Oregon City-class cruiser

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Class overview
USS Oregon City (CA-122)
Name:	Oregon City class cruiser
Operators:	United States Navy
Preceded by:	Baltimore-class cruiser
Succeeded by:	Des Moines-class cruiser
In commission:	1946–1970^{[note 1]}
Planned:	10
Completed:	4 (1 completed as a command ship USS Northampton (CLC-1)
Cancelled:	6
General characteristics
Type:	Heavy cruiser
Displacement:	17,000 tons Full Load
Length:	673 ft 5 in (205.26 m)
Beam:	70 ft 10 in (21.59 m)
Draft:	26 ft 4 in (8.03 m)
Propulsion:	General Electric turbines turning 120,000 hp (89,000 kW)
Speed:	32.4 knots (60.0 km/h; 37.3 mph)
Complement:	1,142 officers and enlisted
Armament:	9 × 8 inch/55 caliber guns (3×3) 12 × 5 inch/38 caliber guns (6×2) 48 × 40 mm Bofors guns 20 × 20 mm Oerlikon cannons
Aircraft carried:	Four amphibious scout planes

The Oregon City class were a class of heavy cruisers of the United States Navy. Although it was intended to build ten, only four were completed – one of those as a command ship. The three cruisers were in commission from 1946 to 1970.

Design and development

The Oregon City-class cruisers were a modified version of the previous Baltimore-class design; the main difference was a more compact pyramidal superstructure with single trunked funnel, intended to improve the arcs of fire of the anti-aircraft (AA) guns. The same type of modification also differentiated the Cleveland and Fargo classes of light cruisers.^[1]

History

Ten ships were authorized for the class with three being completed and the fourth suspended during construction. The final six ships were cancelled.^[2] Construction on the incomplete fourth ship was resumed in 1948 and the ship served as a command ship Northampton (CLC-1). All three completed ships were commissioned in 1946. Oregon City was decommissioned after only 18 months of service, probably the shortest active life of any WWII-era cruiser. Albany was later converted into a guided missile ship, becoming the lead ship of the Albany class and served until 1980. A similar conversion was planned for Rochester but was cancelled.

Ships in class

Ships in class^[2]
Hull Number	Name	Builder	Laid down	Launched	Commission– decommission	Fate
CA 122	USS Oregon City	Bethlehem Steel Corporation, Fore River Shipyard, Quincy, Massachusetts	8 April 1944	9 June 1945	16 February 1946 - 15 December 1947	Scrapped 1973
CA 123	USS Albany	Bethlehem Steel Corporation, Fore River Shipyard, Quincy, Massachusetts	6 Mar 1944	11 Jun 1946	15 June 1946 - 30 June 1958 3 November 1962 - 29 August 1980	Converted to Guided Missile Cruiser^[3] Sold for scrapping 1990
CA-124	USS Rochester	Bethlehem Steel Corporation, Fore River Shipyard, Quincy, Massachusetts	29 May 1944	28 August 1945	20 December 1946 - 15 August 1961	Scrapped 1974
CA-125	USS Northampton	Bethlehem Steel Corporation, Fore River Shipyard, Quincy, Massachusetts	31 August 1944	27 January 1951	7 March 1953 - 8 April 1970	Converted to command ship during construction – stricken 31 Dec 1977
CA-126	USS Cambridge	Bethlehem Steel Corporation, Fore River Shipyard, Quincy, Massachusetts	16 December 1944	-	-	Cancelled 12 August 1945
CA-127	USS Bridgeport	Bethlehem Steel Corporation, Fore River Shipyard, Quincy, Massachusetts	13 January 1945	-	-	Cancelled 12 August 1945
CA-128	USS Kansas City	Bethlehem Steel Corporation, Fore River Shipyard, Quincy, Massachusetts	-	-	-	Cancelled 12 August 1945
CA-129	USS Tulsa	Bethlehem Steel Corporation, Fore River Shipyard, Quincy, Massachusetts	-	-	-	Cancelled 12 August 1945
CA-137	USS Norfolk	Philadelphia Naval Shipyard	-	-	-	Cancelled 12 August 1945
CA-138	USS Scranton	Philadelphia Naval Shipyard	-	-	-	Cancelled 12 August 1945

References

Notes

↑ Albany was converted to a guided missile cruiser and as such was in commission from 1962–1980, but this was a totally different class of ship to a heavy cruiser. Northampton was decommissioned in 1970 as the last of the Oregon City class "gun cruisers".

Citations

↑ Norman Friedman, U.S. Cruisers, An Illustrated Design History 1984 ISBN 978-0-87021-718-0
↑ 2.0 2.1 Whitley 1999, p. 269.
↑ Gardiner and Chumbley 1995, p. 578.

Bibliography

Gardiner, Robert and Stephen Chumbley (editors). Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1947–1995. Annapolis, Maryland USA: Naval Institute Press, 1995. ISBN 1-55750-132-7.
Whitley, M.J. Cruisers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia. London: Brockhampton Press, 1999. ISBN 1-86019-874-0,

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Oregon City class cruiser.

v t e Oregon City-class cruiser

Built	Albany Northampton Oregon City Rochester

Canceled	Bridgeport Cambridge Kansas City Norfolk Scranton Tulsa

Preceded by: Baltimore class Followed by: Des Moines class List of cruisers of the United States Navy

v t e United States naval ship classes of World War II

Aircraft carriers	Lexington Ranger^S Yorktown Wasp^S Essex Midway^C

Light aircraft carriers	Independence Saipan^C

Escort carriers	Long Island Bogue Sangamon Charger Casablanca Commencement Bay

Battleships	Wyoming New York Nevada Pennsylvania New Mexico Tennessee Colorado North Carolina South Dakota Iowa Montana^X

Battlecruisers	Alaska

Heavy cruisers	Pensacola Northampton Portland New Orleans Wichita^S Baltimore Oregon City^C Des Moines^C

Light cruisers	Omaha Brooklyn St. Louis Atlanta Cleveland Fargo^C Juneau^C Worcester^C

Destroyers	Sampson Caldwell Wickes Clemson Farragut Porter Mahan Gridley Bagley Somers Benham Sims Benson Gleaves Fletcher Allen M. Sumner Robert H. Smith Gearing

Destroyer escorts	Evarts Buckley Cannon Edsall Rudderow John C. Butler

Patrol frigates	Asheville Tacoma

Minesweepers	Lapwing Raven Auk Eagle^S Hawk Admirable

Submarines	O R S Barracuda Argonaut^S Narwhal Dolphin^S Cachalot Porpoise Salmon Sargo Tambor Mackerel Gato Balao Tench

S Single ship of class C Completed after the war X Cancelled

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