Cleveland  Class Light Cruiser

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 Name       Builders       laid down  launched   completed
 Cleveland New York SBDG 01/04/40 01/11/41 15/06/42
 Columbia New York SBDG 19/08/40 17/12/41 29/07/42
 Montpelier New York SBDG 02/12/40 12/02/42 09/09/42
 Denver New York SBDG 26/12/40 04/04/42 15/10/42
 Santa Fe New York SBDG 07/07/41 10/06/42 24/11/42
 Birmingham Newport News 17/02/41 20/03/42 29/01/43
 Mobile Newport News 14/04/41 15/05/42 24/03/43
 Vincennes Bethlehem-Quincy 07/03/42 17/07/43 21/01/44
 Pasadena Bethlehem-Quincy 06/02/43 28/12/43 08/07/44
 Springfield Bethlehem-Quincy 13/02/43 09/03/44 09/09/44
 Topeka Bethlehem-Quincy 21/04/43 19/08/44 23/12/44
 Biloxi Newport News 09/07/41 23/02/43 31/08/43
 Houston Newport News 04/08/41 19/06/43 20/12/43
 Providence Bethlehem-Quincy 27/07/43 28/12/44 15/05/45
 Manchester Bethlehem-Quincy 25/09/44 05/03/46 29/10/46
 Vicksburg Newport News 26/10/42 14/12/43 12/07/44
 Duluth Newport News 09/11/42 13/01/44 18/09/44
 Miami Cramp 02/08/41 08/12/42 28/12/43
 Astoria Cramp 06/09/41 06/03/43 17/05/44
 Oklahoma City Cramp 08/12/42 20/02/44 22/12/44
 Little Rock Cramp 06/03/43 27/08/44 17/06/45
 Galveston Cramp 20/02/44 22/04/45 28/05/58
 Amsterdam Newport News 03/03/43 25/04/44 08/01/45
 Portsmouth Newport News 28/06/43 20/09/44 25/06/45
 Wilkes-Barrie New York SBDG 14/12/42 24/12/43 01/07/44
 Atlanta  New York SBDG 25/01/43 06/02/44 03/12/44
 Dayton New York SBDG 08/03/43 19/03/44 07/01/45

 

Specifications

 Displacement: 11,744 tones standard and 14,131 tons full load 

Dimensions: length 185.9 m (610 ft); beam 20.3 m (66 ft 6 in); draught 7.47 m (24 ft 6 in)

Propulsion: General Electric geared turbines delivering 100,000 shp (74570 kW) to four shafts

Speed: 33 kts

Armour: belt 38-127 mm (1.5-5 in); deck 76 mm (3 in); turrets 76-127 mm (3-5 in); barbettes 127 mm (5 in); conning tower 165 mm (6.5 in)

 Armament: 12 152-mm (6-in), 12 127mm (5-in) DP, eight (first two) or 24 (eight ships) or 28 (others) 40-mm AA, and between 10 and 21 20-mm AA guns

Aircraft: four floatplanes

 Complement: 1, 425

NOTES

Stimulated by the Japanese 152-mm (6in) 'Mogami class, the Americans built the nine 15-gun 'Brooklyn' class cruisers during the 1930s. For the war programmes, however, a more practical 12-gun layout was adopted, with enhanced secondary and AA batteries. While obviously derivatives of the 'Brooklyn' class, these new 'Cleveland' class cruisers were beamier on about the same length, and were better protected. The name ship was laid down in July 1940 and five years later the class stood at 26 units, with a further nine hulls converted to fast light carriers (CVL) of the 'Independence' class. Three more were cancelled and a fourth completed as a guided-missile cruiser, making a total of 39, the largest cruiser programme ever.

As with the heavy cruisers, layout was improved by development of a single-funneled version, the 'Fargo' class. Only two of these were completed because of the waist end and the introduction of a fully automatic 6-in gun mounting. As a result of the extra bulk of its loading gear, this weapon was accommodated in a new twin mounting and, with its higher rate of fire fewer barrels per ship could have been expected. Even so, the US Navy still demanded 12 guns and the resultant six-turret ships, the `Worcester' class needed to be 21.7 m (69 ft 3 in) longer, with 20 per cent greater power.

Like all guns of its generation, the automatic 152-mm (6-in) weapon arrived too late to avoid being overtaken by the guided missile. Only two 'Worcester' class ships were completed. No 'Cleveland' class ships were lost in World War II.