American Alaska-class large cruisers
Contractor New York Shipbuilding Corporation, Camden, USA.
Percentage of completion on 1 May 1942: 1.8
Percentage of completion gain for April 1942: 0.2
Number of months between keel laying and completion 29-1/5
Date of completion as per contract or order: 1 August 1946.
Date of completion as reported by building yard on 11 January 1941: 1 September 1945.
Date of completion as last reported by building yard: 15 October 1945.
Months behind 11 January 1941 prediction: 1.5
Building ordered on 9 September 1940 and cancelled in June 1943. The concept for a large cruiser dated back from the 1930 when Germany developed the so-called pocket battleships armed with 28cm/11” guns (later classified as heavy cruisers) which were to beat the Washington heacy cruiser armed with 20.3cm/8” guns. End 1930's seemed Japan intending to built the B-65 class which super cruisers armed with 31cm/12.2” were no match for the US heavy cruisers. The result was that the US navy started with designing her super cruiser variant ending in at least 9 preliminary designs, the finally choosing for an increased Baltimore-class heavy cruiser design. General technical specifications. Displacement 30.249 (standard)-34.803 (full load) tons and as dimensions 241.25 (waterline)-246.43 (over all) x 28.0x w 8.26 (mean)-9.68 (maximum) metres or 791.6-808.6 x 91.9 3.75 x 27.1-9.25 feet. The machinery consisted of 4-shaft General Electric double-reduction geared steam turbines and Babcock&Wilcox boilers supplying 150.00 ship allowing a speed of 31.4-33 knots and a range of 12.000 nautical miles/15 knots. Crew numbered 1.517-2.251 men. Armament consisted of x3-30.5cm/12” cal 50 Mark 8 guns, 6x2-12.7cm/5”cal 38 dual purpose guns, 14x4-4cm/1.57” Bofors guns and 34x1-2cm Oerlikon guns and 4 OS2U Kingfisher or SC Seahawk aircraft to be stored in an enclosed hangar amidships. The armour consisted of a main side belt 23cm/9” gradually thinning to 13cm/5” thicknes sloped at 10 degrees. Further more a 9.7cm/ 3.8-10.2cm/4” thick armour deck, a 3.6cm/1.4” thick weather main deck, a 1.59cm/1.4” thick splinter deck. The barbettes were protected by 28cm/11”- 33cm/13” thick armour. The conning tower by 27cm/10.6”and a 13cm/5” thick roof and finally the gun turrets by 33cm/12.8” (front)-13cm/5” (roof)-13cm/5.25”-15.2cn/6” (sides)-13.3cm/5’5” (rear) thick armour.
Sources
Franklin Roosevelt D. Roosevelt Presidential Library&Museum. Bureau of Ships: reports 1 May 1942 FDR’s President’s Secretary’s Files (psfc000095).
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