Definition

1. Noun:
   • A small battleship built to conform with treaty limitations on tonnage and armament (from 1925 to 1930): A "pocket battleship" is a specific type of warship designed to be smaller and less heavily armed than a traditional battleship, but still more powerful than a cruiser, in order to comply with international naval treaties of the era.

Examples of Usage

• Noun:
  • The German Deutschland-class ships were famously known as pocket battleships.
  • Naval historians often study the design and strategic role of the pocket battleship.

Advanced Usage

• As a historical term: The term is almost exclusively used in a historical and military context to refer to specific ships built by Germany in the interwar period.
  • The concept of the pocket battleship was a clever attempt to circumvent the restrictions of the Treaty of Versailles.

Variants and Related Words

• Battleship (n): A large, heavily armored warship with a main battery consisting of large-caliber guns.
• Cruiser (n): A warship of medium size and armament, typically faster than a battleship.
• Heavy cruiser (n): A type of cruiser with larger guns, which the pocket battleship was designed to outmatch.

Synonyms

• Armored ship (in a very broad, non-technical sense).
• Treaty battleship (a less common but descriptive synonym).

Related Phrases

• "Treaty-limited warship": A general phrase for any warship built under the constraints of naval treaties, which includes pocket battleships.

Noun

1. a small battleship built to conform with treaty limitations on tonnage and armament (from 1925 to 1930)