Des Moines-class cruiser

The Des Moines-class cruisers were a trio of very large U.S. Navy heavy cruisers commissioned in 1948 and 1949. They were the last of the all-gun heavy cruisers, exceeded in size in the American navy only by the 30,000 long tons (30,481 t) Alaska-class cruisers that straddled the line between heavy cruiser and battlecruiser. Two were decommissioned by 1961, but one, Newport News (CA-148), served until 1975. USS Salem is a museum ship in Quincy, Massachusetts; the other two ships were scrapped.

USS Des Moines (CA-134)
Class overview
Name: Des Moines-class cruiser
Builders:
Operators: United States Navy
Preceded by: Oregon City class
Succeeded by: None
In commission: 1948–75
Planned: 12
Completed: 3
Cancelled: 9[1][2]
Retired: 3
Preserved: 1
General characteristics
Type: Heavy cruiser
Displacement:
  • 17,255 long tons (17,532 t) (standard)
  • 20,933 long tons (21,269 t) (full load)
Length:
  • 700 ft (210 m) wl
  • 716 ft 6 in (218.39 m) oa
Beam: 76 ft 6 in (23.32 m)
Draft: 22 ft (6.7 m)
Propulsion:
  • 4 shafts
  • General Electric turbines
  • 4 boilers
  • 120,000 shp (89,000 kW)
Speed: 33 kn (61 km/h)
Range:
  • 10,500 nmi at 15 knots
  • 19,400 km at 28 km/h
Complement: 1,799 officers and enlisted
Armament:
Armor:
  • Belt: 4-6 in (102-152 mm)
  • Deck: 3.5 in (89 mm)
  • Turrets: 2-8 in (51-203 mm)
  • Barbettes: 6.3 in (160 mm)
  • Conning tower: 6.5 in (165 mm)

Description

Derived from the Baltimore-class heavy cruisers, they were larger, had an improved machinery layout, and carried a new design of auto-loading, rapid-fire 8"/55 gun (the Mk16).[3][4][5] The improved Mk16 guns of the main battery were the first auto-loading 8" guns fielded by the US Navy, and allowed a much higher rate of fire than earlier designs, capable of sustaining eight shots per minute per barrel, or about twice what previous heavy cruisers could.[4][6] The auto-loading mechanism could function at any elevation, giving even these large-caliber guns some anti-aircraft ability.[4] While the secondary battery of six twin 5"/38 Mk12 DP guns was essentially unchanged from the Oregon City and Baltimore-class cruisers, the Des Moines class carried a stronger battery of small-caliber anti-aircraft guns, including 12 twin 3-inch/50 Mk27 and later Mk33 guns, that were considered superior to the earlier ships' quad-mounted 40mm Bofors against then current airborne threats.[4]

History

Twelve ships of the class were programmed, but only three ships were completed: Des Moines (CA-134), Salem (CA-139), and Newport News (CA-148), with USS Dallas (CA-140) canceled when she was approximately 28 percent complete.

Their speed made them valuable to escort carrier groups and they were useful in showing the flag in goodwill visits. The first two were decommissioned in 1961 and 1959, respectively, but Newport News remained in commission until 1975, serving for a long period (1962–1968) as United States Second Fleet flagship, and providing valuable gunfire support off Vietnam from 1967 to 1973. The ship's missions included shelling military targets close to the North Vietnam shoreline, and destroying shore batteries with her counterbattery fire. In August 1972 she raided Haiphong harbor at night with other US Navy ships to knock out coastal defences and other high-value targets including SAM sites and Cat Bi airfield.

Newport News had the distinction of being the last active all-gun cruiser (serving 25.5 years continuously) and the first completely air-conditioned surface ship in the U.S. Navy. Salem is a museum ship in Quincy, Massachusetts. Newport News was laid up at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard and scrapped in 1993, and Des Moines was scrapped in 2006–2007. Dallas (CA-140) and eight other ships (CA-141 through CA-143 and CA-149 through CA-153) were canceled at the end of World War II.[2][4]

Ships in class
Ship name Hull No. Builder Laid down Launched Commissioned Decommissioned Fate
Des Moines CA-134 Bethlehem Steel Corporation, Fore River Shipyard, Quincy, Massachusetts 28 May 1945 27 September 1946 16 November 1948 6 July 1961 Struck 9 July 1991, scrapped 2007
Salem CA-139 4 July 1945 25 March 1947 14 May 1949 30 January 1959 Struck 12 July 1991, museum ship at Quincy, Massachusetts
Dallas CA-140 15 October 1945 N/A Cancelled 6 June 1946
N/A CA-141 N/A Cancelled 7 January 1946
CA-142 Cancelled 12 August 1945
CA-143
Newport News CA-148 Newport News Shipbuilding, Newport News, Virginia 1 October 1945 6 March 1948 29 January 1949 27 June 1975 Struck 31 July 1978, Sold for scrap, 25 February 1993
N/A CA-149 N/A Cancelled 12 August 1945
CA-150 New York Shipbuilding Corporation, Camden, New Jersey
CA-151
CA-152
CA-153

References
  1. Andrew Toppan (2000-04-24). "US Cruisers List: US Light/Heavy/AntiAircraft Cruisers, Part 2". Haze Gray & Underway.
  2. "CA-134 Des Moines – Ship Listing". GlobalSecurity.org. Retrieved 2009-02-28.
  3. "CA-134 Des Moines Class". GlobalSecurity.org. Retrieved 2009-02-28.
  4. "CA-134 Des Moines – Program". GlobalSecurity.org. Retrieved 2009-02-28.
  5. "CA-134 Des Moines Specifications". GlobalSecurity.org. Retrieved 2009-02-28.
  6. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-06-20. Retrieved 2019-07-23.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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