Login
Login

Worcester-class cruiser

{{Short description|American warship class (1945–1958)}}

{{Infobox ship begin

}}

{{Infobox ship image

| Ship image = File:USS Roanoke (CL-145) underway at slow speed, circa the early 1950s (NH 106501).jpg

| Ship caption =USS Roanoke in 1950s

}}

{{Infobox ship class overview

|Name=Worcester-class

|Builders=*New York Shipbuilding Corporation

|Operators={{navy|United States|1912}}

|Class before={{sclass|Fargo|cruiser|4}}

|Class after=None

|Subclasses=None

|Built range=1945–1947

|In commission range=1948–58

|Total ships building=

|Total ships planned=10

|Total ships completed=2

|Total ships cancelled=8

|Total ships active=

|Total ships laid up=

|Total ships lost=

|Total ships retired=2

|Total ships preserved=0

}}

{{Infobox ship characteristics

| Hide header =

| Header caption =

| Ship type = Light cruiser

| Ship displacement = *{{convert|14700|LT|t|lk=in|sigfig=5}} (standard)

  • {{convert|17997|LT|t|lk=in|sigfig=5}} (full)

| Ship length =*{{convert|664|ft|abbr=on}} wl

  • {{convert|679|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}} oa

| Ship beam = {{convert|70|ft|.5|in|abbr=on|1}}

| Ship draught =

| Ship draft = {{convert|25|ft|abbr=on|1}}

| Ship propulsion = *4 × Westinghouse 620 psi boilers

| Ship speed = 33 knots

| Ship range =

| Ship complement = 1,560 officers and enlisted

| Ship sensors = *AN/SPS-10 surface-search radar

| Ship EW =

| Ship armament =

| Ship armor = * belt: {{cvt|3–5|in|0}}

| Ship aircraft =

| Ship aircraft facilities =*2 × aircraft catapults

| Ship boats = 2–4 × lifeboats

| Ship notes =

}}

The Worcester class was a class of light cruisers used by the United States Navy, laid down in 1945 and commissioned in 1948–49. They and their contemporaries, the {{sclass|Des Moines|cruiser|0}} heavy cruisers, were the last all-gun cruisers built for the U.S. Navy. Ten ships were planned for this class, but only two ({{USS|Worcester|CL-144}} and {{USS|Roanoke|CL-145}}) were completed.

The main battery layout was distinctive, with twin rather than triple turrets, unlike the previous {{sclass|Cleveland|cruiser|0}}, {{sclass|St. Louis|cruiser (1938)|0}}, and {{sclass|Brooklyn|cruiser|0}} light cruisers. Aside from the Worcesters' main battery consisting of {{convert|6|in|mm|abbr=on|adj=on|sigfig=3}} rather than {{convert|5|in|mm|abbr=on|adj=on|sigfig=3}} guns, the layout was identical to the much smaller {{sclass|Juneau|cruiser|0}} light cruisers, carrying 12 guns in six turrets, three forward and three aft, with only turrets 3 and 4 superfiring. The 6-inch/47-caliber gun was an autoloading, high-angle dual-purpose gun with a high rate of fire, and the Worcesters were thus designed to serve as AA cruisers like the Juneaus but with much more potent guns, as well as conventional light cruisers.

Both ships were decommissioned in 1958, the last conventional light cruisers to serve in the fleet, and scrapped in the early 1970s.

Design

The Worcester class was designed as a departure from the Cleveland-class and Fargo-class cruisers, and an expansion of the Atlanta and Juneau classes.{{dubious|date=September 2021}} They carried six twin dual-purpose 6-inch/47-caliber gun turrets on the center-line, of which turrets three and four were superimposed. They carried 24 3"/50 cal AA in eleven twin mounts and two single mounts. Fire-control equipment included four high-angle/low-angle director control towers (DCTs) and two low-angle DCTs, which were arranged in a diamond-shaped pattern. Their armor was a 3–6" belt, a 3" main deck, a 2" lower deck, 3–4" bulkheads, 4" turrets and barbettes, and a 6.5" conning tower. Four Babcock & Wilcox boilers with four shafts and General Electric geared turbines provided 120,000 S.H.P., which could propel these ships at 32.75 knots.{{Cite book|last=Lenton|first=H.|title=American Battleships, Carriers, and Cruisers|publisher=Doubleday & Company INC.|year=1968|location=Garden City, New York|pages=94–95}}

Ships in class

class="sortable wikitable"
Ship Name

!Hull No.

!Builder

!Laid Down

!Launched

!Commissioned

!Decommissioned

!Fate

Worcester

|CL-144

|rowspan=4|New York Shipbuilding Corporation, Camden, New Jersey

|29 January 1945

|4 February 1947

|26 June 1948

|19 December 1958

|Struck 1 December 1970; Sold to Zidell Explorations, Inc., of Portland, OR on 5 July 1972

Roanoke

|CL-145

|15 May 1945

|16 June 1947

|4 April 1949

|31 October 1958

|Struck 1 December 1970; Sold to Levin Metals Corporation of San Jose, Calif. on 22 February 1972

Vallejo

|CL-146

|16 July 1945

|colspan=3 rowspan=2 {{n/a}}

|Construction cancelled 8 December 1945; hull was subsequently scrapped

Gary

|CL-147

|{{n/a}}

|Cancelled 12 August 1945 prior to the start of construction

See also

References

{{reflist}}

External links

{{Commons category|Worcester class cruiser}}

  • [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ship/cl-144.htm Global Security.org - Worcester class cruiser]
  • [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ship/cl-144-specs.htm Global Security.org - Worcester class cruiser specifications]

{{Worcester class cruiser}}

{{WWII US ships}}

Category:New York Shipbuilding Corporation