Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (also battle-wagon) a tough and aggressive (older) woman.

1957		G.W. Johnson Lunatic Fringe 214: She [i.e. Carrie Nation] was a battle cruiser. She was nearly six feet tall— a six-foot woman looks much bigger than a six-foot man.
1964		J.D. MacDonald Nightmare in Pink 28: S‘lip out swiftly, my dear, before any of these old battle-wagons can clutch you and start honking at you’.

2. as sense 1, applied to a lesbian.

1972		B. Rodgers Queens’ Vernacular 71: Lesbian who makes pickups in the street, a not too common practice. [...] battle cruiser.
1982		Maledicta VI:1+2 (Summer/Winter) 134: [of a lesbian] Battle cruiser.