What You Need to Know: The Alaska-class battlecruisers were conceived by the U.S. Navy in the 1930s to counter Germany’s fast and powerful “pocket battleships” and Japan’s rumored “super cruisers.” ...

Straddling the line somewhere between a cruiser and a battleship, the Alaska-class occupied a weird middle ground. While technically a cruiser, the Alaska was clearly much bigger than other cruisers.

The high seas were dangerous places during World War II, an unforgiving expanse where nations vied for supremacy, just as they fought each other on land and in the skies. Military ships of all types ...