Editing Cruiser (section)

===Wartime cruiser production===
The US built cruisers in quantity through the end of the war, notably 14 {{sclass|Baltimore|cruiser|0}} heavy cruisers and 27 ''Cleveland''-class light cruisers, along with eight ''Atlanta''-class anti-aircraft cruisers. The ''Cleveland'' class was the largest cruiser class ever built in number of ships completed, with nine additional ''Cleveland''s completed as [[Independence-class aircraft carrier|light aircraft carriers]]. The large number of cruisers built was probably due to the significant cruiser losses of 1942 in the Pacific theater (seven American and five other Allied) and the perceived need for several cruisers to escort each of the numerous {{sclass|Essex|aircraft carrier|2}}s being built.<ref name=FriedCru1/> Losing four heavy and two small light cruisers in 1942, the Japanese built only five light cruisers during the war; these were small ships with six {{convert|6.1|in|mm|abbr=on|0}} guns each.<ref>Watts, pp. 109–113</ref> Losing 20 cruisers in 1940–42, the British completed no heavy cruisers, thirteen light cruisers ({{sclass|Fiji|cruiser|5}} and {{sclass|Minotaur|cruiser (1943)|5}} classes), and sixteen anti-aircraft cruisers (''Dido'' class) during the war.<ref>Gardiner and Chumbley, pp. 33–35</ref>