Des Moines-class cruiser

Salem on 16 June 1952
Class overview
Name	Des Moines-class
Builders	Bethlehem Steel Corporation, Fore River Shipyard Newport News Shipbuilding
Operators	United States Navy
Preceded by	Oregon City class
Succeeded by	None
Built	1945-1949
In commission	1948–1975
Planned	12
Completed	3
Cancelled	9[1][2]
Retired	3
Scrapped	2
Preserved	1
General characteristics (as built)
Type	Heavy cruiser
Displacement	17,255 long tons (17,532 t) (standard) 20,933 long tons (21,269 t) (full load)
Length	700 ft (213.4 m) wl 716 ft 6 in (218.4 m) oa
Beam	76 ft 6 in (23.3 m)
Draft	22 ft (6.7 m)
Installed power	4 boilers 120,000 shp (89,000 kW)
Propulsion	4 shafts; 4 steam turbine sets
Speed	33 kn (61 km/h; 38 mph)
Range	10,500 nmi (19,400 km; 12,100 mi) at 15 kn (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Complement	1,799 officers and enlisted
Sensors and processing systems	AN/SPS-6 air-search radar SP fighter directional radar
Armament	3 × triple 8"/55 caliber guns 6 × twin 5"/38 caliber guns 12 × twin 3"/50 caliber guns 12 × single Oerlikon 20 mm cannons
Armor	Belt: 4-6 in (102-152 mm) Deck: 3.5 in (89 mm) Turrets: 2-8 in (51-203 mm) Barbettes: 6.3 in (160 mm) Conning tower: 6.5 in (165 mm)
Aviation facilities	2 × aircraft catapults

The Des Moines-class cruisers were a trio of U.S. Navy heavy cruisers commissioned in 1948 and 1949. Largely based on the earlier Baltimore-class heavy cruisers,^[3] the Des Moines-class featured improved torpedo protection and heavier anti-aircraft armament. Relatively well-armored and protected,^[4] the class was unique in that it mounted nine of the world’s first auto-loading large-caliber guns, the 8-inch (203 mm) Mark 16 guns. These guns enabled Des Moines-class cruisers to fire two to three times faster than earlier 8 in guns with each barrel capable of 8-10 rounds per minute.^[5] They were the last of the “all-gun” heavy cruisers and were exceeded in size within the U.S. Navy only by the 30,000-long-ton (30,481 t) Alaska-class "large cruisers" that straddled the line between heavy cruisers and battlecruisers. Two Des Moines-class cruisers were decommissioned by 1961 but the Newport News (CA-148), served until 1975. USS Salem is a museum ship in Quincy, Massachusetts; the other two were scrapped.