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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. Largely based on the earlier Baltimore-class heavy cruisers, the Des Moines-class featured improved torpedo protection and heavier anti-aircraft armament. Relatively well-armored and protected, the class was unique in that it mounted nine of the world’s first auto-loading large-caliber guns, the 8-inch (203 mm) Mark 16 guns. These guns enabled the Des Moines to fire two to three times faster than earlier 8 in guns with each barrel capable of 8-10 rounds per minute. They were the last of the “all-gun” heavy cruisers and were exceeded in size within the U.S. Navy only by the 30,000-long-ton (30,481 t) Alaska-class “large cruisers” that straddled the line between heavy cruisers and battlecruisers. Two Des Moines-class cruisers were decommissioned by 1961 but the Newport News (CA-148), served until 1975. USS Salem is a museum ship in Quincy, Massachusetts; the other two were scrapped.

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). 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, about twice that previous heavy cruisers could. The auto-loading mechanism could function at any elevation, giving some anti-aircraft capability. 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 contemporary airborne threats.

History

Twelve ships of the class were planned, but only three were completed: Des Moines (CA-134), Salem (CA-139) and Newport News (CA-148), with USS Dallas (CA-140) canceled when 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 targets close to the North Vietnam shoreline. In August 1972 she raided Haiphong harbor at night with other US Navy ships to shell coastal defenses, surface-to-air missile sites and Cat Bi airfield.

Newport News was 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, while Des Moines was scrapped from 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.

Ships in class

Gallery

References

Bibliography

Andrews, George A., LCDR (March 2022). "Navy Department, Bureau of Ships, Design Branch, CA-139 Class Design History, 31 March 1945". Warship International. LIX (1): 20–33. ISSN 0043-0374.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
Friedman, Norman (1980). "United States of America". In Chesneau, Roger (ed.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946. New York: Mayflower Books. ISBN 0-8317-0303-2.