New Orleans-class cruiser

USS New Orleans
Class overview
NameNew Orleans class
Builders
Operators United States Navy
Preceded byPortland class
Succeeded byUSS Wichita
Built14 March 1931 - 24 February 1937
In commission15 February 1934 – 10 February 1947
Planned7
Completed7
Lost3
Retired4
General characteristics
TypeHeavy cruiser
Displacement
  • 9,950 long tons (10,110 t)
  • 12,463 long tons (12,663 t) (loaded)
Length
  • 578 ft (176 m) wl
  • 588 ft 2 in (179.27 m) oa
Beam61 ft 9 in (18.82 m)
Draft19 ft 5 in (5.92 m)
Propulsion
Speed32.7 knots (60.6 km/h; 37.6 mph)
Complement708 officers and enlisted
Sensors and
processing systems
Armament
Armor
  • Belt 3–5 in (76–127 mm)
  • Deck 1.25–2.25 in (32–57 mm)
  • Turrets 1.5–8 in (38–203 mm)
  • Barbettes 5 in (127 mm) (6.5 in (165 mm) in CA-38)
  • Conning tower 5 in (127 mm)

The New Orleans-class cruisers were a class of seven heavy cruisers built for the United States Navy (USN) in the 1930s.

These ships participated in the heaviest surface battles of the Pacific War. Astoria, Quincy, and Vincennes were all sunk in the Battle of Savo Island, and three others were heavily damaged in subsequent battles in the Guadalcanal campaign. Only Tuscaloosa, which spent most of the war in the Atlantic, got through the war without being damaged. Collectively, ships of the class earned 64 battle stars. The four surviving ships were laid up immediately after the end of the war, and sold for scrap in 1959.

  1. ^ Friedman N. U. S. Cruisers: An Illustrated Design History., 1984, p. 474
  2. ^ Fahey 1941 p. 9