Cleveland-class cruiser

USS Cleveland at sea in 1942
Class overview
Name: Cleveland class
Operators:  United States Navy
Preceded by:
Succeeded by: Fargo-class cruiser
In commission: 1942–1979
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: 63 ft (19 m)
Height: 113 ft (34 m)
Draft:
  • 25 ft 6 in (7.77 m) (mean)
  • 25 ft (7.6 m) (max)
Installed power:
Propulsion:
Speed: 32.5 kn (37.4 mph; 60.2 km/h)
Range: 14,500 nmi (26,900 km; 16,700 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)
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: 6.5 in (170 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

The U.S. Navy designed the Cleveland class of light cruisers for World War II with the goal of increased cruising range, anti-aircraft armament, torpedo protection, etc., compared with earlier U.S. cruisers.[1]

52 light cruisers 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. Following the naming convention at the time, all the ships completed as cruisers were named for US cities and towns.[2]

Technical drawing of a Cleveland-class cruiser.

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 hard worked in both the Atlantic and Pacific fleets, and in some cases heavily damaged in combat, survived the war. Except for Manchester, which remained in service until 1956, and the guided missile cruisers all of these cruisers were decommissioned by 1950. They 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 and equipment and top weight, which was particularly severe in Galveston, leading to its premature decommissioning in 1970 and Oklahoma City and Little Rock had to have a large amount of ballast and internal rearrangement to allow continued service in the 1970s.[3] The last of these in service, Oklahoma City, was decommissioned in December 1979.

Only one Cleveland-class cruiser remains in existence. She is the guided missile cruiser Little Rock, which is a museum ship along the Niagara River at Buffalo, New York, along with the Fletcher-class destroyer The Sullivans, and the Gato-class submarine, Croaker.[4]

Ships in class

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

as a Museum ship, 1 June 1977

Galveston CL-93 CLG-3 William Cramp & Sons Shipbuilding Company, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 27 August 1943 22 April 1945 28 May 1958 May 1970 Sold for scrap, 16 May 1975
Youngstown CL-94 William Cramp & Sons Shipbuilding Company, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 4 September 1944 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 New York Shipbuilding Corporation, Camden, New Jersey 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 Sold for scrap, 11 February 1972
Portsmouth CL-102 Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, Newport News, Virginia 28 June 1943 20 September 1944 25 June 1945 15 June 1949 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 Sunk in testing, 12/14 May 1972
Atlanta CL-104 New York Shipbuilding Corporation, Camden, New Jersey 25 January 1943 6 February 1944 3 December 1944 1 July 1949 Sunk in testing, 1 October 1970
Dayton CL-105 New York Shipbuilding Corporation, Camden, New Jersey 8 March 1943 19 March 1944 7 January 1945 1 March 1949 Sold for scrap, 6 April 1962

References

  1. ↑ Norman Friedman, U.S. Cruisers, An Illustrated Design History 1984 ISBN 978-0-87021-718-0
  2. ↑ M.J. Whitley, Cruisers Of World War Two, An International Encyclopedia 1995 ISBN 978-1-86019-874-8
  3. ↑ Those Cleveland Class Cruisers. An exercise in expediency in N.Wilder Post.' Sea Classics Oct 2013, V46, No 10', pp18-25 & 65
  4. ↑ "Ships". Buffalo & Erie County Naval & Military Park. Retrieved 13 April 2015.

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