Oregon City class cruiser
Encyclopedia
The Oregon City class were a class of heavy cruisers of the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

. Although it was intended to build ten, only four were completed – one of those as a command ship. The three cruisers were in commission from 1946 to 1970.

Design and development

The Oregon City-class cruisers were a modified version of the previous design; the main difference was a more compact pyramidal superstructure with single trunked funnel, intended to improve the arcs of fire of the anti-aircraft (AA) guns. The same type of modification also differentiated the and classes of light cruiser
Light cruiser
A light cruiser is a type of small- or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck...

s.

History

Ten ships were authorized for the class with three being completed and the fourth suspended during construction. The final six ships were cancelled. Construction on the incomplete fourth ship was resumed in 1948 and the ship served as a command ship . All three completed ships were commissioned in 1946. Oregon City was decommissioned after only 18 months of service, probably the shortest active life of any WWII-era cruiser. Albany was later converted into a guided missile ship, becoming the lead ship of the and served until 1980. A similar conversion was planned for Rochester but was cancelled.

Ships in class

Data from
Hull Number Name Builder Laid down Launched Completed Fate
CA 122 Bethlehem Steel
Bethlehem Steel
The Bethlehem Steel Corporation , based in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, was once the second-largest steel producer in the United States, after Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based U.S. Steel. After a decline in the U.S...

8 April 1944 9 June 1945 16 February 1946 Stricken 1 Nov 1970
CA 123 Bethlehem Steel 6 Mar 1944 30 Jun 1945 11 Jun 1946 Converted to Guided Missile Cruiser – Stricken 30 June 1985
CA-124 Bethlehem Steel 29 May 1944 28 August 1945 20 December 1946 Stricken 1 October 1973
CA-125 Bethlehem Steel 31 August 1944 27 January 1951 7 March 1953 Converted to command ship during construction – Stricken 31 Dec 1977
CA-126 USS Cambridge Bethlehem Steel 16 December 1944 N/A N/A Cancelled 12 August 1945
CA-127 USS Bridgeport Bethlehem Steel 13 January 1945 N/A N/A Cancelled 12 August 1945
CA-128 USS Kansas City Bethlehem Steel N/A N/A N/A Cancelled 12 August 1945
CA-129 USS Tulsa Bethlehem Steel N/A N/A N/A Cancelled 12 August 1945
CA-137 USS Norfolk Philadelphia Naval Shipyard
Philadelphia Naval Shipyard
The Philadelphia Naval Business Center, formerly known as the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard and Philadelphia Navy Yard, was the first naval shipyard of the United States. The U.S. Navy reduced its activities there in the 1990s, and ended most of them on September 30, 1995...

N/A N/A N/A Cancelled 12 August 1945
CA-138 USS Scranton Philadelphia Naval Shipyard N/A N/A N/A Cancelled 12 August 1945

External links

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