Fargo-class cruiser

USS Fargo (CL-106)
Class overview
Name: Fargo class
Operators:  United States Navy
Preceded by: Cleveland class
Succeeded by: Worcester class
In commission: 1945–50
Planned: 13
Completed: 2
Cancelled: 11
Retired: 2
Preserved: 0
General characteristics
Type: Light cruiser
Displacement:
  • 11,744 long tons (11,932 t) (standard)
  • 14,464 long tons (14,696 t) (full)
Length: 608 ft .25 in (185.3 m)
Beam: 66 ft 4 in (20.2 m)
Draft: 22 ft (6.7 m)
Installed power:
Propulsion:
Speed: 32.5 knots (60.2 km/h; 37.4 mph)
Complement: 1,100 officers and enlisted
Armament:
Armor:
  • Belt: 1.5–5 in (38–127 mm)
  • Deck: 2–3 in (51–76 mm)
  • Bulkheads: 5 in (127 mm)
  • Turrets: 3–5 in (76–127 mm)
  • Barbettes: 6 in (152 mm)
  • Conning tower: 2.25–5 in (57–127 mm)
Aircraft carried: 4 × floatplanes
Aviation facilities: 2 × stern catapults

The Fargo-class cruisers were a modified version of the previous Cleveland-class cruiser 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 differentiated the Baltimore and Oregon City classes of heavy cruisers.[1] Changes were made to order to reduce the instability of the Cleveland-class light cruisers, especially their tendency to roll dangerously.[2] The main battery turrets sat about a foot lower and the wing gunhouses (the 5 inch, twin gun mounts on the sides of the ship) were lowered to the main deck. The medium (40 mm) anti-aircraft mounts were also lowered.[3]

In all, 13 ships of the class were planned but only Fargo and Huntington were ever completed, the rest being cancelled at varying states of completion with the de-escalation of World War II.[4]

Fargo, the lead ship of the class, was launched on 25 February 1945, but was not commissioned until 9 December 1945, shortly after the war ended. Huntington was commissioned early in 1946. The two ships were decommissioned in 1949-1950, and never reactivated.

Ships in class

Ship Name Hull No. Builder Laid down Launched Commissioned Decommissioned Fate
Fargo CL-106 New York Shipbuilding Corporation, Camden, New Jersey 23 August 1943 25 February 1945 9 December 1945 14 February 1950 Struck 1 March 1970; Sold for scrap, 18 August 1971
Huntington CL-107 4 October 1943 8 April 1945 23 February 1946 15 June 1949 Struck 1 September 1961; Sold for scrap, on 16 May 1962
Newark CL-108 17 January 1944 14 December 1945 N/A Construction canceled 12 August 1945 when 67.8% completed, launched in December 14, 1945 for use in underwater explosion tests, sold on 2 April 1949 for scrapping
New Haven CL-109 28 February 1944 N/A Construction cancelled 12 August 1945 and scrapped on slip
Buffalo CL-110 2 April 1944
Wilmington CL-111 William Cramp & Sons Shipbuilding Company, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 5 March 1945
Vallejo CL-112 New York Shipbuilding Corporation, Camden, New Jersey N/A Construction cancelled 5 October 1944
Helena CL-113
Roanoke CL-114
N/A CL-115
Tallahassee CL-116 Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, Newport News, Virginia 31 January 1944 Construction cancelled 12 August 1945 and scrapped on slip
Cheyenne CL-117 29 May 1944
Chattanooga CL-118 9 October 1944

References

  1. ↑ Norman Friedman, U.S. Cruisers, An Illustrated Design History 1984 ISBN 978-0-87021-718-0
  2. ↑ James J. Fahey, "Pacific War Diary, 1942-1945: The Secret Diary of an American Sailor" 1972 ISBN 978-0395640227
  3. ↑ http://www.world-war.co.uk/US/fargo_class.php3
  4. ↑ M.J. Whitley, Cruisers Of World War Two, An International Encyclopedia 1995 ISBN 978-1-86019-874-8

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Fargo class cruiser.


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