World War II, all countries in the world stopped developing cruisers. So far, only five countries have cruisers, which shows that cruisers are indeed withdrawing from the world stage. The main reason for the elimination of cruisers is that with the appearance of naval aviation and missiles, the modern naval warfare mode has been completely changed.

First of all, let's talk about the causes of cruisers in modern naval battles. In modern naval warfare, the competition between ships is speed, armor and firepower. Ships come and go, cannons bombard each other, and whoever sinks first loses. Therefore, when the modern navy was just born, there was no distinction between the types of ships. People want every ship to be fast, with hard armor and fierce firepower. /kloc-in the 0 th and 7 th centuries, people found that speed, armor and firepower were mutually restricted. With heavy armor and many guns, ships are bound to run slowly, so people began to choose "fish and bear's paw" as a large surface ship that pays attention to armor and artillery and sacrifices speed. A large surface ship that pays attention to speed and sacrifices armor and artillery is called a cruiser. Battleships without speed advantage mainly defend naval bases or near ports, while cruisers with speed advantage mainly perform maritime patrols and ocean-going operations.

However, after the end of World War II, with naval aviation and missiles, modern naval warfare has evolved into a contest between ship-based air strikes, missile over-the-horizon strikes and ship (fleet) protective nets. It is difficult to see the scene that ships use naval guns to hurt each other at close range. Therefore, ships can develop greatly, but not with more guns, but with more platforms for taking off and landing aircraft. This is the aircraft carrier. Otherwise, it is necessary to control the tonnage to a smaller order of magnitude, take missiles as the main weapons and undertake specific tasks, such as frigates and destroyers. Therefore, battleships, cruisers and other large ships that rely on artillery as their main weapons are no longer useful.