Hawaii fitting out prior to the suspension of her construction in February 1947. |
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| Career (US) | |
|---|---|
| Namesake: | Hawaii |
| Ordered: | September 1940 |
| Builder: | New York Shipbuilding Corporation |
| Laid down: | 17 December 1941 |
| Launched: | November 1945 |
| Sponsored by: | Mrs. Joseph R. Farrington |
| Struck: | 9 June 1958 |
| Fate: | Scrapped, 1959 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Alaska-class battlecruiser |
| Type: | Large cruiser |
| Displacement: | 29,779 tons (standard) 34,253 tons (full load) |
| Length: | 808 ft 6 in (246.43 m) |
| Beam: | 91 ft 1 in (27.76 m) |
| Draft: | 27 ft 1 in (8.26 m) 32 ft (9.8 m) (full load) |
| Propulsion: | 4-shaft General Electric steam turbines, 8 Babcock & Wilcox boilers, 150,000 shp (110,000 kW) |
| Speed: | 31.4 knots (36.1 mph; 58.2 km/h) |
| Endurance: | 12,000 nautical miles @ 15 knots (14,000 mi @ 17 mph or 22,000 km @ 28 km/h) |
| Armament: | 9 × 12 in (300 mm) guns 12 × 5 in (130 mm) guns 56 × 40 mm (1.6 in) guns 34 × 20 mm (0.79 in) guns |
| Armor: | Belt: 5–12 in (130–300 mm) Deck: 3.8–4 in (97–100 mm) Barbettes: 11–13 in (280–330 mm) Turrets: 5–12.8 in (130–330 mm) |
| Aircraft carried: | 4 × OS2U Kingfisher or SC Seahawk[A 1] |
| Aviation facilities: | Enclosed hangar[1] located amidships[2] |
USS[A 2] Hawaii (CB-3), the first United States Navy ship to be named after the Territory of Hawaii,[A 3] was originally intended to be the third member of the Alaska class large cruisers. Delayed by higher-priority ships such as aircraft carriers, her keel was not laid until December 1943, about two years after her sister ship Guam.
After her launch on 3 November 1945, Hawaii began fitting out, but post-war cutbacks necessitated the cancellation of the ship on 17 February 1947. For a time it was planned that she would be converted to be the U.S.' first guided missile cruiser, but this did not come to fruition. A conversion to a large command ship was later contemplated; planning went far enough that money was allocated in the 1952 budget for this purpose, but with one (Northampton) complete and a second (Wright) already chosen, no work was started upon Hawaii. Having been laid up for twelve years, the ship was towed to the breakers to be scrapped on 20 June 1959.
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The initial impetus for the design of the Alaska-class came from the commerce-raiding abilities of German and Japanese ships; the three Deutschland-class cruisers, also known as "pocket battleships", the two Scharnhorst-class battleships, and Japan's large force of both heavy and light cruisers. With the beginning of the Second World War, the General Board began preparations for a new naval building program which would comprise all types of warships. The cruisers proposed as part of this ranged from the relatively light 6,000-long-ton (6,100 t; 6,700 ST) Atlanta-class meant for anti-aircraft duty all the way up to an extremely large 38,000-long-ton (39,000 t; 43,000 ST) ship carrying a main battery of twelve 12-inch (300 mm) and a secondary battery of sixteen 5-inch (130 mm) guns.[3]
Ten designs were drawn up through late 1939 and June 1940, most focusing on ships bigger than 24,000 long tons (24,000 t; 27,000 ST) and all utilizing 12-inch/50 and 5-inch/38 caliber guns. The first ten made it apparent to the General Board that a ship with balance of speed, firepower, armor and underwater protection would certainly be far over the 25,000 long tons (25,000 t; 28,000 ST) limit they wanted. To bring down the weight, great compromises were made in the latter area, leading to a 30 July 1940 design with a ship with a standard displacement of 25,900 long tons (26,300 t; 29,000 ST) and carrying eight 12-inch (triple), twelve 5-inch (dual) and sixteen 1.1-inch (28 mm) (quadruple). The final design kept many aspects of this plan, although there were still major revisions: the hull was lengthened 18.5 feet (5.6 m) and widened by about 5 feet (1.5 m), the number of 12-inch guns was increased to nine, and to anti-aircraft battery was replaced and greatly increased, to 56 Bofors 40 mm and 34 Oerlikon 20 mm.[4]
Six ships of this design were authorized in September 1940 along with a plethora of other ships as a part of the 70% Expansion Two-Ocean Navy Act.[2][A 4] Their role had been altered slightly; in addition to their surface-to-surface role in combating commerce raiders, they were planned to protect carrier groups. It was thought that the class' bigger guns, greater size and higher speed would give them a marked advantage in this role over heavy cruisers, and they would also provide insurance against reports that Japan was building "super cruisers" more powerful than American cruisers limited by the London Naval Treaty.[2][A 5]
Along with the five Montana-class battleships and the final three Alaska-class cruisers, the construction of Hawaii was suspended in May 1942 before work began. This freed materials and facilities so that they could be used to build additional ships which could be completed faster and were needed in the war zones, like anti-submarine escorts.[5] Over 4,000 long tons (4,100 t; 4,500 ST) of steel plates and shapes which had been destined for Hawaii was redirected to other ships in July 1942.[6] However, Hawaii was added back onto the construction queue on 25 May 1943, unlike CB-4 through CB-6, which were canceled on 24 June 1943.[7] Her keel was laid on 20 December 1943,[6] and she was finally launched on 3 November 1945, about two years after Guam.[A 6] The ship was sponsored by Mary P. Farrington, the wife of the delegate from the Territory of Hawaii to the United States House of Representatives, Joseph Farrington.[8] After her launch, little, if any, work was done before construction was halted in either February or April 1947[A 7] due to the reduction in defense expenditures after World War II;[8] the ship was 82.4% complete when work was halted.[5] The turrets for the main battery had been fitted and the superstructure was mostly finished,[6] although the former were removed when the ship was moved into the reserve fleet at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard.[5]
Similar to the incomplete battleship Kentucky,[A 8] Hawaii was considered for a conversion to be a test platform for the development of guided missiles in September 1946. Designated CB(SW), the cruisers' gun armament would have consisted of sixteen 3-inch/70 caliber guns in eight dual mounts. Most missiles would have been mounted toward the bow, while two "missile launching pits" would be located near the stern.[6] For this task, no armor would have been needed, and previously installed armor was to be taken off the ship when required.[6] These plans never came to fruition, so Hawaii remained in the Reserve Fleet, still incomplete.[8]
Two years later, in 1948, a similar conversion plan was put forth. This plan, designated Project SCB 26A, proposed that Hawaii be converted into a Ballistic Guided Missile Ship. This plan called for Hawaii to be completed with 12 vertical launchers for U.S.-made V-2 short-range ballistic missiles and 6 launchers for the SSM-N-2 Triton surface-to-surface cruise missile.[9] Triton was an attempt to give the Navy a reliable cruise missile that it could launch off of its ships. The design process began with an approval from the U.S. Navy in September 1946. After "formulating performance objectives and possible design baselines", the designers settled on attempting to fit a 36,000 pounds (16,000 kg) ramjet-powered cruiser missile onto solid-fuel rocket boosters that could throw the missile 2,000 nautical miles (2,300 mi; 3,700 km) at Mach 1.6–2.5 in 1950. After lowering the ambitious goals to more manageable levels in 1955, a fully operational version was expected by 1965, but with tests for the SSM-N-9/RGM-15 Regulus II planned for that year and the up-and-coming UGM-27 Polaris submarine-launched cruise missile, the project was terminated in 1957.[10]
Hawaii would have also been able to launch the JB-2 "Loon" cruise missile from a hydraulic catapult installed on her forward flight deck; lastly, an aircraft crane and twin aircraft catapults were to be added on the stern of the ship. Interestingly the conversion, as envisioned, would have looked similar to a completed Graf Zeppelin-class aircraft carrier.[11] The conversion was authorized in the same year (1948) and was scheduled to be completed in 1950; the ship's classification was changed to CBG-3 to reflect the planned overhaul. However, the conversion was canceled in 1949, along with any other plans for surface ships equipped with ballistic missiles, due to the volatility of the rocket fuels and the shortcomings with guidance systems that were available.[9]
Yet another conversion of Hawaii, this time to a "large command ship", was contemplated from August 1951.[6] In this role, she would have been similar to Northampton, but larger.[1] This conversion would have would have boasted expansive flag facilities and fully capable radar and communication systems for commanding carrier task forces, though there would have been no facilities for amphibious operations.[6][11] Armament would have consisted of sixteen 5"/54 caliber guns in single mounts;[11] this gun size was specified because 3"/50 caliber guns were believed to be too light.[6] Two radars would have been mounted: an AN/SPS-2 on top of a forward tower, and an AN/SPS-8 on the aft superstructure.[11] In addition, an SC-2 was to be mounted on top of a short tower aft of the stack (though forward of the SPS-8); this would have been used for "troposphere scatter communications".[11]
Two Mk37/25 fire-control directors were planned, both fore and aft of the superstructure.[11] The conversion plans were authorized,[6] and her classification was changed to CBC-1 to reflect this on 26 February 1952.[8] Money to begin the project was included in the 1952 budget,[2] but the only work done on the ship was the removal of the 12" turrets,[11] as it was intended that experience from Northampton should be analyzed before a full conversion.[12] However, when it was seen that a smaller and cheaper ship—like the light carrier Wright—could do the same duty,[12] the Hawaii project was canceled in 1953.[11] She reverted to her original designation of CB-3 on 9 September 1954.[6][13][A 9]
In February 1957, a study entitled "Polaris Study–CB-3" was published, proposing that Hawaii be stripped of all her guns in favor of twenty Polaris missiles, mounted in the hull vertically in roughly the same location as the third main turret would have been located, two Talos surface-to-air missile (SAM) launchers, one each fore and aft, two Tartar SAMs mounted on either side of the superstructure, and a single ASROC anti-submarine weapon would be mounted where the first and second main turrets would have been placed. Nothing further was done with the study. On 9 June 1958, Hawaii was struck from the Naval Vessel Register.[6][8][14] Hawaii was sold to the Boston Metals Company of Baltimore on 15 April 1959. The still-incomplete Hawaii was towed to Baltimore, arriving there on 6 January 1960, and was subsequently broken up for scrap.[14][15]
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