In the present day, advances in technology meant that the destroyer could perform the duties that once required a cruiser's services more cheaply, efficiently and effectively, leading to its declining use in most navies today. Up to the opening stages of World War II, the various naval treaties - or their evasion thereof - created classes of cruisers such as 'heavy cruiser', 'battlecruiser', or 'pocket battleship', reflecting their disproportionate firepower and performance in contrast to what the treaties were supposed to limit. The advent of steam power and steel accelerated the growth of the cruiser's development, discarding unwieldy, unreliable sails and wooden hulls for powerful engines and stronger hulls and components. Rather than a category of vessel, the designation 'cruiser' originally meant the purpose or mission for the ship to 'cruise' long distances in escort, scouting, and raiding duties, or simply to provide an intermediate military presence where the deployment of larger, more expensive battleships were deemed strategically and financially unwise. whatever needs to be done at any given moment. Cruisers are often called upon to hunt down enemy destroyers, perform quick response duties, escort and protect merchant shipping or larger vessels like battleships and aircraft carriers from various threats, provide an additional layer of defense.

Larger than destroyers yet smaller than battleships, cruisers have fulfilled as many roles as they had designations common ones include 'light', 'heavy', 'protected', 'armored', 'torpedo', and later, 'missile' cruisers.

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