Oregon City-Class Cruiser

	USS Rochester on 20 September 1953
Class overview
Name:	Oregon City class
Builders:	Bethlehem Steel Corporation, Fore River Shipyard
Operators:	United States Navy
Preceded by:	Baltimore class
Succeeded by:	Des Moines class
Subclasses:	Albany class
Built:	1944–1951
In commission:	1946–1961
Planned:	10
Completed:	4
Cancelled:	6
Retired:	4
General characteristics
Type:	Heavy cruiser
Displacement:	13,260 long-tons (standard)
Length:	664 ft (202 m) wl; 673 ft 5 in (205.26 m) oa;
Beam:	70 ft 10 in (21.59 m)
Draft:	26 ft 4 in (8.03 m)
Propulsion:	General Electric steam turbines turning 120,000 hp (89,000 kW)
Speed:	32.4 knots (60.0 km/h; 37.3 mph)
Boats & landing ; craft carried:	2 × lifeboats
Complement:	1,142 officers and enlisted
Sensors and ; processing systems:	AN/SPS-6 air-search radar; AN/SPS-8A height-finding radar;
Armament:	As Built:; 3 × triple 8"/55 caliber guns; 6 × twin 5"/38 caliber guns; 11 × quad and 2 x twin Bofors 40 mm guns; 8 × single Oerlikon 20 mm cannons; Post-1953 (Albany, Rochester):; 3 × triple 8"/55 caliber guns; 6 × twin 5"/38 caliber guns; 10 × twin 3"/50 caliber guns;
Aircraft carried:	4 × Vought OS2U Kingfishers
Aviation facilities:	2 × aircraft catapults; Helipad (later conversion);

Short description: Heavy cruiser class

The Oregon City class was a class of heavy cruisers of the United States Navy. Although ten ships of this class were planned, only four were completed – one of those as a command ship. The three ships completed as cruisers were in commission from 1946 to 1980, one having been converted to a guided missile cruiser (CG).

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, and to a lesser degree the Atlanta and Juneau 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, five after being laid down.^[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 cruisers were commissioned in 1946. Oregon City was decommissioned after only 22 months of service, one of the shortest active careers of any World War II-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]
Name	Hull Number	Builder	Laid down	Launched	Commissioned/ Recommissioned	Decommissioned	Fate
Oregon City	CA-122	Bethlehem Steel Corporation, Fore River Shipyard, Quincy, Massachusetts	8 April 1944	9 June 1945	16 February 1946	15 December 1947	Struck 1 November 1970; Sold for scrap, 17 August 1973
Albany	CA-123		6 Mar 1944	11 Jun 1945	15 June 1946	30 June 1958	Converted to Guided Missile Cruiser^[3] Struck 30 June 1985; Sold for scrap, 12 August 1990
Albany	CG-10		6 Mar 1944	11 Jun 1945	3 November 1962	29 August 1980
Rochester	CA-124		29 May 1944	28 August 1945	20 December 1946	15 August 1961	Struck 1 October 1973; Sold for scrap, 24 September 1974
Northampton	CA-125		31 August 1944	27 January 1951	7 March 1953	8 April 1970	Converted to command ship during construction – Struck and sold for scrap, 31 Dec 1977
Northampton	CLC-1		31 August 1944	27 January 1951	7 March 1953	8 April 1970
Cambridge	CA-126		16 December 1944	N/A			Cancelled 12 August 1945 and scrapped on slip
Bridgeport	CA-127		13 January 1945				Cancelled 12 August 1945 and scrapped on slip
Kansas City	CA-128		9 July 1945				Cancelled 12 August 1945 and scrapped on slip
Tulsa	CA-129		N/A				Cancelled 12 August 1945
Norfolk	CA-137	Philadelphia Naval Shipyard	27 December 1944				Cancelled 12 August 1945 and scrapped on slip
Scranton	CA-138	Philadelphia Naval Shipyard	27 December 1944				Cancelled 12 August 1945 and scrapped on slip

Gallery

USS Oregon City
USS Albany
USS Rochester
USS Northampton

Notes

↑ Albany was converted to a guided missile cruiser and as such was in commission from 1962 to 1980, but this was a totally different class of ship than an all-gun heavy cruiser. Northampton was decommissioned in 1970, but was completed as a command ship. Rochester, the last of the Oregon City class "gun cruisers" was decommissioned in 1961.

References

↑ Norman Friedman, U.S. Cruisers, An Illustrated Design History 1984 ISBN:978-0-87021-718-0 ^{[page needed]}
↑ ^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

Global Security.org – Oregon City class cruiser
DANFS

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[1] Albany was converted to a guided missile cruiser and as such was in commission from 1962 to 1980, but this was a totally different class of ship than an all-gun heavy cruiser. Northampton was decommissioned in 1970, but was completed as a command ship. Rochester, the last of the Oregon City class "gun cruisers" was decommissioned in 1961.

[2] Norman Friedman, U.S. Cruisers, An Illustrated Design History 1984 ISBN:978-0-87021-718-0 ^{[page needed]}

[Whitley_p269-3] 2.0 ^2.1 Whitley 1999, p. 269.

[Conways47_p578-4] Gardiner and Chumbley 1995, p. 578.