Oregon City-class cruiser

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).

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[note 1]
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 & 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
Armor	6 Inch belt armor
Aircraft carried	4 × Vought OS2U Kingfishers
Aviation facilities	2 × aircraft catapults Helipad (later conversion)

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
	CG-10				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
	CLC-1
Cambridge	CA-126		16 December 1944	—			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		—				Cancelled 12 August 1945
Norfolk	CA-137	Philadelphia Naval Shipyard	27 December 1944				Cancelled 12 August 1945 and scrapped on slip
Scranton	CA-138		27 December 1944				Cancelled 12 August 1945 and scrapped on slip

Gallery

• 
  USS Oregon City
• 
  USS Albany
• 
  USS Rochester
• 
  USS Northampton

See also

• Albany-class cruiser
• List of cruisers of the United States Navy

Notes

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.