_underway_at_slow_speed%2c_circa_the_early_1950s_(NH_106501).jpg) USSRoanoke 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 | |
| Length | |
| Beam | 70 ft .5 in (21.3 m) |
| Draft | 25 ft (7.6 m) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 33 knots |
| Boats & landing craft carried | 2–4 ×lifeboats |
| Complement | 1,560 officers and enlisted |
| Sensors & processing systems | |
| Armament |
|
| Armor |
|
| Aviation facilities | 2 ×aircraft catapults |
TheWorcester class was a class oflight cruisers used by theUnited States Navy,laid down in 1945 and commissioned in 1948–49. They and their contemporaries, theDes Moines-classheavy 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) andUSS Roanoke (CL-145)) were completed.
The mainbattery layout was distinctive, with twin rather than tripleturrets, unlike the previousCleveland-class,St. Louis-class, andBrooklyn-class light cruisers. Aside from theWorcesters' main battery consisting of 6 in (152 mm) rather than 5 in (127 mm) guns, the layout was identical to the much smallerJuneau-class light cruisers, carrying 12 guns in six turrets, three forward and three aft, with only turrets 3 and 4superfiring. The6-inch/47-caliber gun was an autoloading, high-angledual-purpose gun with a high rate of fire, and theWorcesters were thus designed to serve as AA cruisers like theJuneaus 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.
TheWorcester class was designed as a departure from theCleveland-class andFargo-class cruisers, and an expansion of theAtlanta andJuneau classes.[dubious –discuss] They carried six twindual-purpose6-inch/47-caliber gun turrets on the center-line, of which turrets three and four weresuperimposed. They carried 243"/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 andGeneral Electric geared turbines provided 120,000 S.H.P., which could propel these ships at 32.75 knots.[1]
| 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 | ||||
