Cleveland-class cruiser

The Cleveland class was a group of light cruisers built for the U.S. Navy during World War II, and were the most numerous class of light cruisers ever built.

USS Cleveland at sea in 1942
Class overview
Name: Cleveland class
Builders:
Operators:  United States Navy
Preceded by:
Succeeded by: Fargo class
In commission: 1942–79
Planned: 52
Completed: 27
Cancelled: 3 (9 converted to aircraft carriers, 13 reordered as Fargo class)
Retired: 27
Preserved: 1 (converted to a Galveston-class guided missile cruiser)
General characteristics
Type: Light cruiser
Displacement:
  • 11,744 long tons (11,932 t) (standard)
  • 14,131 long tons (14,358 t) (max)
Length:
  • 600 ft (180 m) wl
  • 608 ft 4 in (185.42 m) oa
Beam: 66 ft 4 in (20.22 m)
Height: 113 ft (34 m)
Draft:
  • 25 ft 6 in (7.77 m) (mean)
  • 25 ft (7.6 m) (max)
Installed power:
  • 4 × Babcock & Wilcox boilers
  • 100,000 shp (75,000 kW)
Propulsion:
Speed: 32.5 knots (60.2 km/h; 37.4 mph)
Range: 8,640 nmi (16,000 km; 9,940 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)[1]
Complement:
  • 1,255 Total
    • 70 officers
    • 1,115 enlisted men
Armament:
Armor:
  • Belt: 3.25–5 in (83–127 mm)
  • Deck: 2 in (51 mm)
  • Bulkheads: 5 in (130 mm)
  • Turrets Face: 6.50 in (165 mm)
  • Turrets Roof: 3 in (76 mm)
  • Turrets Sides: 3 in (76 mm)
  • Turrets Rear: 1.5 in (38 mm)
  • Barbettes: 6 in (150 mm)
  • Conning tower: 2.25–5 in (57–127 mm)
Aircraft carried: 4 × floatplanes
Aviation facilities: 2 × stern catapults
Notes: Dimensions in feet from Jane's American Fighting ships of the 20th Century, 1991

Development

The Cleveland-class was a development of the preceding Brooklyn-class cruiser. The ships were designed with the goal of increased cruising range, anti-aircraft armament, torpedo protection, etc., compared with earlier U.S. cruisers.[2]

Technical drawing of a Cleveland-class cruiser.

After the London Naval Treaty of 1930 passed, the US Navy took up a renewed interest in the 6" gun armed light cruiser, partially due to the fleet complaining bitterly about the 8" gun's slow rate of fire,[3] at 3 rounds per minute compared to the 10 rounds per minute achieved by 6" guns. At this time, the US Navy began to deploy drones to use as targets for anti-aircraft targets, which could simulate both dive and torpedo bombers. The results were dismaying to the fleet, as the simulations showed that without fire control directors and computers, the ships of the fleet would be almost helpless against the density of aircraft attack they envisioned the future war bringing. The mechanical computers alone could weigh up to 10 tons and had to be housed below decks for both weight and protection measures.[4] As World War II was to prove, the assumptions made pre-war were optimistic. Eventually, every anti-aircraft gun platform above 20mm would end up moving to remote power and aiming with associated fire control and radar.[5] As designed the Cleveland class was already a tight design but requests to widen the ship were turned down because it would affect production rates.[6] In order to fit the new heavier fire control and radar systems within the allotted tonnage for a cruiser, the No. 3 gun turret was omitted. This also gave room for the enlargement of the bridge spaces to accommodate the new combat information center and the necessary radars, along with enough tonnage to fit an additional pair of 5"/38 twin mounts, which were located fore and aft of the superstructure, granting wider arcs of fire. Despite the loss of three 6-inch guns compared to the proceeding Brooklyn and St. Louis-class cruisers, the new, more advanced fire control gave the Cleveland-class ships a firepower advantage in practical use. However, the increase of light anti-aircraft artillery made the class top-heavy towards the end of World War II. To compensate for the weight increase, some ships had one catapult removed, along with the rangefinders from the No. 1 turret.[7] The top weight issues would plague the class with every addition of equipment having to be carefully weighed against what would have to be removed. Fighter control radar installation required the removal of 20mm clipping rooms for instance.[8]

Subclasses

Fifty-two ships of this class were originally planned, but nine of them were completed as the light aircraft carriers of the Independence class, and two of them were completed to a somewhat different design, with more compact superstructures and just a single stack. These two were called the Fargo class. Of the 27 Cleveland-class cruisers that were commissioned, one (Galveston) was completed as a guided missile cruiser and five were later modified as Galveston and Providence-class guided missile cruisers. Two of each of the guided missile cruiser-classes had enlarged superstructures to serve as flagships. Following the naming convention at the time, all the ships completed as cruisers were named for US cities and towns.[9]

Service

The Cleveland-class cruisers served mainly in the Pacific Fleet during World War II, especially in the Fast Carrier Task Force, but some of them served off the coasts of Europe and Africa in the U.S. Atlantic Fleet. All of these warships, though worked heavily and damaged in some cases, survived the war. All of this class were initially decommissioned by 1950, except for Manchester, which remained in service until 1956, but six were later finished or converted to guided missile cruisers, and these served into the 1970s. The Clevelands suffered from increasing stability problems as anti-aircraft armament and additional radar was added during the war. None were recommissioned for the Korean War, as they required a crew almost as large as the Baltimore-class ships, and those ships were reactivated instead. All non-converted ships were sold off from the reserve fleet for scrapping beginning in 1959. The six that were completed as or converted into guided missile cruisers were reactivated during the 1950s and then served into the 1970s. All, particularly the Talos-armed ships, suffered from greater stability problems than the original design due to the extra radar equipment and top weight. This problem was particularly severe in Galveston, leading to its premature decommissioning in 1970. Oklahoma City and Little Rock had to have a large amount of ballast and internal rearrangement to allow continued service into the 1970s.[10] The last of these missile ships in service, Oklahoma City, was decommissioned in December 1979.

Preserved ships

Only one Cleveland-class ship remains. The Little Rock, refit in 1960 and re-designated as Galveston-class guided missile light cruiser CLG-4 (later CG-4), is now a museum ship at the Buffalo and Erie County Naval & Military Park in Buffalo, New York, alongside the Fletcher-class destroyer The Sullivans, and the Gato-class submarine, Croaker.[11]

Ships in class
Ship Name Hull No. Builder Laid down Launched Commissioned
Recommissioned		 Decommissioned Fate
Cleveland CL-55 New York Shipbuilding Corporation, Camden, New Jersey 1 July 1940 1 November 1941 15 June 1942 7 February 1947 Struck 1 March 1959; Sold for scrap, 18 February 1960
Columbia CL-56 18 August 1940 17 December 1941 29 July 1942 30 November 1946 Struck 1 March 1959; Sold for scrap, 18 February 1959
Montpelier CL-57 2 December 1940 12 February 1942 9 September 1942 24 January 1947 Struck 1 March 1959; Sold for scrap, 22 January 1960
Denver CL-58 26 December 1940 4 April 1942 15 October 1942 7 February 1947 Struck 1 March 1959; Sold for scrap, 4 February 1960
Amsterdam CL-59 1 May 1941 N/A Reordered as the light aircraft carrier USS Independence (CVL-22)
Santa Fe CL-60 7 June 1941 10 June 1942 24 November 1942 29 October 1946 Struck 1 March 1959; Sold for scrap, 9 November 1959
Tallahassee CL-61 2 June 1941 N/A Reordered as the light aircraft carrier
USS Princeton (CVL-23)
Birmingham CL-62 Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, Newport News, Virginia 17 February 1941 20 March 1942 29 January 1943 2 January 1947 Struck 1 March 1959; Sold for scrap, 12 November 1959
Mobile CL-63 14 April 1941 15 May 1942 24 March 1943 9 May 1947 Struck 1 March 1959; Sold for scrap, 16 December 1959
Vincennes
(ex-Flint)		 CL-64 Bethlehem Steel Corporation, Fore River Shipyard, Quincy, Massachusetts 7 March 1942 17 July 1943 21 January 1944 10 September 1946 Struck 1 April 1966; Sunk as target, 28 October 1969
Pasadena CL-65 6 February 1943 28 December 1943 8 June 1944 12 January 1950 Struck 1 December 1970; Sold for scrap, 5 July 1972
Springfield CL-66 13 February 1943 9 March 1944 9 September 1944 30 September 1949 Struck 31 July 1980; Sold for scrap, 11 March 1980
CLG-7 2 July 1960 15 May 1974
Topeka CL-67 21 April 1943 19 August 1944 23 December 1944 18 June 1949 Struck 1 December 1973; Sold for scrap, 20 March 1975
CLG-8 26 March 1960 5 June 1969
New Haven CL-76 New York Shipbuilding Corporation, Camden, New Jersey 11 August 1941 N/A Reordered as the light aircraft carrier
USS Belleau Wood (CVL-24)
Huntington CL-77 17 November 1941 Reordered as the light aircraft carrier
USS Cowpens (CVL-25)
Dayton CL-78 29 December 1941 Reordered as the light aircraft carrier
USS Monterey (CVL-26)
Wilmington CL-79 16 March 1942 Reordered as the light aircraft carrier
USS Cabot (CVL-28)
Biloxi CL-80 Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, Newport News, Virginia 9 July 1941 23 February 1943 31 August 1943 29 August 1946 Struck 1 December 1961; Sold for scrap, 5 March 1962
Houston
(ex-Vicksburg)		 CL-81 4 August 1941 19 June 1943 20 December 1943 15 December 1947 Struck 1 March 1959; Sold for scrap, 1 June 1961
Providence CL-82 Bethlehem Steel Corporation, Fore River Shipyard, Quincy, Massachusetts 27 July 1943 28 December 1944 15 May 1945 14 June 1949 Struck 30 September 1978; Sold for scrap, 15 July 1980
CLG-6 17 September 1959 31 August 1973
Manchester CL-83 25 September 1944 5 March 1946 29 October 1946 27 June 1956 Struck 1 April 1960; Sold for scrap, 31 October 1961
Buffalo CL-84 Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company, Kearny, New Jersey N/A N/A Cancelled, 16 December 1940
Fargo CL-85 New York Shipbuilding Corporation, Camden, New Jersey 11 April 1942 Reordered as the light aircraft carrier
USS Langley (CVL-27)
Vicksburg
(ex-Cheyenne)		 CL-86 Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, Newport News, Virginia 26 October 1942 14 December 1943 12 June 1944 30 June 1947 Struck 1 October 1962; Sold for scrap, 25 August 1964
Duluth CL-87 9 November 1942 13 January 1944 18 September 1944 25 June 1949 Struck 1 January 1960; Sold for scrap, 14 November 1960
Newark CL-88 Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company, Kearny, New Jersey N/A Cancelled 16 December 1940
Miami CL-89 William Cramp & Sons Shipbuilding Company, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 2 August 1941 8 December 1942 28 December 1943 30 June 1947 Struck 1 September 1961; Sold for scrap, 20 July 1962
Astoria
(ex-Wilkes-Barre)		 CL-90 6 September 1941 6 March 1943 17 May 1944 1 July 1949 Struck 1 November 1969; Sold for scrap, 12 January 1971
Oklahoma City CL-91 8 December 1942 20 February 1944 22 December 1944 30 June 1947 Struck 15 December 1979; Sunk as target, 25 March 1999
CLG-5 7 September 1960 15 December 1979
Little Rock CL-92 6 March 1943 27 August 1944 17 June 1945 24 June 1949 Struck 22 November 1976; Donated to the Buffalo and Erie County Naval & Military Park

as a Museum ship, 1 June 1977

CLG- 4 3 June 1960 22 November 1976
Galveston CL-93 20 February 1944 22 April 1945 28 May 1958 May 1970 Struck 21 December 1973; Sold for scrap, 16 May 1975
CLG-3
Youngstown CL-94 4 September 1944 N/A Contract cancelled, 12 August 1945
Buffalo CL-99 New York Shipbuilding Corporation, Camden, New Jersey 31 August 1942 Reordered as the light aircraft carrier
USS Bataan (CVL-29)
Newark CL-100 26 October 1942 Reordered as the light aircraft carrier
USS San Jacinto (CVL-30)
Amsterdam CL-101 Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, Newport News, Virginia 3 March 1943 25 April 1944 8 January 1945 30 June 1947 Struck 2 January 1971; Sold for scrap, 11 February 1972
Portsmouth CL-102 28 June 1943 20 September 1944 25 June 1945 15 June 1949 Struck 15 January 1971; Sold for scrap, 26 February 1974
Wilkes-Barre CL-103 New York Shipbuilding Corporation, Camden, New Jersey 14 December 1942 24 December 1943 1 July 1944 9 October 1947 Struck 15 January 1971; Sunk in testing, 13 May 1972
Atlanta CL-104 25 January 1943 6 February 1944 3 December 1944 1 July 1949 Struck 1 October 1962; Sunk in testing, 1 October 1970
Dayton CL-105 8 March 1943 19 March 1944 7 January 1945 1 March 1949 Struck 1 September 1961; Sold for scrap, 6 April 1962
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References
  1. Norman Friedman, U.S. Cruisers, An Illustrated Design History p. 479. 1984 ISBN 978-0-87021-718-0
  2. Norman Friedman, U.S. Cruisers, An Illustrated Design History 1984 ISBN 978-0-87021-718-0
  3. US Cruisers: An Illustrated History Friedman, Norman pg 270
  4. Naval Anti-Aircraft Guns and Gunnery loc 3772 - 3792
  5. US Cruisers: An Illustrated History Friedman, Norman pg 259-265
  6. US Cruisers: An Illustrated History Friedman, Norman pg 259-265
  7. Stefan Terzibaschitsch: Kreuzer der U.S. Navy. Koehler, Herford (Germany) 1984, p. 174. ISBN 3-7822-0348-8
  8. US Cruisers: An Illustrated History Friedman, Norman pg 270
  9. M.J. Whitley, Cruisers Of World War Two, An International Encyclopedia 1995 ISBN 978-1-86019-874-8
  10. Those Cleveland Class Cruisers. An exercise in expediency in N.Wilder Post.' Sea Classics Oct 2013, V46, No 10', pp18-25 & 65
  11. "Ships". Buffalo & Erie County Naval & Military Park. Archived from the original on 6 April 2015. Retrieved 13 April 2015.

Bibliography
  • Wright, C. C. (1998). "Question 51/96: Anti-Aircraft Armament of US Cleveland Class Cruisers". Warship International. XXXV (1): 90.
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