Worcester-class cruiser

The Worcester class was a class of light cruisers used by the United States Navy, laid down in 1945 and commissioned in 1948–49. They and their contemporaries, the Des Moines-class heavy cruisers, were the last all-gun cruisers built for the U.S. Navy. Ten ships were planned for this class, but only two (USS Worcester (CL-144) and USS Roanoke (CL-145)) were completed.

USS Roanoke in 1950s
Class overview
Name	Worcester-class
Builders	New York Shipbuilding Corporation
Operators	United States Navy
Preceded by	Fargo class
Succeeded by	None
Subclasses	None
Built	1945–1947
In commission	1948–58
Planned	10
Completed	2
Cancelled	8
Retired	2
Preserved	0
General characteristics
Type	Light cruiser
Displacement	14,700 long tons (14,936 t) (standard) 17,997 long tons (18,286 t) (full)
Length	664 ft (202 m) wl 679 ft 6 in (207.11 m) oa
Beam	70 ft .5 in (21.3 m)
Draft	25 ft (7.6 m)
Propulsion	4 × Westinghouse 620 psi boilers 4 × geared steam turbines 4 × screws 125,000 Horsepower
Speed	33 knots
Boats & landing craft carried	2–4 × lifeboats
Complement	1,560 officers and enlisted
Sensors and processing systems	AN/SPS-10 surface-search radar AN/SPS-6 air-search radar AN/SPS-8A height-finding radar AN/URD-4 radio direction finder AN/URN-3 TACAN AN/SLR-2 ECM Receiver Mark 56 fire-control system
Armament	6 × dual 6-inch/47-caliber guns 11 × dual 3-inch/50-caliber guns 2 × single 3"/50 caliber Mark 34 guns
Armor	belt: 3–5 in (76–127 mm) deck: 3.5 in (89 mm) (max) turrets: 2–6.5 in (51–165 mm) barbettes: 5 in (127 mm) conning tower: 4.5 in (114 mm)
Aviation facilities	2 × aircraft catapults

The main battery layout was distinctive, with twin rather than triple turrets, unlike the previous Cleveland-class, St. Louis-class, and Brooklyn-class light cruisers. Aside from the Worcesters' main battery consisting of 6 in (152 mm) rather than 5 in (127 mm) guns, the layout was identical to the much smaller Juneau-class light cruisers, carrying 12 guns in six turrets, three forward and three aft, with only turrets 3 and 4 superfiring. The 6-inch/47-caliber gun was an autoloading, high-angle dual-purpose gun with a high rate of fire, and the Worcesters were thus designed to serve as AA cruisers like the Juneaus but with much more potent guns, as well as conventional light cruisers.

Both ships were decommissioned in 1958, the last conventional light cruisers to serve in the fleet, and scrapped in the early 1970s.

Design

The Worcester class was designed as a departure from the Cleveland-class and Fargo-class cruisers, and an expansion of the Atlanta and Juneau classes.^{[dubious – discuss]} They carried six twin dual-purpose 6-inch/47-caliber gun turrets on the center-line, of which turrets three and four were superimposed. They carried 24 3"/50 cal AA in eleven twin mounts and two single mounts. Fire-control equipment included four high-angle/low-angle director control towers (DCTs) and two low-angle DCTs, which were arranged in a diamond-shaped pattern. Their armor was a 3–6" belt, a 3" main deck, a 2" lower deck, 3–4" bulkheads, 4" turrets and barbettes, and a 6.5" conning tower. Four Babcock & Wilcox boilers with four shafts and General Electric geared turbines provided 120,000 S.H.P., which could propel these ships at 32.75 knots.^[1]

Ships in class

Ship Name	Hull No.	Builder	Laid Down	Launched	Commissioned	Decommissioned	Fate
Worcester	CL-144	New York Shipbuilding Corporation, Camden, New Jersey	29 January 1945	4 February 1947	26 June 1948	19 December 1958	Struck 1 December 1970; Sold to Zidell Explorations, Inc., of Portland, OR on 5 July 1972
Roanoke	CL-145		15 May 1945	16 June 1947	4 April 1949	31 October 1958	Struck 1 December 1970; Sold to Levin Metals Corporation of San Jose, Calif. on 22 February 1972
Vallejo	CL-146		16 July 1945	—			Construction cancelled 8 December 1945; hull was subsequently scrapped
Gary	CL-147		—				Cancelled 12 August 1945 prior to the start of construction

See also

• CL-154-class cruiser, an abortive contemporary design
• Minotaur-class cruiser (1947), a Royal Navy design similar in concept.
• List of cruisers of the United States Navy