 Hawaii fitting out prior to the suspension of her construction in February 1947 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | Hawaii |
| Namesake | Territory of Hawaii |
| Ordered | September 1940 |
| Builder | New York Shipbuilding Corporation,Camden, New Jersey |
| Laid down | 20 December 1943 |
| Launched | 3 November 1945 |
| Sponsored by | Elizabeth Farrington |
| Stricken | 9 June 1958 |
| Fate | Sold forscrap, 15 April 1959 |
| General characteristics (as designed) | |
| Class & type | Alaska-classlarge cruiser |
| Displacement | |
| Length | 808 ft 6 in (246.4 m) |
| Beam | 91 ft 1 in (27.8 m) |
| Draft |
|
| Installed power |
|
| Propulsion | 4 shafts, 4steam turbines |
| Speed | 33knots (61 km/h; 38 mph) |
| Endurance | 12,000 nmi (22,000 km; 14,000 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph) |
| Armament |
|
| Armor |
|
| Aircraft carried | 4 ×floatplanes |
| Aviation facilities | |
USSHawaii (CB-3)[A 1] was intended to be the third member of theAlaska-classlarge cruisers. It was the firstUnited States Navy ship to be named after the then-Territory of Hawaii. BecauseHawaii's construction was delayed by higher-priority ships likeaircraft carriers, herkeel was not laid until December 1943, about two years after hersister shipGuam.
Hawaii waslaunched in late 1945, but post-war budget cutbacks necessitated her cancellation in 1947. TheAlaska-class large cruisers were seen as requiring a crew almost as large as aSouth Dakota orIowa-classbattleship, while the armor and protection of thecapital ship-sizedHawaii was no better than aBaltimore-classcruiser and this was particularly significant as the underwater protection designed intoHawaii was poor. In a famousProceedings article in January 1949, Frank Uhlig dismissed the performance of the class in 1944–1945 and concluded the battlecruiser had no place in the postwar USN.[1] For a time, the US Navy planned to convert the ship into the United States's first guided missile cruiser, but this did not come to fruition. A conversion to a largecommand ship was later contemplated and planning went far enough that money was allocated in the 1952 budget for this purpose. However, with one command ship already completed,Northampton, and a second already chosen,Wright, no work was started uponHawaii. Having been laid up for twelve years, the still incomplete ship was towed tobreakers to be scrapped in 1959.
The initial impetus for the design of theAlaska class came from thecommerce-raiding abilities of German and Japanese ships; the threeDeutschland-class cruisers, the twoScharnhorst-class battleships and Japan's large force of both heavy and light cruisers. By the time that they were built, their role had expanded to protect carrier groups. It was thought that the class's bigger guns, greater size and higher speed would give them a marked advantage in this role over heavy cruisers and they would also provide insurance against reports that Japan was building "super cruisers" more powerful than American cruisers limited by theLondon Naval Treaty.[A 2]
Hawaii was 808 feet 6 inches (246.43 m)long overall and had abeam of 91 feet 1 inch (27.8 m) and adraft of 31 feet 10 inches (9.7 m). She displaced 29,779 long tons (30,257 t) as designed and up to 34,253 long tons (34,803 t) atdeep load. The ship was powered by fourGeneral Electric gearedsteam turbine sets, each driving one propeller and eight oil-firedBabcock & Wilcoxboilers rated at 150,000shaft horsepower (110,000 kW) and a top speed of 33knots (61 km/h; 38 mph). The ship had a cruising range of 12,000nautical miles (22,000 km; 14,000 mi) at a speed of 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph).[2][3] She carried fourfloatplanes, housed in twohangars,[4] with a pair ofaircraft catapults mounted amidships.[5]
The ship was armed with a main battery of nine12 inch (305 mm) L/50 Mark 8 guns in three triple-gun turrets, two in asuperfiring pair forward and one aft of thesuperstructure.[A 3] The secondary battery consisted of twelve5-inch (127 mm) L/38dual-purpose guns in six twin turrets. Two were placed on thecenterline superfiring over the main battery turrets, fore and aft; the remaining four turrets were placed on the corners of the superstructure. The light anti-aircraft battery consisted of 56 quad-mounted40 mm (1.6 in) Bofors guns and 34 single-mounted20 mm (0.79 in) Oerlikon guns.[2] A pair of Mk 34 gun directors aided gunlaying for the main battery, while two Mk 37 directors controlled the 5-inch guns and a Mk 57 director aided the 40 mm guns.[6] The mainarmored belt was 9 in (229 mm) thick, while the gun turrets had 12.8 in (325 mm) thick faces. The main armored deck was 4 in (102 mm) thick.[2]
Along with the fiveMontana-class battleships and the final threeAlaska-class cruisers, the construction ofHawaii was suspended in May 1942 before work began. This freed materials and facilities so that they could be used to build additional ships which could be completed faster and were needed in the war zones, likeanti-submarine escorts.[7] Over 4,000 long tons (4,100 t) of steel plates and shapes which had been destined forHawaii was redirected to other ships in July 1942.[8] However,Hawaii was added back onto the construction queue on 25 May 1943, unlike CB-4 through CB-6, which were cancelled on 24 June 1943.[9] Her keel was laid on 20 December 1943,[8] and she was finally launched on 3 November 1945, about two years afterGuam.[A 4] The ship wassponsored byMary P. Farrington, the wife of thedelegate from the Territory of Hawaii to theUnited States House of Representatives,Joseph Farrington.[10] After her launch, little, if any, work was done before construction was halted in either February or April 1947[A 5] due to the reduction in defense expenditures afterWorld War II;[10] the ship was 82.4% complete when work was halted.[7] The turrets for the main battery had been fitted and the superstructure was mostly finished,[8] although the former were removed when the ship was moved into the reserve fleet at thePhiladelphia Naval Shipyard.[7]
Hawaii was considered under projectSCB 26 for a conversion to an aircraft carrier, with an aircraft crane and twin aircraft catapults to be added on the stern of the ship. The conversion, as envisioned, would have looked similar to a completedGraf Zeppelin-class aircraft carrier.[11] The ship would have also been able to launch theJB-2 "Loon" cruise missile from a hydraulic catapult installed on her forward flight deck. The conversion was authorized in the same year (1948) and was scheduled to be completed in 1950; the ship'sclassification was changed to CBG-3 to reflect the planned overhaul. However, the conversion was canceled in 1949, along with any other plans for surface ships equipped with ballistic missiles, due to the volatility of the rocket fuels and the shortcomings with guidance systems that were available.[12]
Similar to the unfinished battleshipKentucky,[A 6]Hawaii was considered for a conversion to be a test platform for the development of guided missiles in September 1946. Designated CB(SW), the cruisers' gun armament would have consisted of sixteen3-inch (76 mm) L70 guns in eight dual mounts. Most missiles would have been mounted toward the bow, while two "missile launching pits" would be located near the stern. For this task, no armor would have been needed and previously installed armor was to be taken off the ship when required.[8] These plans never came to fruition, soHawaii remained in theReserve Fleet, still incomplete.[10]
Two years later, in 1948, a similar conversion plan was put forth. This plan, designated project SCB 26A, proposed thatHawaii be converted into a Ballistic Guided Missile Ship. This plan called forHawaii to be completed with 12 vertical launchers for U.S.-madeV-2short-range ballistic missiles and 6 launchers for theSSM-N-2 Triton surface-to-surfacecruise missile.[12] Triton was an attempt to give the Navy a reliable cruise missile that it could launch off of its ships. The design process began with an approval from the U.S. Navy in September 1946. After "formulating performance objectives and possible design baselines", the designers settled on attempting to fit a 36,000-pound (16,000 kg) ramjet-powered cruiser missile onto solid-fuel rocket boosters that could carry the missile 2,000 nautical miles (3,700 km; 2,300 mi) atMach 1.6–2.5 in 1950. After lowering the ambitious goals to more realistic levels in 1955, a fully operational version was expected by 1965, but with tests for theSSM-N-9/RGM-15 Regulus II planned for that year and the up-and-comingUGM-27 Polarissubmarine-launched cruise missile, the project was terminated in 1957.[13] One source has a variation of this scheme, with the developmental XPM (Experimental Prototype Missile) fromOperation Bumblebee replacing the Triton launchers. XPM eventually led to theRIM-8 Talos surface-to-air missile.[14]
_being_towed_away_for_scrapping_on_20_June_1959_(NH_89293).jpg)
Yet another conversion ofHawaii, this time to a "large command ship", was contemplated under project SCB 83 from August 1951.[8] In this role, she would have been similar toNorthampton, but larger. This conversion would have boasted expansive flag facilities and fully capable radar and communication systems for commanding carrier task forces, though there would have been no facilities foramphibious operations.[8][11] Armament would have consisted of sixteen5-inch/54-caliber Mark 42 guns in single mounts;[11] this gun size was specified because3-inch/50-caliber guns were believed to be too light.[8] Tworadars would have been mounted: anAN/SPS-2 on top of a forward tower and anAN/SPS-8 on the aft superstructure.[11] In addition, anSC-2 was to be mounted on top of a short tower aft of the stack (though forward of the SPS-8); this would have been used for "tropospheric scatter communications".[11]
Two Mk37/25fire-control directors were planned, both fore and aft of the superstructure.[11] The conversion plans were authorized,[8] and her classification was changed to CBC-1 to reflect this on 26 February 1952.[10] Money to begin the project was included in the 1952 budget,[15] but the only work done on the ship was the removal of the 12" turrets,[11] as it was intended that experience fromNorthampton should be analyzed before a full conversion.[16] However, when it was seen that a smaller and cheaper ship—like the light carrierWright—could do the same duty,[16] theHawaii project was cancelled in 1953.[11] She reverted to her original designation of CB-3 on 9 September 1954.[8][17][A 7]
In February 1957, a study entitled "Polaris Study–CB-3" was published, proposing thatHawaii be stripped of all her guns in favor of twenty Polaris missiles, mounted in the hull vertically in roughly the same location as the third main turret would have been located, two Talossurface-to-air missile (SAM) launchers, one each fore and aft, twoTartar SAMs mounted on either side of the superstructure and a singleASROCanti-submarine weapon mounted where the second main turret would have been placed. Nothing further was done with the study.[18]
On 9 June 1958,Hawaii was struck from theNaval Vessel Register[8][10][19] and the ship was sold to theBoston Metals Company of Baltimore on 15 April 1959. The still-incompleteHawaii was towed to Baltimore, arriving there on 6 January 1960 and was subsequentlybroken up for scrap.[19][20]
