This series is based on the "Warships of World War II" series of reference books and is intended for those readers who are interested in certain types of ships. It is no secret, that reference information, for example, on US Navy landing craft, which occupies several hundred pages of the fourth volume, which, according to the logic of our reference books, must be present there, will be redundant for readers interested, for example, only in large ships. The same applies to fans of various wargames or those who simulate naval battles: these categories of readers are mainly interested in the main combat ship types. On the other hand, alas, the cost of printing, logistics and related costs is constantly growing, the total cost of four books in the series has exceeded $ 200, and it is difficult to imagine that a potential reader wants to spend an extra ten dollars for an extra hundred pages of text he does not need. To be honest, I myself am like that, and when deciding to purchase a particular book, I also pay close attention to its price. In connection with the foregoing, a new series of brief reference books on the main types of warships was created, including the following volumes: 1. capital ships; 2. aircraft carrying ships; 3. cruisers; 4. destroyers and torpedo boats; 5. submarines. This book is the third in a series of guides to types of ships dedicated to cruisers - heavy, large and light cruisers, armored and protected cruisers, unprotected cruisers, cruisers-minelayers, cruisers-seaplane tenders.