Difference b/w Ship Classes

[Tachyon]

Hey, can someone tell me the difference between the following types of ships, I just want to know what purpose they served (no technical specifications needed) :

Auxillary Cruiser / Heavy Cruiser (are both the same?)
Battleship / Battlecruiser
Corvette / Frigate / Destroyer'

[Pants]

A Battlecruiser They evolved from armored Cruisers and in terms of ship classification they occupy a grey area between Cruisers and Battleships. Generally, battlecruisers were similar in layout and armament to battleships but with significantly less armour allowing for gains in speed.

An auxillary cruiser was a makeshift Cruiser Usually converted merchant vessels.
A cruiser was a dedicate vessel.

A Covette was generally used for coastal approaches, The corvette was not however an ideal design for an anti-submarine escort; they were really too short for open ocean work, too lightly armed, little faster than the merchantmen they escorted (especially with respect to faster German U-boat designs then emerging) and their single shaft meant that they were not particularly manouverable. Because of this, the corvette was superseded in the Royal Navy as the escort ship of choice by the Frigate.

Frigates, The term "frigate" passed out of use in the mid-19th century and was readopted during WWII by the Royal Navy to describe a new type of Anti-Submarine escort vessel that was larger than a Corvette, but smaller than a Destroyer. The frigate was introduced to remedy some of the shortcomings inherent in the corvette design, namely limited armament, a hull form not suited to open ocean work, a single Shaft which limited speed and manoeuvrability, and a lack of range.

Destroyers . As Submarines were more effective, and Aircraft had become important weapons of naval warfare; once again the fleet destroyers were unequipped for combatting these new targets. They were re-equipped with new Anti-Aircraft guns, Radar, and Ahead throwing ASW weapons, in addition to their existing light guns, depth charges, and torpedoes. By this time the destroyers had become large multi-purpose vessels, expensive targets in their own right rather than expendable vessels for the protection of others, also they were one of the most sunk kinds of ships even though they were mass produced.While the US introduced Destorer Escorts.
DD's and DE's are pretty much the same, just made by different countries.
:up:
Hope that helps.

Hehe i'm doing that much research for GWX i'm actually starting to see the world like the matrix, nothing but numbers, letters and facts&figures :rotfl:

[CCIP]

Yep, to be more simple about descriptions...

Auxiliary cruiser - converted transport or passenger liner with a battery of guns installed. A stop-gap measure, not a match for any large warship. Variety of roles, usually to scare off raiding enemy warships from attacking traffic.

Heavy cruiser - purpose-built warship. High speed, medium firepower, moderate armor. Variety of roles, from ocean patrol and commerce raiding to fleet action. Emphasis on speed, can pursue enemies effectively or run away from bigger ships.

Battleship - Good speed, high firepower, heavy armor. Originally intended to fight in battle formations against enemy fleets for sea domination. Can be used for other tasks, from commerce raiding to heavy shore bombardment.
In Battle of the Atlantic, Germans wanted to use their battleships to attack and destroy convoys from long distance.

Battlecruiser - Good to very good speed, high firepower, lighter armor than battleship
(German Scharnhorst and Gneisenau are sometimes called battlecruisers, but they actually had the armor and performance of battleships but with less firepower). Also originally intended to fight in formations, with emphasis on speed to give them an advantage in choosing firing position.

Corvette - very small warship, very light firepower, light armor. Fairly slow (slower than many subs), intended as cheap escort.

Frigate (or Sloop) - purpose-built anti-submarine escort. Very well armed with all sorts of anti-submarine weapons. Moderate speed (about the same as submarine). Possibly your worst enemy :arrgh!:

Destroyer - very fast, often well-armored small warship. Intended for a variety of roles, from surprise torpedo attacks against enemy fleets to anti-submarine escort.

This is in the WWII Battle of the Atlantic terms, mind you.

[Tachyon]

Hey, thanks a lot you guys! That was very helpful! Maybe this info should be added to GWX , Herr Lehmann are you reading this?