Des Moines class heavy cruiser
USS Des Moines (CA-134)
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| Class overview | |
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| Name: | Des Moines-class cruiser |
| Operators: |
.svg){kind=small} United States Navy
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| Preceded by: | Oregon City class |
| Succeeded by: | None |
| In commission: | 1948–75 |
| Planned: | 12 |
| Completed: | 3 |
| Cancelled: | 9 |
| Retired: | 3 |
| Preserved: | 1 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Heavy cruiser |
| Displacement: |
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| Length: | 716 ft 6 in (218.39 m) |
| Beam: | 76 ft 6 in (23.32 m) |
| Draft: | 22 ft (6.7 m) |
| Propulsion: |
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| Speed: | 33 kn (61 km/h) |
| Range: |
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| Complement: | 1,799 officers and enlisted |
| Armament: |
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| Armor: |
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The Des Moines-class cruisers were a trio of U.S. Navy heavy cruisers, commissioned in 1948–1949. They were the last of the all-gun heavy cruisers, exceeded in size in the American navy only by the Alaska-class cruisers that straddled the line between heavy cruiser and battlecruiser. Two were decommissioned by 1961, but one, Newport News (CA-148), served until 1975. Salem (CA-139) is a museum ship in Quincy, Massachusetts; the other two ships were scrapped.
Derived from the Baltimore-class heavy cruisers, they were larger, had an improved machinery layout, and carried a new design of auto-loading, rapid-fire 8"/55 gun (the Mk16). The improved Mk16 guns of the main battery were the first auto-loading 8" guns fielded by the US Navy, and allowed a much higher rate of fire than earlier designs, capable of sustaining seven shots per minute per barrel, or about twice what previous heavy cruisers could. The auto-loading mechanism could function at any elevation, giving even these large-caliber guns some anti-aircraft ability. While the secondary battery of six twin 5"/38 Mk12 DP guns was essentially unchanged from the preceding Oregon City and Baltimore-class cruisers, the Des Moines class carried a stronger battery of small-caliber anti-aircraft guns, including 12 twin 3-inch/50 Mk27 and later Mk33 guns, that were considered superior to the earlier ships' quad-mounted 40mm Bofors against then current airborne threats.
Twelve ships of the class were programmed, but only three ships were completed: Des Moines (CA-134), Salem (CA-139), and Newport News (CA-148), with the USS Dallas (CA-140) canceled when she was approximately 28 percent complete. They were the last of an age
Their speed made them valuable to escort carrier groups and they were useful in showing the flag in goodwill visits. The first two were decommissioned in 1961 and 1959, respectively, but Newport News remained in commission until 1975, serving for a long period (1962–1968) as United States Second Fleet flagship, and later providing valuable gunfire support off Vietnam 1969–1973. Missions included bombing military targets in North Vietnam shore, ofrenda destroying shore batteries with her counterbattery fire. In August 1972 she raided Haiphong harbor at night with other US Navy ships to knock out coastal defenses and other high value targets including SAM sites and Cat Bi airfield.
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