Salem on 16 June 1952
| |
Class overview | |
---|---|
Name | Des Moines-class |
Builders | |
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 | |
Length | |
Beam | 76 ft 6 in (23.3 m) |
Draft | 22 ft (6.7 m) |
Installed power | |
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 | |
Armament |
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Armor |
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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.
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