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_at_sea_off_San_Diego,_in_May_1978.jpg) USS Leahy (CG-16)
| |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name | Leahy class |
| Builders | Several |
| Operators |  United States Navy |
| Preceded by | Albany class (as Cruiser) Farragut class (as Destroyer Leader) |
| Succeeded by | Belknap class |
| Subclasses | Bainbridge class |
| Built | 1959–1964 |
| In commission | 1962–1995 |
| Completed | 9 |
| Active | 0 |
| Retired | 9 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Guided-missile cruiser |
| Displacement | 7,800 tons (full load) |
| Length | 533 ft (162 m) |
| Beam | 55 ft (17 m) |
| Draft | 26 ft (7.9 m) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 32 knots (59 km/h; 37 mph) |
| Range | 8,000 nautical miles (15,000 km; 9,200 mi) at 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph) |
| Sensors and processing systems | |
| Electronic warfare & decoys | |
| Armament |
|
| Aircraft carried | None |
Leahy-class cruisers were a class of guided-missile cruisers built for the United States Navy. They were originally designated as Destroyer Leaders (DLG), but in the 1975 cruiser realignment they were reclassified as guided-missile cruisers (CG).
They were a new "double-ender" class fitted with Terrier (later Standard ER) missile launchers fore and aft, and the first and only frigate class designed without a main gun battery for shore bombardment or ship-vs.-ship engagements—the gun armament was reduced in order to carry a larger missile load. One of the principal missions of these ships, like their predecessors the Farragut class, was to form part of the anti-air and antisubmarine screen for carrier task forces, while also controlling aircraft from the carrier by providing vectors to assigned targets.
The ships carried over the propulsion plant of the Farragut class, fitted into a longer hull designed with a knuckled “hurricane” bow that reduced plunging in a rough sea, thus keeping the forecastle dry as needed to operate the forward missile launcher. Other features included an expanded electrical plant and increased endurance. A major design innovation was the use of "macks"—combined masts and stacks—on which the radars could be mounted without smoke interference.[1]
- ^ "A Historical Review of Cruiser Characteristics, Roles and Missions". Future Concepts And Surface Ship Design Group (05D), Naval Sea Systems Command, Department of the Navy. 28 March 2005. Retrieved 29 May 2012.