US Navy Heavy and Light Cruisers: USS New Orleans (CL/CA-32)
Washington Naval Treaty
The first cruisers of the Pensacola, Northampton, New Orleans, and Portland classes – which were designed after the 1922 Washington Naval Treaty, so quickly that the last design was complete before sea trial of the first were finished – were originally designated Light Cruisers (CL) due to their light protection. Later, in accordance with the 1930 London Naval Treaty, they were reclassified as “Heavy Cruisers” (CA) in 1931 due to their 8-inch (203 mm) guns. Thenceforward new heavy and light cruisers were numbered in a single sequence. These four classes were known as “Treaty cruisers” and “Tinclads” and were seen even before the Second World War as deficient by the Navy due to the treaty limitations, but despite their high losses in the early days of the war they performed well. (Wikipedia)
New Orleans class
(CL/CA-32) New Orleans (1934) – WW2: 17 battle stars.
Portland class
(CL/CA-33) Portland (1933) – WW2: 16 battle stars.
New Orleans class
(CL/CA-34) Astoria (1934) – WW2: 3 battle stars, sunk by gunfire 9 August 1942, 219 killed
Portland class
(CL/CA-35) Indianapolis (1932) – WW2: 10 battle stars, sunk by torpedoes 30 July 1945, 879 killed.
New Orleans class
(CL/CA-36) Minneapolis (1934) – WW2: 17 battle stars.
(CA-37) Tuscaloosa (1934) – WW2: 7 battle stars.
(CA-38) San Francisco (1934) – WW2: 17 battle stars.
(CA-39) Quincy (1936) – WW2: 1 battle star, sunk by gunfire and torpedoes 9 August 1942, 370 killed.
USS New Orleans (CA-32)
(USN Photo)
USS New Orleans (CL/CA-32) was the lead New Orleans-class cruiser in service with the United States Navy. The New Orleans-class cruisers were the last U.S. cruisers built to the specifications and standards of the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922. Such ships, with a limit of 10,000 long tons (10,160 t) standard displacement and 8-inch (203 mm) caliber main guns may be referred to as “treaty cruisers.” While she was originally classified a light cruiser because of her thin armor, soon after being laid down she was reclassified as a heavy cruiser because of her 8-inch guns. The term “heavy cruiser” was not defined until the London Naval Treaty in 1930. (Wikipedia)
The cruiser USS New Orleans (CA-32) was built at the New York Navy Yard and launched on 12 April 1933. She was commissioned on 15 February 1934. On 5 July, she sailed with President Franklin D. Roosevelt aboard. On 7 December 1941, the New Orleans was undergoing engine repair while moored in Pearl Harbor when the Japanese attacked. Her antiaircraft batteries were in action within ten minutes; she suffered no serious damage.
The New Orleans returned to San Francisco on 13 January 1942 for installation of a new radar and 20-mm. guns. Upon return to Pearl Harbor, she joined Task Force 11. She took part in the Battle of Coral Sea in May 1942, playing a major role in rescuing sailors from the sinking USS Lexington (CV-2). The New Orleans also took part in the Battle of Midway.
The New Orleans screened the USS Saratoga (CV-3) during the invasion of the Solomons and supported the Marines who landed on Guadalacanal. When the Saratoga was struck by a torpedo on 31 August 1942, the New Orleans escorted her safely back to Pearl Harbor.
On the night of 30 November, while engaged in the Battle of Tassafaronga, the New Orleans was struck by a torpedo that tore away her bow. She remained afloat and entered Tulagi Harbor under her own power on 1 December 1942. She underwent further repair in Sydney, Australia, and received a new bow at Puget Sound Navy Yard. By September 1943, she was back in action and took part in the bombardments of Wake Island and the Gilbert Islands.
In early 1944, the New Orleans fired on the Marshalls; from 17–18 February took part in a raid on Truk; and later played a role in an attack on the Marianas. In March, she took part in attacks on the Carolines, and in April supported landings in New Guinea. During the Battle of the Philippine Sea, the New Orleans engaged enemy aircraft that penetrated Allied air cover.
Later in 1944 and throughout the war, the New Orleans supported operations on Iwo Jima, the Palaus, Okinawa, Formosa, Luzon, and took part in the memorable Battle of Leyte Gulf. She received 16 battle stars for her service in World War II.
The New Orleans was decommissioned on 10 February 1947 and stricken from the Navy List on 1 March 1959. Six months later, she was sold for scrap. (U.S. Naval Institute)
(USN Photo)
USS New Orleans (CA-32) steams through a tight turn in Elliot Bay, Washington (USA), on 30 July 1943, following battle damage repairs and overhaul at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard.
(USN Photo)
USS New Orleans (CA-32) before 1942.
(U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photo)
USS New Orleans (CA-32) in English waters June 1934.
(USN Photo)
USS New Orleans (CA-32) off the Mare Island Naval Shipyard, California, on 8 March 1945, following her last wartime overhaul. The port catapult has been removed.
Battle of Tassafaronga
New Orleans sailed to Fiji early in November 1942, then proceeded to Espiritu Santo, arriving on 27 November to return to action in the Solomons. With four other cruisers and six destroyers, she fought in the Battle of Tassafaronga on the night of 30 November, engaging a Japanese destroyer-transport force. When the flagship Minneapolis was struck by two torpedoes, New Orleans, next astern, was forced to sheer away to avoid collision, and ran into the track of a torpedo, which detonated the ship’s forward magazines and gasoline tanks. This explosion severed 150 ft (46 m) of her bow just forward of turret number two. The severed bow, including turret number one, swung around the port side and punched several holes in the length of New Orleans’ hull before sinking at the stern and damaging the port inboard propeller.[4] With one-quarter of her length gone, she slowed to 2 kn (2.3 mph; 3.7 km/h) and was on fire. Everyone in turrets one and two perished; 183 men were killed. Herbert Brown, a seaman in the ship’s plotting room, described the scene after the torpedo hit:
“I had to see. I walked alongside the silent turret two and was stopped by a lifeline stretched from the outboard port lifeline to the side of the turret. Thank God it was there, for one more step and I would have pitched headfirst into the dark water 30 feet below. The bow was gone; 125 feet of ship and the number-one main battery turret with three 8-inch guns were gone. Eighteen hundred tons of ship were gone. Oh my God, all those guys I went through boot camp with – all gone” [5]
Damage control parties managed to repair the ship enough to sail to Tulagi Harbor near daybreak on 1 December.
The crew camouflaged their ship from air attack, jury-rigged a bow of coconut logs, and worked clearing away wreckage. Eleven days later, New Orleans sailed stern first, to avoid sinking, to Cockatoo Island Dockyard in Sydney, Australia, arriving on 24 December. At Cockatoo, the damaged propeller was replaced and other repairs were made including the installation of a temporary stub bow. On 7 March 1943, she left Sydney for Puget Sound Navy Yard, sailing backward the entire voyage, where a new bow was fitted with the use of Minneapolis’ number-two turret. All battle damage was repaired, and she was given a major refit involving the reduction of the forward superstructure along the lines of other prewar cruisers, adding new air-search and surface-search radars, as well as numerous 20 mm and 40 mm Bofors antiaircraft guns. In addition, her boilers, machinery, and hull structures were overhauled to almost new condition. She continued to sail with the back portion (aft) riveted and the front portion (bow) welded. (Wikipedia)
USS Portland (CL/CA-33)
(USN Photo)
USS Portland (CA-33) at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, 14 June 1942, with her crew paraded on deck in “Whites”. Note the external degaussing cable fitted to the hull side of this ship.
USS Portland (CL/CA–33) was the lead ship of the Portland class of cruiser and the first ship of the United States Navy named after the city of Portland, Maine. Launched in 1932, she completed a number of training and goodwill cruises in the interwar period before seeing extensive service during the Second World War, beginning with the Battle of the Coral Sea in 1942, where she escorted the aircraft carrier Yorktown and picked up survivors from the sunken carrier Lexington. She screened for Yorktown again in the Battle of Midway, picking up her survivors as well. She then supported the carrier Enterprise during the initial phase of the Guadalcanal campaign later that year, and was torpedoed during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal. The torpedo inflicted heavy damage which put her out of action for six months as she was repaired in Sydney, Australia, and later San Diego, California.
Returning to combat in mid-1943, Portland saw action in many of the major engagements of the Pacific War, conducting shore bombardments in support of campaigns at the Aleutian Islands, Gilbert and Marshall Islands, Mariana Islands, and New Guinea. She was involved in the October 1944 Battle of Leyte Gulf, engaging Japanese ships in the decisive Battle of Surigao Strait. She then conducted shore bombardments at Lingayen Gulf and Corregidor Island, and in 1945 supported landings during the Battle of Okinawa until the end of the war.
Following the end of the Second World War, Portland accepted the Japanese surrender in the Caroline Islands and then undertook several Operation Magic Carpet cruises to bring U.S. troops home. She was decommissioned in 1946 and scrapped by 1962. In her extensive service she accrued 16 battle stars, making her one of the most decorated ships in the U.S. fleet. (Wikipedia)
(USN Photo)
USS Portland (CA-33), right, transfers survivors of the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown (CV-5) to the submarine tender USS Fulton (AS-11), left, on 7 June 1942, following the Battle of Midway. Fulton transported the men to Pearl Harbor.
(USN Photo)
USS Portland (CA-33) in a drydock at the Cockatoo Island Dockyard, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, circa in late December 1942, while under repair for torpedo damage received in the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal on 13 November 1942. She arrived at Sydney on 30 November but did not enter drydock until 24 December after USS Chester (CA-27) and USS New Orleans (CA-32) were repaired. Note the arrangement of gun directors on her forward superstructure: main battery director atop the foremast, with FC fire control radar; and a secondary battery director, with FD fire control radar, on each bridge wing. Also note this ship’s external degaussing cables, mounted on her hull sides.
(USN Photo)
USS Portland (CA-33) off the Mare Island Naval Shipyard, California, 30 July 1944. Her camouflage is Measure 32, Design 7d.
(USN Photo)
USS Portland (CA-33) off the Mare Island Naval Shipyard, California, on 30 July 1944. Her camouflage is Measure 32, Design 7d.
(USN Photo)
USS Portland (CA-33), 31 May 1934.
(USN Photo)
USS Portland (CA-33) underway while nearing Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii, 20 September 1945, with 500 additional naval personnel aboard.
USS Astoria (CL/CA-34)
(USN Photo)
USS Astoria (CL/CA-34) off the coast of the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 11 July 1941.
The second USS Astoria (CL/CA-34) was a New Orleans-class cruiser of the United States Navy that participated in both the Battle of the Coral Sea and the Battle of Midway, but was then sunk in August 1942, at the Battle of Savo Island. Astoria was the first New Orleans-class cruiser to be laid down but launched after and received a hull number higher than the lead ship New Orleans.
Immediately after the months-long Guadalcanal campaign ended in February 1943, the remaining ships of the class would go through major overhauls to lessen top-heaviness due to new electrical and radar systems and advanced anti-aircraft weaponry. In doing so the ships took on a new appearance, most notably in the bridge. (Wikipedia)
(USN Photo)
USS Astoria (CA-34) operating in Hawaiian waters during battle practice, 8 July 1942. She appears to be recovering floatplanes from off her starboard side. Note the booms rigged below the forward superstructure to tow aircraft recovery mats, and the starboard crane swung out.
(USN Photo)
USS Astoria (CA-34) in San Diego harbor on 10 April 1935. Vought O3U-3 seaplanes are on her catapults.
(USN Photo)
USS Astoria (CA-34) at Puget Sound Navy Yard, 25 September 1939.
(USN Photo)
USS Astoria (CA-34) recovers a seaplane off Hawaii, c. Summer 1942.
USS Indianapolis (CL/CA-35)
USS Minneapolis (CL/CA-36)
USS Tuscaloosa (CA-37)
USS San Francisco (CA-38)
USS Quincy ((CA-39)
London Naval Treaty
The terms of the 1930 London Naval Treaty motivated the signatories to de-emphasize heavy cruiser construction in favor of light cruisers. The resultant nine ship Brooklyn-class of light cruisers had a strong influence on US cruiser design. Nearly all subsequent US cruisers, heavy and light, were directly or indirectly based on them, including the unique heavy cruiser Wichita. (Wikipedia)
Brooklyn class
(CL-40) Brooklyn (1937) – WW2: 4 battle stars, later Chilean O’Higgins.
(CL-41) Philadelphia (1937) – WW2: 5 battle stars, later Brazilian Barroso.
(CL-42) Savannah (1938) – WW2: 3 battle stars.
(CL-43) Nashville (1938) – WW2: 10 battle stars, later Chilean Capitan Prat.
New Orleans class
(CA-44) Vincennes (1937) – WW2: 2 battle stars, sunk by gunfire and torpedoes 9 August 1942, 332 killed.
Wichita class
(CA-45) Wichita (1939) – WW2: 13 battle stars.
Brooklyn class
(CL-46) Phoenix (1938) – WW2: 11 battle stars, later ARA General Belgrano.
(CL-47) Boise (1938) – WW2: 11 battle stars, later ARA Nueve de Julio.
(CL-48) Honolulu (1938) – WW2: 8 battle stars.
Brooklyn class (St. Louis subclass)
(CL-49) St. Louis (1939) – WW2: 11 battle stars, later Brazilian Almirante Tamandaré.
(CL-50) Helena (1939) – WW2: 7 battle stars, war loss 6 July 1943, 168 killed.
Second London Naval Treaty
The 1936 Second London Naval Treaty would also influence the Navy’s light cruiser program. It imposed limits that resulted in the smaller displacement Atlanta class with a 5-inch (127 mm) dual purpose rapid fire main gun battery, the first such ship in the Navy. (Wikipedia)
Atlanta class
(CL-51) Atlanta (1941) – WW2: 5 battle stars, scuttled after torpedo damage 13 November 1942.
(CL-52) Juneau (1942) – WW2: 4 battle stars, sunk by torpedoes 13 November 1942, 687 killed.
(CL-53) San Diego (1942) – WW2: 18 battle stars.
(CL-54) San Juan (1942) – WW2: 13 battle stars.
Cruiser-Destroyer (CLD)
Parallel to the Atlanta design was an abortive attempt to design a super-Atlanta known as the Cruiser-Destroyer, or CLD. The “ship characteristics” resulting from this study would be almost identical to that of the later CL-154 design. CLD did not become an official hull classification symbol. (Wikipedia)
Early Second World War
When the United States entered the Second World War it had three major classes of cruisers under construction: the Atlanta and Cleveland light cruiser classes (with 5-inch and 6-inch main batteries, respectively), and the Baltimore-class of heavy cruisers. The Cleveland-class was an improvement of the Brooklyn design, while the Baltimore-class was an improved Wichita. These ships would form the bulk of the cruiser war construction effort, with eight Atlanta-class, twenty-seven Cleveland-class, and fourteen Baltimore-class cruisers ultimately completed. Early in the war nine Cleveland hulls would be diverted for conversion into Independence class light aircraft carriers (CVLs). By the end of the war three Cleveland hulls would be canceled, and one incomplete hull would later be converted to a guided missile cruiser. (Wikipedia)
Cleveland class
(CL-55) Cleveland (1942) – WW2: 13 battle stars.
(CL-56) Columbia (1942) – WW2: 10 battle stars.
(CL-57) Montpelier (1942) – WW2: 13 battle stars.
(CL-58) Denver (1942) – WW2: 11 battle stars.
(CL-59) Amsterdam (completed as Independence (CVL-22)).
(CL-60) Santa Fe (1942) – WW2: 13 battle stars.
(CL-61) Tallahassee (completed as Princeton (CVL-23)).
(CL-62) Birmingham (1943) – WW2: 8 battle stars.
(CL-63) Mobile (1943) – WW2: 11 battle stars.
(CL-64) Vincennes (ex-Flint) (1944) – WW2: 6 battle stars.
(CL-65) Pasadena (1944) – WW2: 5 battle stars.
(CL-66) Springfield (1944) – WW2: 2 battle stars, later converted to CLG-7.
(CL-67) Topeka (1944) – WW2: 2 battle stars, later converted to CLG-8.
Baltimore class
(CA-68) Baltimore (1943) – WW2: 9 battle stars.
(CA-69) Boston (1943) – WW2: 10 battle stars, later converted to CAG-1.
(CA-70) Canberra (ex-Pittsburgh) (1943) – WW2: 7 battle stars, later converted to CAG-2.
(CA-71) Quincy (ex-St Paul) (1943) – WW2: 5 battle stars.
(CA-72) Pittsburgh (ex-Albany) (1944) – WW2: 2 battle stars.
(CA-73) St. Paul (1945) – WW2: 1 battle star, Korea: 8 stars, Vietnam: 9 stars.
(CA-74) Columbus (1945) – later converted to CG-12.
(CA-75) Helena (ex-Des Moines) (1945) – WW2: 4 battle stars.
Cleveland class
(CL-76) New Haven (completed as Belleau Wood (CVL-24)).
(CL-77) Huntington (completed as Cowpens (CVL-25)).
(CL-78) Dayton (completed as Monterey (CVL-26)).
(CL-79) Wilmington (completed as Cabot (CVL-28)).
(CL-80) Biloxi (1943) – WW2: 9 battle stars.
(CL-81) Houston (ex-Vicksburg) (1943) – WW2: 3 battle stars.
(CL-82) Providence (1945) – later converted to CLG-6.
(CL-83) Manchester (1946) – Korea: 9 battle stars.
(CL-84) Buffalo – canceled.
(CL-85) Fargo (completed as Langley (CVL-27)).
(CL-86) Vicksburg (1944) – WW2: 2 battle stars.
(CL-87) Duluth (1944) – WW2: 2 battle stars.
(CL-88) Newark – canceled.
(CL-89) Miami (1943) – WW2: 6 battle stars.
(CL-90) Astoria (ex-Wilkes-Barre) (1944) – WW2: 5 battle stars.
(CL-91) Oklahoma City (1944) – WW2: 2 battle stars, later converted to CLG-5.
(CL-92) Little Rock (1945) – later converted to CLG-4.
(CL-93) Galveston (completed as CLG-3).
(CL-94) Youngstown – canceled after construction started.
Atlanta class (Oakland subclass)
(CL-95) Oakland (1943) – WW2: 9 battle stars.
(CL-96) Reno (1943) – WW2: 3 battle stars.
(CL-97) Flint (1944) – WW2: 4 battle stars.
(CL-98) Tucson (1945) – WW2: 1 battle star.
Cleveland class
(CL-99) Buffalo (completed as Bataan (CVL-29)),
(CL-100) Newark (completed as San Jacinto (CVL-30)).
(CL-101) Amsterdam (1945) – WW2: 1 battle star.
(CL-102) Portsmouth (1945).
(CL-103) Wilkes-Barre (1944) – WW2: 4 battle stars.
(CL-104) Atlanta (1944) – WW2: 2 battle stars, later IX-304.
(CL-105) Dayton (1945) – WW2: 1 battle star.
Late Second World War
As the Navy gained experience with Second World War combat conditions, it was decided that the Atlanta, Cleveland, and Baltimore classes needed improvement. However, major improvements would cause unacceptable delays in the construction programs. A new generation of cruisers with minor improvements would consist of the Juneau and Fargo classes of light cruisers (respectively 5-inch and 6-inch main batteries), and the Oregon City-class of heavy cruisers. The major noticeable difference would be that the Fargo and the Oregon City classes would have their engine exhausts trunked into a single funnel to aid anti-aircraft fire. Due to the near-total destruction of the Imperial Japanese Navy, the number of the ships of this generation to be completed as gun cruisers would be small: three Juneau-class, two Fargo-class, and three Oregon City-class cruisers. A fourth Oregon City-class cruiser would be completed postwar as a command cruiser. Seventeen hulls from among the three classes were canceled. (Wikipedia)
Late in the war the Baltimore-class would also serve as the basis of the two Saipan class light aircraft carriers (CVLs).
Fargo class
(CL-106) Fargo (1945).
(CL-107) Huntington (1946).
(CL-108) Newark – canceled after construction started.
(CL-109) New Haven – canceled after construction started.
(CL-110) Buffalo – canceled after construction started.
(CL-111) Wilmington – canceled after construction started.
(CL-112) Vallejo – canceled.
(CL-113) Helena – canceled.
(CL-114) Roanoke – canceled.
(CL-115) – canceled unnamed.
(CL-116) Tallahassee – canceled after construction started.
(CL-117) Cheyenne – canceled after construction started.
(CL-118) Chattanooga – canceled after construction started.
Juneau class
(CL-119) Juneau (1946).
(CL-120) Spokane (1946).
(CL-121) Fresno (1946).
Oregon City class
(CA-122) Oregon City (1946).
(CA-123) Albany (1946) – later converted to CG-10.
(CA-124) Rochester (1946) – Korea: 6 battle stars.
(CA-125) Northampton (completed as CLC-1)
(CA-126) Cambridge – canceled after construction started.
(CA-127) Bridgeport – canceled after construction started.
(CA-128) Kansas City – canceled after construction started.
(CA-129) Tulsa – canceled.
Baltimore class
(CA-130) Bremerton (1945) – Korea: 2 battle stars.
(CA-131) Fall River (1945) – Operation Crossroads nuclear test participant.
(CA-132) Macon (1945).
(CA-133) Toledo (1946) – Korea: 5 battle stars.
Post-Second World War
The Navy agreed in the waning days of the war to construct a small number of cruisers for the purpose of operationally testing new gun designs and other major improvements incorporating the lessons learned of World War II combat: the ‘CL-154’ and Worcester classes of light cruisers (respectively 5-inch and 6-inch main batteries), and the Des Moines-class of heavy cruisers. Initially the Navy wanted at least one squadron of six ships of each class, but in the end only two Worcester-class and three Des Moines-class cruisers would be completed, and the CL-154 class would be cancelled in its entirety. A total of seventeen hulls from among the three planned classes would be canceled. (Wikipedia)
Des Moines class
(CA-134) Des Moines (1948).
Baltimore class
(CA-135) Los Angeles (1945) – WW2: 1 battle star, Korea: 5 stars.
(CA-136) Chicago (1945) – WW2: 1 battle star, later converted to CG-11.
Oregon City class
(CA-137) Norfolk – canceled after construction started.
(CA-138) Scranton – canceled after construction started.
Des Moines class
(CA-139) Salem (1949), museum ship.
(CA-140) Dallas – canceled after construction started.
CA-141 to 143 – canceled unnamed.
Worcester class
(CL-144) Worcester (1948) – Korea: 2 battle stars.
(CL-145) Roanoke (1949).
(CL-146) Vallejo – canceled after construction started.
(CL-147) Gary – canceled after construction started.
Des Moines class
(CA-148) Newport News (1949) – Vietnam: 3 battle stars.
(CA-149) – canceled unnamed.
(CA-150) Dallas – canceled.
CA-151 to 153 – canceled unnamed.
CL-154 class
CL-154 to 159 – canceled unnamed.
The last ship to be assigned a hull number in the Heavy and Light Cruiser sequence would be the 1950s era nuclear powered Long Beach, though this ship would be assigned another number and designation under the guided missile cruiser hull classification before launch.
Long Beach class
(CLGN/CGN-160) Long Beach, completed as CGN-9 (1961).