Brooklyn-class cruiser

USS Honolulu in 1944
Class overview
Name	Brooklyn class
Builders	Brooklyn Navy Yard Philadelphia Naval Shipyard New York Shipbuilding Corporation Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company
Operators	United States Navy  Argentine Navy Brazilian Navy  Chilean Navy
Preceded by	Omaha class
Succeeded by	Atlanta class
Subclasses	St. Louis class
Built	1935–1938
In service	1938–1992
In commission	1937–1992
Planned	9
Completed	9
Lost	2
Retired	7
General characteristics
Type	Light cruiser
Displacement	9,767 long tons (9,924 t) (standard) 12,207 long tons (12,403 t) (full load)
Length	600 ft (180 m) wl 608 ft 4 in (185.42 m) oa
Beam	62 ft (19 m)
Draft	23 ft (7.0 m)
Installed power	8 × Babcock & Wilcox boilers 100,000 shp (74,570 kW)
Propulsion	4 × Parsons geared turbines 4 × shafts
Speed	32.5 knots (60.2 km/h; 37.4 mph)
Range	10,000 nmi (19,000 km; 12,000 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Boats & landing craft carried	2 × lifeboats
Complement	868
Sensors and processing systems	Mk34 GFCS (6in main) Mk33 GFCS (5in secondary) SK-2 air-search radar
Armament	5 × triple 6"/47 caliber guns 8 × single 5"/25 caliber guns (Brooklyn through Honolulu) 4 × dual 5"/38 caliber guns (St. Louis and Helena) 8 × single M2 Browning machine guns
Armor	Main belt At machinery: 5 in (127 mm) on 0.625-inch (16 mm) STS plate At magazines: 2 in (51 mm) on 0.625-inch STS plate Deck: 2 in Barbettes: 6 in (152 mm) Gun turret Turret roofs: 2 in Turret sides: 1.25 in (31.75 mm) Turret face: 6.5 in (165 mm) Conning tower: 5 in
Aircraft carried	4 × floatplanes
Aviation facilities	2 × aircraft catapults

The Brooklyn-class cruiser was a class of nine light cruisers built for the United States Navy between 1935 and 1938. Armed with five triple 6-inch (152 mm) gun turrets (three forward, two aft), they mounted more main battery guns than any other standard US cruiser. The Brooklyn-class ships were all commissioned between 1937 and 1939, in the time between the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War and before the invasion of Poland. They served extensively in both the Pacific and Atlantic theaters during World War II.

Helena was sunk in the Pacific, and while some of the others were heavily damaged, the remaining ships of the class were decommissioned shortly after the end of the war. Six were transferred to South American navies in 1951, where they served for many more years. One of these, ARA General Belgrano, formerly Phoenix, was sunk during the Falklands War in 1982.^[1]

The Brooklyn-class ships had a strong influence on US cruiser design. Nearly all subsequent US cruisers, heavy and light, were directly or indirectly based on them.^[1] Notable among these are the Cleveland-class light cruiser and Baltimore-class heavy cruiser of World War II.