The 1840s saw the construction of experimental steam-powered frigates and sloops.
By the middle of the 1850s, the British and U.S.
Navies were both building steam frigates with very long hulls and a heavy gun armament, for instance or . The 1860s saw the introduction of the ironclad.
In spite of their great speed, they would have been wasted in a cruising role. The French constructed a number of smaller ironclads for overseas cruising duties, starting with the , commissioned 1865.
Even though the Peruvian vessel was obsolete by the time of the encounter, it stood up well to roughly 50 hits from British shells. ==Steel cruisers== In the 1880s, naval engineers began to use steel as a material for construction and armament.
During the two following decades, this cruiser type came to be the inspiration for combining heavy artillery, high speed and low displacement. ===Torpedo cruisers=== The torpedo cruiser (known in the Royal Navy as the torpedo gunboat) was a smaller unarmored cruiser, which emerged in the 1880s–1890s.
Protected cruisers generally had an armored deck with sloped sides, providing similar protection to a light armored belt at less weight and expense. The first protected cruiser was the Chilean ship Esmeralda, launched in 1883.
The armored cruisers of the 1890s greatly resembled the battleships of the day; they tended to carry slightly smaller main armament ( rather than 12-inch) and have somewhat thinner armor in exchange for a faster speed (perhaps rather than 18).
After the 1900s, these ships were usually traded for faster ships with better sea going qualities. ===Pre-dreadnought armored cruisers=== Steel also affected the construction and role of armored cruisers.
This type of vessel came to be known as the battlecruiser, and the first were commissioned into the Royal Navy in 1907.
By the British , the first of which was launched in 1909, it was possible for a small, fast cruiser to carry both belt and deck armor, particularly when turbine engines were adopted.
The heavy cruiser's immediate precursors were the light cruiser designs of the 1910s and 1920s; the US lightly armored 8-inch "treaty cruisers" of the 1920s (built under the Washington Naval Treaty) were originally classed as light cruisers until the London Treaty forced their redesignation. Initially, all cruisers built under the Washington treaty had torpedo tubes, regardless of nationality.
The first heavy cruisers were built in 1915, although it only became a widespread classification following the London Naval Treaty in 1930.
By the time of World War I, cruisers had accelerated their development and improved their quality significantly, with drainage volume reaching 3000–4000 tons, a speed of 25–30 knots and a calibre of 127–152 mm. ==Mid-20th century== Naval construction in the 1920s and 1930s was limited by international treaties designed to prevent the repetition of the Dreadnought arms race of the early 20th century.
The heavy cruiser's immediate precursors were the light cruiser designs of the 1910s and 1920s; the US lightly armored 8-inch "treaty cruisers" of the 1920s (built under the Washington Naval Treaty) were originally classed as light cruisers until the London Treaty forced their redesignation. Initially, all cruisers built under the Washington treaty had torpedo tubes, regardless of nationality.
In 1941 the 1920s light cruisers and were converted to torpedo cruisers with four guns and forty torpedo tubes.
Light cruisers of the 1920s had displacements of less than 10,000 tons and a speed of up to 35 knots.
In 1922 the Washington Naval Treaty placed a formal limit on these cruisers, which were defined as warships of up to 10,000 tons displacement carrying guns no larger than 8 inches in calibre; [cruiser]s had 8-inch guns, while those with guns of 6.1 inches or less were light cruisers, which shaped cruiser design until the end of World War II.
The Washington Naval Treaty of 1922 placed limits on the construction of ships with a standard displacement of more than 10,000 tons and an armament of guns larger than 8-inch (203 mm).
After the signing of the Washington Treaty on Arms Limitation in 1922, the tonnage and quantity of battleships, aircraft carriers and cruisers were severely restricted.
Beginning with the launched in 1925, every Japanese heavy cruiser was armed with torpedoes, larger than any other cruisers'.
By the time of World War I, cruisers had accelerated their development and improved their quality significantly, with drainage volume reaching 3000–4000 tons, a speed of 25–30 knots and a calibre of 127–152 mm. ==Mid-20th century== Naval construction in the 1920s and 1930s was limited by international treaties designed to prevent the repetition of the Dreadnought arms race of the early 20th century.
A number of navies commissioned classes of cruisers at the top end of this limit, known as "treaty cruisers". The London Naval Treaty in 1930 then formalised the distinction between these "heavy" cruisers and light cruisers: a "heavy" cruiser was one with guns of more than 6.1-inch (155 mm) calibre.
Thus, most light cruisers ordered after 1930 were the size of heavy cruisers but with more and smaller guns.
The first heavy cruisers were built in 1915, although it only became a widespread classification following the London Naval Treaty in 1930.
However, in 1930, results of war games caused the US Naval War College to conclude that only perhaps half of cruisers would use their torpedoes in action.
They were seen in the 1930s as a new and serious threat by both Britain and France.
In 1930 the London Naval Treaty allowed large light cruisers to be built, with the same tonnage as heavy cruisers and armed with up to fifteen guns.
In a return to the thoughts of the independent operations cruiser-carriers of the 1930s and the Soviet Kiev class, the ship was to be fitted with a hangar, elevators, and a flight deck.
After building smaller light cruisers with six or eight 6-inch guns launched 1931–35, the British Royal Navy followed with the 12-gun in 1936.
All three ships were launched between 1931 and 1934, and served with Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II.
Thus, beginning with launched in 1933, new cruisers were built without torpedoes, and torpedoes were removed from older heavy cruisers due to the perceived hazard of their being exploded by shell fire.
By 1933 Japan had developed the Type 93 torpedo for these ships, eventually nicknamed "Long Lance" by the Allies.
The Imperial Japanese Navy began this new race with the , launched in 1934.
All three ships were launched between 1931 and 1934, and served with Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II.
After the start of World War I, her four 120 mm main guns were landed and her four 75 mm (12-pounder) secondary guns were modified for anti-aircraft fire. The development of the anti-aircraft cruiser began in 1935 when the Royal Navy re-armed and .
After building smaller light cruisers with six or eight 6-inch guns launched 1931–35, the British Royal Navy followed with the 12-gun in 1936.
Panzerschiff Admiral Graf Spee represented Germany in the 1937 Cornation Fleet Review. The British press referred to the vessels as pocket battleships, in reference to the heavy firepower contained in the relatively small vessels; they were considerably smaller than contemporary battleships, though at 28 knots were slower than battlecruisers.
In 1937–41 the Japanese, having withdrawn from all naval treaties, upgraded or completed the Mogami and es as heavy cruisers by replacing their triple turrets with twin turrets.
However, in 1939 the Mogamis were refitted as heavy cruisers with ten guns. ===1939 to Pearl Harbor=== In December 1939, three British cruisers engaged the German "pocket battleship" Admiral Graf Spee (which was on a commerce raiding mission) in the Battle of the River Plate; Admiral Graf Spee then took refuge in neutral Montevideo, Uruguay.
While the Kriegsmarine reclassified them as heavy cruisers in 1940, Deutschland-class ships continued to be called pocket battleships in the popular press. ===Large cruiser=== The American represented the supersized cruiser design.
New construction was undertaken to create cruisers of similar speed and displacement with dual-purpose guns, which offered good anti-aircraft protection with anti-surface capability for the traditional light cruiser role of defending capital ships from destroyers. The first purpose built anti-aircraft cruiser was the British , completed in 1940–42.
On 8 June 1940 the German capital ships and , classed as battleships but with large cruiser armament, sank the aircraft carrier with gunfire.
From October 1940 through March 1941 the German heavy cruiser (also known as "pocket battleship", see above) conducted a successful commerce-raiding voyage in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. On 27 May 1941, attempted to finish off the German battleship with torpedoes, probably causing the Germans to scuttle the ship.
Losing 20 cruisers in 1940–42, the British completed no heavy cruisers, thirteen light cruisers ( and classes), and sixteen anti-aircraft cruisers (Dido class) during the war. ==Late 20th century== The rise of air power during World War II dramatically changed the nature of naval combat.
In 1941 the 1920s light cruisers and were converted to torpedo cruisers with four guns and forty torpedo tubes.
From October 1940 through March 1941 the German heavy cruiser (also known as "pocket battleship", see above) conducted a successful commerce-raiding voyage in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. On 27 May 1941, attempted to finish off the German battleship with torpedoes, probably causing the Germans to scuttle the ship.
One 28 cm triple turret survives near Trondheim, Norway. ===Pearl Harbor through Dutch East Indies campaign=== The attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941 brought the United States into the war, but with eight battleships sunk or damaged by air attack.
On 10 December 1941 HMS Prince of Wales and the battlecruiser were sunk by land-based torpedo bombers northeast of Singapore.
However, on 15 September she was torpedoed while escorting a carrier group and had to return to the US for repairs. Generally, the Japanese held their capital ships out of all surface actions in the 1941–42 campaigns or they failed to close with the enemy; the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal in November 1942 was the sole exception.
The four ships performed shore bombardment in Malaya, Singapore, and Guadalcanal and escorted the raid on Ceylon and other carrier forces in 1941–42.
It included six battleships (all but one previously damaged in 1941 at Pearl Harbor), four heavy cruisers (one Australian), four light cruisers, and 28 destroyers, plus a force of 39 PT boats.
The Japanese took exactly the opposite approach with cruiser torpedoes, and this proved crucial to their tactical victories in most of the numerous cruiser actions of 1942.
The Japanese were able to keep the Type 93's performance and oxygen power secret until the Allies recovered one in early 1943, thus the Allies faced a great threat they were not aware of in 1942.
Also, until 1943–44 the light anti-aircraft armament of most cruisers was weak. In July 1942 an attempt to intercept Convoy PQ 17 with surface ships, including the heavy cruiser Admiral Scheer, failed due to multiple German warships grounding, but air and submarine attacks sank 2/3 of the convoy's ships.
In August 1942 Admiral Scheer conducted Operation Wunderland, a solo raid into northern Russia's Kara Sea.
She bombarded Dikson Island but otherwise had little success. On 31 December 1942 the Battle of the Barents Sea was fought, a rare action for a Murmansk run because it involved cruisers on both sides.
One of the cruisers was the preserved . Scharnhorst's sister Gneisenau, damaged by a mine and a submerged wreck in the Channel Dash of 13 February 1942 and repaired, was further damaged by a British air attack on 27 February 1942.
It was now clear that surface ships could not operate near enemy aircraft in daylight without air cover; most surface actions of 1942–43 were fought at night as a result.
Generally, both sides avoided risking their battleships until the Japanese attack at Leyte Gulf in 1944. Six of the battleships from Pearl Harbor were eventually returned to service, but no US battleships engaged Japanese surface units at sea until the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal in November 1942, and not thereafter until the Battle of Surigao Strait in October 1944.
was on hand for the initial landings at Guadalcanal on 7 August 1942, and escorted carriers in the Battle of the Eastern Solomons later that month.
However, on 15 September she was torpedoed while escorting a carrier group and had to return to the US for repairs. Generally, the Japanese held their capital ships out of all surface actions in the 1941–42 campaigns or they failed to close with the enemy; the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal in November 1942 was the sole exception.
On 7 August 1942 US Marines were landed on Guadalcanal and other nearby islands, beginning the Guadalcanal Campaign.
Along with two carrier battles, several major surface actions occurred, almost all at night between cruiser-destroyer forces. Battle of Savo Island On the night of 8–9 August 1942 the Japanese counterattacked near Guadalcanal in the Battle of Savo Island with a cruiser-destroyer force.
Savo was the first surface action of the war for almost all the US ships and personnel; few US cruisers and destroyers were targeted or hit at Coral Sea or Midway. Battle of the Eastern Solomons On 24–25 August 1942 the Battle of the Eastern Solomons, a major carrier action, was fought.
Fear of air power on both sides resulted in all surface actions in the Solomons being fought at night. Battle of Cape Esperance The Battle of Cape Esperance occurred on the night of 11–12 October 1942.
The US convoy delivered the Army troops as scheduled on the 13th. Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands The Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands took place 25–27 October 1942.
The next major carrier operations for the US were the carrier raid on Rabaul and support for the invasion of Tarawa, both in November 1943. Naval Battle of Guadalcanal The Naval Battle of Guadalcanal occurred 12–15 November 1942 in two phases.
However, dawn (and US aircraft, US artillery, and a US destroyer) found them still beached, and they were destroyed. Battle of Tassafaronga The Battle of Tassafaronga took place on the night of 30 November – 1 December 1942.
The Japanese withdrew; the Americans pursued them until dawn, then returned to the landing area to provide anti-aircraft cover. After the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands in October 1942, both sides were short of large 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 s being built.
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 guns each.
Another was the Japanese Mogami, which was converted to carry a large floatplane group in 1942.
The Japanese were able to keep the Type 93's performance and oxygen power secret until the Allies recovered one in early 1943, thus the Allies faced a great threat they were not aware of in 1942.
Also, until 1943–44 the light anti-aircraft armament of most cruisers was weak. In July 1942 an attempt to intercept Convoy PQ 17 with surface ships, including the heavy cruiser Admiral Scheer, failed due to multiple German warships grounding, but air and submarine attacks sank 2/3 of the convoy's ships.
Both sides withdrew from the action for fear of the other side's torpedoes. On 26 December 1943 the German capital ship Scharnhorst was sunk while attempting to intercept a convoy in the Battle of the North Cape.
She began a conversion process to mount six guns instead of nine guns, but in early 1943 Hitler (angered by the recent failure at the Battle of the Barents Sea) ordered her disarmed and her armament used as coast defence weapons.
It was a pivotal battle, as it left the US and Japanese with only two large carriers each in the South Pacific (another large Japanese carrier was damaged and under repair until May 1943).
Due to the high carrier attrition rate with no replacements for months, for the most part both sides stopped risking their remaining carriers until late 1943, and each side sent in a pair of battleships instead.
The next major carrier operations for the US were the carrier raid on Rabaul and support for the invasion of Tarawa, both in November 1943. Naval Battle of Guadalcanal The Naval Battle of Guadalcanal occurred 12–15 November 1942 in two phases.
The next day the Japanese Navy proposed abandoning Guadalcanal; this was approved by the Imperial General Headquarters on 31 December and the Japanese left the island in early February 1943. ===Post-Guadalcanal=== After the Japanese abandoned Guadalcanal in February 1943, Allied operations in the Pacific shifted to the New Guinea campaign and isolating Rabaul.
Despite their tactical victory, this battle caused the Japanese to use a different route in the future, where they were more vulnerable to destroyer and PT boat attacks. The Battle of Empress Augusta Bay was fought on the night of 1–2 November 1943, immediately after US Marines invaded Bougainville in the Solomon Islands.
The Central Pacific carrier raids and amphibious operations commenced in November 1943 with a carrier raid on Rabaul (preceded and followed by Fifth Air Force attacks) and the bloody but successful invasion of Tarawa.
In 1944 Kitakami was further converted to carry up to eight Kaiten [torpedo]es in place of ordinary torpedoes.
Generally, both sides avoided risking their battleships until the Japanese attack at Leyte Gulf in 1944. Six of the battleships from Pearl Harbor were eventually returned to service, but no US battleships engaged Japanese surface units at sea until the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal in November 1942, and not thereafter until the Battle of Surigao Strait in October 1944.
This was one of only two battleship-on-battleship encounters during the Pacific War; the other was the lopsided Battle of Surigao Strait in October 1944, part of the Battle of Leyte Gulf.
The only major Japanese carrier operation after Guadalcanal was the disastrous (for Japan) Battle of the Philippine Sea in June 1944, nicknamed the "Marianas Turkey Shoot" by the US Navy. ===Leyte Gulf=== The Imperial Japanese Navy's last major operation was the Battle of Leyte Gulf, an attempt to dislodge the American invasion of the Philippines in October 1944.
The battle commenced at dawn on 25 October 1944, shortly after the Battle of Surigao Strait.
In the early 1950s, advances in aviation technology forced the move from anti-aircraft artillery to anti-aircraft missiles.
Lacking aircraft carriers, the Soviet Navy depended on anti-ship cruise missiles; in the 1950s these were primarily delivered from heavy land-based bombers.
From the 1950s to the 1970s, US Navy cruisers were large vessels equipped with heavy offensive missiles (mostly surface-to-air, but for several years including the Regulus nuclear cruise missile) for wide-ranging combat against land-based and sea-based targets.
An American veteran of Surigao Strait, , was transferred to Argentina in 1951 as , becoming most famous for being sunk by in the Falklands War on 2 May 1982.
Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Arleigh Burke is credited with speeding the development of these systems. Terrier was initially deployed on two converted Baltimore-class cruisers (CAG), with conversions completed in 1955–56.
Further conversions of six Cleveland-class cruisers (CLG) ( and classes), redesign of the as guided missile "frigates" (DLG), and development of the DDGs resulted in the completion of numerous additional guided missile ships deploying all three systems in 1959–1962.
cruisers that were built in the 1960s and 1970s were larger, often nuclear-powered for extended endurance in escorting nuclear-powered fleet carriers, and carried longer-range surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) than early Charles F.
In addition, 24 members of the Spruance class were upgraded with the vertical launch system (VLS) for Tomahawk cruise missiles due to its modular hull design, along with the similarly VLS-equipped Ticonderoga class, these ships had anti-surface strike capabilities beyond the 1960s–1970s cruisers that received Tomahawk armored-box launchers as part of the New Threat Upgrade.
In the late 1960s, the US government perceived a "cruiser gap"—at the time, the US Navy possessed six ships designated as cruisers, compared to 19 for the Soviet Union, even though the USN had 21 ships designated as frigates with equal or superior capabilities to the Soviet cruisers at the time.
In the immediate post-war era it built a fleet of gun-armed light cruisers, but replaced these beginning in the early 1960s with large ships called "rocket cruisers", carrying large numbers of anti-ship cruise missiles (ASCMs) and anti-aircraft missiles.
However, in 1962–1964 three additional Baltimore and cruisers were more extensively converted as the .
Soviet submarine-launched cruise missiles at the time were primarily for land attack; but by 1964 anti-ship missiles were deployed in quantity on cruisers, destroyers, and submarines. ===US cruiser development=== The US Navy was aware of the potential missile threat as soon as World War II ended, and had considerable related experience due to Japanese kamikaze attacks in that war.
The four more modest s, with launchers for four SS-N-3 ASCMs and no reloads, entered service in 1967–69.
In 1969–79 Soviet cruiser numbers more than tripled with ten s and seven s entering service.
Until the Harpoon missile entered service in the late 1970s, the US Navy was almost entirely dependent on carrier-based aircraft and submarines for conventionally attacking enemy warships.
The World War II conversions were gradually retired between 1970 and 1980; the Talos missile was withdrawn in 1980 as a cost-saving measure and the Albanys were decommissioned.
cruisers that were built in the 1960s and 1970s were larger, often nuclear-powered for extended endurance in escorting nuclear-powered fleet carriers, and carried longer-range surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) than early Charles F.
From the 1950s to the 1970s, US Navy cruisers were large vessels equipped with heavy offensive missiles (mostly surface-to-air, but for several years including the Regulus nuclear cruise missile) for wide-ranging combat against land-based and sea-based targets.
Doctrine later shifted back to overwhelming carrier group defenses with ASCMs, with the Slava and Kirov classes. ===Current cruisers=== The most recent Soviet/Russian rocket cruisers, the four s, were built in the 1970s and 1980s.
Navy built guided-missile cruisers upon destroyer-style hulls (some called "destroyer leaders" or "frigates" prior to the 1975 reclassification) primarily designed to provide air defense while often adding anti-submarine capabilities, being larger and having longer-range surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) than early Charles F.
In 1975 the Farraguts were reclassified as guided missile destroyers (DDG) due to their small size, and the remaining DLG/DLGN ships became guided missile cruisers (CG/CGN).
Navy's guided-missile cruisers were built upon destroyer-style hulls (some called "destroyer leaders" or "frigates" prior to the 1975 reclassification).
Through 1980, the ten Farraguts were joined by four additional classes and two one-off ships for a total of 36 guided missile frigates, eight of them nuclear-powered (DLGN).
The World War II conversions were gradually retired between 1970 and 1980; the Talos missile was withdrawn in 1980 as a cost-saving measure and the Albanys were decommissioned.
cruiser was a major contrast to their contemporaries, Soviet "rocket cruisers" that were armed with large numbers of anti-ship cruise missiles (ASCMs) as part of the combat doctrine of saturation attack, though in the early 1980s the U.S.
In 1980, the Navy's then-building DDG-47-class destroyers were redesignated as cruisers (Ticonderoga guided missile cruisers) to emphasize the additional capability provided by the ships' Aegis combat systems, and their flag facilities suitable for an admiral and his staff. ===Soviet cruiser development=== In the Soviet Navy, cruisers formed the basis of combat groups.
Doctrine later shifted back to overwhelming carrier group defenses with ASCMs, with the Slava and Kirov classes. ===Current cruisers=== The most recent Soviet/Russian rocket cruisers, the four s, were built in the 1970s and 1980s.
The Ticonderoga-class cruisers, built in the 1980s, were originally designed and designated as a class of destroyer, intended to provide a very powerful air-defense in these carrier-centered fleets. Outside the US and Soviet navies, new cruisers were rare following World War II.
Similarly, the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force's and "helicopter destroyers" are really more along the lines of helicopter cruisers in function and aircraft complement, but due to the Treaty of San Francisco, must be designated as destroyers. One cruiser alternative studied in the late 1980s by the United States was variously entitled a Mission Essential Unit (MEU) or CG V/STOL.
Department of Defense, the Chinese consider it a guided missile destroyer. In the years since the launch of in 1981, the class has received a number of upgrades that have dramatically improved its members' capabilities for anti-submarine and land attack (using the Tomahawk missile).
An American veteran of Surigao Strait, , was transferred to Argentina in 1951 as , becoming most famous for being sunk by in the Falklands War on 2 May 1982.
The project was curtailed by the sudden end of the Cold War and its aftermath, otherwise the first of class would have been likely ordered in the early 1990s. ==Operators== Few cruisers are still operational in the world navies.
Leo Cooper, London, 1990.
By 1995 the former guided missile frigates were replaced by the s and s. The U.S.
Progress to complete the ship has been slow and has been at 95% complete since circa 1995.
Italy used until 2003; France operated a single helicopter cruiser until May 2010, , for training purposes only.
Italy used until 2003; France operated a single helicopter cruiser until May 2010, , for training purposes only.
It was reported that the Ukrainian government invested 6.08 million UAH into the ship's maintenance in 2012.
She sat in the French Navy's mothball fleet in Landevennec until she was sold for scrap in 2014. ==See also== List of battlecruisers of the Second World War List of cruisers List of cruisers of the Second World War List of ships of the Second World War ==References== ==Sources== Parkes, Oscar British Battleships (2nd Edition).
was the last gun cruiser in service, serving with the Peruvian Navy until 2017. Nevertheless, other classes in addition to the above may be considered cruisers due to differing classification systems.
On 26 March 2017, it was announced that the Ukrainian Government will be scrapping the vessel which has been laid up, incomplete, for nearly 30 years in Mykolaiv.
On 19 September 2019, the new director of Ukroboronprom Aivaras Abromavičius announced that the ship will be sold. The following are classified as destroyers by their respective operators, but, due to their size and capabilities, are considered to be cruisers by some: The first Type 055 destroyer was launched by China in June 2017 and was commissioned on 12 January 2020.
Two of the Kirov class are in refit until 2020, and one was scheduled to leave refit in 2018, with the in active service.
It is estimated that an additional US$30 million are needed to complete the ship, and in 2019 Ukroboronprom announced that the ship would be sold.
On 19 September 2019, the new director of Ukroboronprom Aivaras Abromavičius announced that the ship will be sold. The following are classified as destroyers by their respective operators, but, due to their size and capabilities, are considered to be cruisers by some: The first Type 055 destroyer was launched by China in June 2017 and was commissioned on 12 January 2020.
Two of the Kirov class are in refit until 2020, and one was scheduled to leave refit in 2018, with the in active service.
On 19 September 2019, the new director of Ukroboronprom Aivaras Abromavičius announced that the ship will be sold. The following are classified as destroyers by their respective operators, but, due to their size and capabilities, are considered to be cruisers by some: The first Type 055 destroyer was launched by China in June 2017 and was commissioned on 12 January 2020.
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