New Orleans-class cruiser

USS New Orleans
Class overview
Name:	New Orleans class
Operators:	United States Navy
Preceded by:	Portland class
Succeeded by:	USS Wichita
In commission:	15 February 1934 – 10 February 1947
Planned:	7
Completed:	7
Lost:	3
Retired:	4
General characteristics
Type:	Heavy cruiser
Displacement:	9,950 long tons (10,110 t) 12,463 long tons (12,663 t) (loaded)
Length:	588 ft 2 in (179.27 m)
Beam:	61 ft 9 in (18.82 m)
Draft:	19 ft 5 in (5.92 m)
Propulsion:	4 × Parsons/Westinghouse geared turbines 8 × Babcock & Wilcox boilers 4 × screws 107,000 hp (79,800 kW)
Speed:	32.7 knots (60.6 km/h; 37.6 mph)
Complement:	708 officers and enlisted
Armament:	9 × 8-inch/55 caliber guns 8 × 5-inch/25 caliber guns 8 × .50 caliber machine guns
Armor:	Belt 3–5 in (76–127 mm) Deck 1.25–2.25 in (32–57 mm) Turrets 1.5–8 in (38–203 mm) Barbettes 5 in (127 mm) (6.5 in (165 mm) in CA-38) Conning tower 5 in (127 mm)

The New Orleans-class cruisers were a class of seven heavy cruisers built for the United States Navy (USN) in the 1930s. Originally called the Astoria-class cruiser, the class was renamed after Astoria was sunk and the surviving ships of the class underwent substantial reconstruction.

These ships participated in the heaviest surface battles of the Pacific War. Astoria, Quincy, and Vincennes were all sunk in the Battle of Savo Island, and three others were heavily damaged in subsequent battles in the Guadalcanal campaign. Only Tuscaloosa, which spent most of the war in the Atlantic, got through the war without being damaged. Collectively, ships of the class earned 64 battle stars. The four surviving ships were laid up immediately after the end of the war, and sold for scrap in 1959.

The New Orleans-class design was a test bed for innovations in cruiser design, which is why there were three distinct designs within this class.

This class was the direct ancestor for all subsequent USN gun cruisers. From them came the Brooklyn, Wichita, Cleveland, and the Baltimore-class cruisers. While the Washington Naval Treaty was still being observed, new technology was implemented in the New Orleans class because the USN knew that if and when war came, they would need this knowledge to build ships (which were already in the planning stage) beyond the treaty limits. The USN came to the conclusion that no 10,000-ton cruiser could adequately perform the roles given.

Originally Tuscaloosa was the lead ship of this class, but Astoria, New Orleans and Minneapolis, laid down as Portland-class ships, were reordered to the Tuscaloosa design in 1930; Portland and Indianapolis were being built in civilian rather than Navy yards and were completed as originally designed.

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Wikipedia