USS Des Moines (CA-134)

41°42′11″N 93°42′42″W / 41.7029543°N 93.7116003°W / 41.7029543; -93.7116003

USS Des Moines
History
United States
Name	Des Moines
Namesake	Des Moines, Iowa
Ordered	25 September 1943
Builder	Bethlehem Steel Company
Laid down	28 May 1945
Launched	27 September 1946
Commissioned	16 November 1948
Decommissioned	6 July 1961
Stricken	9 July 1991
Identification	Callsign: NHSG Hull number: CA-134
Honours and awards	See Awards
Fate	Scrapped, 16 August 2007
Badge
General characteristics
Class and type	Des Moines-class heavy cruiser
Displacement	17,255 long tons (17,532 t) (standard) 20,933 long tons (21,269 t) (full load)
Length	700 ft (210 m) wl 716 ft 6 in (218.39 m) oa
Beam	76 ft 6 in (23.32 m)
Draft	22 ft (6.7 m)
Propulsion	4 shafts General Electric turbines 4 boilers 120,000 shp (89,000 kW)
Speed	33 kn (61 km/h)
Range	10,500 nmi at 15 knots 19,400 km at 28 km/h
Boats & landing craft carried	2-4 × lifeboats
Complement	1,799 officers and enlisted
Sensors and processing systems	AN/SPS-6 air-search radar AN/SPS-8A height-finding radar AN/SPS-29 early-warning radar AN/URN-3 TACAN AN/URD-4 radio direction finder
Armament	3 × triple 8-inch/55-caliber guns 6 × twin 5-inch/38-caliber guns 12 × twin 3-inch/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 Helipad (later conversion)

USS Des Moines (CA-134) was the lead ship of the class of United States Navy (USN) heavy cruisers. She was the first USN ship to mount the auto-loading 8-inch (203 mm) Mark 16 guns, the first large-caliber auto-loading guns in the world. She was the second ship of the USN to be commissioned with the name of the city of Des Moines, capital of Iowa. Launched 1946, she was commissioned in 1948. She saw duty around the world until her decommissioning in 1961 when she was permanently mothballed. A 1981 survey was done to determine if she was worthy of reactivation for the 600-ship Navy, but the cost was too great so she remained in the reserve. She was struck from the Naval Vessel Register in 1993, which was followed by a campaign to turn her into a museum ship. The campaign failed, and in 2005 she was sold for scrapping, and she was broken up by July 7. Parts of the ship have been donated to various places for display, including at the USS Salem museum, which is the only Des Moines-class ship to avoid the scrapyard.