Alaska-class cruiser

Class overview
Name:	Alaska class
Builders:	New York Shipbuilding Corporation
Operators:	United States Navy
Preceded by:	N/A
Succeeded by:	N/A, only large cruiser class authorized
In commission:	17 June 1944 – 17 February 1947
Planned:	6
Completed:	2
Cancelled:	4
Retired:	2
General characteristics
Type:	Large cruiser
Displacement:	29,771 tons (standard) 34,253 tons (full load)
Length:	808 ft 6 in (246.43 m) overall 791 ft 6 in (241.25 m) waterline
Beam:	91 ft 9.375 in (28.0 m)
Draft:	27 ft 1 in (8.26 m) (mean) 31 ft 9.25 in (9.68 m) (maximum)
Propulsion:	4-shaft General Electric steam turbines, double-reduction gearing, 8 Babcock & Wilcox boilers 150,000 shp (110,000 kW)
Speed:	31.4–33 knots (58.2–61.1 km/h; 36.1–38.0 mph)
Range:	12,000 nautical miles (22,000 km; 14,000 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Complement:	1,517–1,799–2,251
Armament:	9 × 12-inch (305 mm)/50 caliber Mark 8 guns (3 × 3) 12 × 5-inch (127 mm)/38 caliber dual-purpose guns (6 × 2) 56 × 40 mm (1.57 in) Bofors (14 × 4) 34 × 20mm Oerlikon (34 × 1)
Armor:	Main side belt: 9 in (230 mm) gradually thinning to 5 in (130 mm) Armor deck: 3.8–4 in (97–102 mm) Weather (main) deck: 1.4 in (36 mm) Splinter (third) deck: 0.625 in (15.9 mm) Barbettes: 11–13 in (280–330 mm) Turrets: 12.8 in (330 mm) face, 5 in (130 mm) roof, 5.25–6 in (133–152 mm) side and 5.25 in (133 mm) rear. Conning tower:10.6 in (270 mm) with 5 in (130 mm) roof
Aircraft carried:	4 × OS2U Kingfisher or SC Seahawk
Aviation facilities:	Enclosed hangar located amidships

27 ft 1 in (8.26 m) (mean)

The Alaska class was a class of six large cruisers ordered before World War II for the United States Navy. They were officially classed as large cruisers (CB), but others have regarded them as battlecruisers. They were all named after territories or insular areas of the United States, signifying their intermediate status between larger battleships and smaller heavy and light cruisers. Of the six planned, two were completed, the third's construction was suspended on 16 April 1947, and the last three were cancelled. Alaska and Guam served with the U.S. Navy for the last year of World War II as bombardment ships and fast carrier escorts. They were decommissioned in 1947 after spending only 32 and 29 months in service, respectively.

The idea for a large cruiser class originated in the early 1930s when the U.S. Navy sought to counter Deutschland-class "pocket battleships" being launched by Germany. Planning for ships that eventually evolved into the Alaska class began in the late 1930s after the deployment of Germany's Scharnhorst-class battleships and rumors that Japan was constructing a new battlecruiser class. To serve as "cruiser-killers" capable of seeking out and destroying these post-Treaty heavy cruisers, the class was given large guns of a new and expensive design, limited armor protection against 12-inch shells, and machinery capable of speeds of about 31–33 knots (57–61 km/h; 36–38 mph).

Heavy cruiser development steadied between World War I and World War II thanks to the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty and successor treaties and conferences, where the United States, Britain, Japan, France, and Italy agreed to limit heavy cruisers to 10,000 tons displacement with 8-inch main armament. Up until the Alaska class, US cruisers designed between the wars followed this pattern.

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