USS Houston (January 1944)
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History | |
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United States | |
Namesake | City of Houston, Texas |
Builder | Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company, Newport News, Virginia |
Launched | 19 June 1943 |
Commissioned | 20 December 1943 |
Decommissioned | 15 December 1947 |
Stricken | 1 March 1959 |
Fate | Sold for scrap on 1 June 1961 |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Cleveland-class light cruiser |
Displacement | |
Length | 610 ft 1 in (185.95 m) |
Beam | 66 ft 4 in (20.22 m) |
Draft | 24 ft 6 in (7.47 m) |
Installed power |
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Propulsion |
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Speed | 32.5 knots (60.2 km/h; 37.4 mph) |
Range | 11,000 nmi (20,000 km; 13,000 mi) at 15 kn (28 km/h; 17 mph) |
Complement | 1,285 officers and enlisted |
Armament |
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Armor |
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Aircraft carried | 4 × floatplanes |
Aviation facilities | 2 × stern catapults |
USS Houston (CL-81) was a Cleveland-class light cruiser of the United States Navy, which were built during World War II. The class was designed as a development of the earlier Brooklyn-class cruisers, the size of which had been limited by the First London Naval Treaty. The start of the war led to the dissolution of the treaty system, but the dramatic need for new vessels precluded a new design, so the Clevelands used the same hull as their predecessors, but were significantly heavier. The Clevelands carried a main battery of twelve 6-inch (152 mm) guns in four three-gun turrets, along with a secondary armament of twelve 5 in (127 mm) dual-purpose guns. They had a top speed of 32.5 knots (60.2 km/h; 37.4 mph).
She was active in the Pacific War and survived two separate aerial torpedo hits in October 1944.