Belknap-class cruiser

Last updated

USS Sterett (CG-31) underway on 7 September 1990 (6452265).jpg
USS Sterett on 7 September 1990
Class overview
NameBelknap class
Builders
OperatorsFlag of the United States.svg  United States Navy
Preceded by Leahy class
Succeeded by California class
Subclasses Truxtun class
Built1962–1967
In commission1964–1995
Completed9
Active0
Retired9
General characteristics
Type Guided missile cruiser
Displacement7,930  tons [1] (8,057  metric tons)
Length547 ft (167 m) [1]
Beam55 ft (17 m) [1]
Draft29 ft (8.8 m) [2]
Propulsionfour 1200  psi (8300  kPa) boilers, two geared steam turbines, two shafts. 85,000 shp (63,384 kW) [1]
Speed32  knots [1] (59 km/h)
Complement27 officers, 450 enlisted [1]
Sensors and
processing systems
Armament
Armornone [2]
Aircraft carried(final configuration) 1 × SH-2H Seasprite [1]

The Belknap-class cruiser was a class of single-ended guided-missile cruisers (their missile armament was installed only forward, unlike "double-ended" missile cruisers with missile armament installed both forward and aft) built for the United States Navy during the 1960s. They were originally designated as DLG frigates (destroyer leaders; the USN use of the term frigate from 1950 to 1975 was intended to evoke the power of the sailing frigates of old),[ citation needed ] but in the 1975 fleet realignment, they were reclassified as guided missile cruisers (CG).

Contents

Description

When commissioned, the main armament of the Belknap class was a 5-inch/54-caliber Mk. 42 gun on the quarterdeck and a twin-rail RIM-2 Terrier Mk 10 Missile Launcher on the foredeck. [6] The Mk 10 Mod 7 launchers in this class were also capable of launching RUR-5 ASROC to eliminate need for a separate Mk 112 ASROC launcher. [7] These were unofficially spoken of as Ter/AS (tear-ass) launchers.[ citation needed ] The class was also equipped with two twin 3"/50 caliber guns for defence against sub-sonic aircraft. [2] In the early 1980s, the Terrier missiles were replaced with RIM-67 Standard missiles; and during the NTU program in the late 1980s and early 1990s the class had its Standard SM-1 system upgraded to utilize SM-2ER Block II, the 3-inch guns were replaced with two 4 cell Harpoon Surface-to-surface missile launchers, and two Phalanx CIWS systems were installed. [2]

The derivative USS Truxtun shared the weapons systems outfit of the Belknap class, but was nuclear-powered, larger and substantially unrelated in design (for example, many weapons systems in different locations, such as the aft-facing GMLS). Most information related to nuclear cruisers is still classified, but Truxtun appears to be more a Belknap-like derivative of the nuclear cruiser Bainbridge than the other way around. [6]

Ships in class

NamePennantBuilderLaid DownLaunchedCommissionedDecommissionedFate
Belknap-class conventional cruiser
Belknap CG-26 Bath Iron Works, Bath 5 February 196220 July 19637 November 196415 February 1995Sunk as target, 24 September 1998
Josephus Daniels CG-2723 April 19622 December 19638 May 196521 January 1994Broken up at Brownsville, 1999
Wainwright CG-282 July 196225 April 19658 January 196615 November 1993Sunk as target, 12 June 2002
Jouett CG-29 Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton 25 September 196230 June 19643 December 196628 January 1994Sunk as target, 10 August 2007
Horne CG-30 San Francisco Naval Shipyard, San Francisco 12 December 196230 October 196415 April 19674 February 1994Sunk as target, 29 June 2008
Sterett CG-31Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton25 September 196230 June 19648 April 196724 March 1994Broken up at Brownsville, 2005
William H. Standley CG-32Bath Iron Works, Bath29 July 196319 December 19649 July 196611 February 1994Sunk as target, 25 June 2005
Fox CG-33 Todd Shipyard, San Pedro 15 January 196321 November 19648 May 196615 April 1994Broken up at Brownsville, 2008
Biddle CG-34Bath Iron Works, Bath9 December 19632 July 196521 January 196730 November 1993Broken up at Philadelphia, 2001
Truxtun-class nuclear-powered cruiser
Truxtun CGN-35 New York Shipbuilding Corporation, Camden 17 June 196319 December 196427 May 196711 September 1995Disposed of through Ship-Submarine Recycling Program at Bremerton, 1999

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Pike, John E. (5 February 2005). "CG 26 BELKNAP class". GlobalSecurity.org. Retrieved 12 January 2007.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Toppan, Andrew (17 July 2000). "US Cruisers List: Guided Missile Cruisers". Haze Gray and Underway. Archived from the original on 7 January 2007. Retrieved 12 January 2007.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Blackman, Raymond V. B. Jane's Fighting Ships (1970/71) p.429
  4. Polmar, Norman "The U.S. Navy: Shipboard Radars" United States Naval Institute Proceedings December 1978 p.144
  5. Polmar, Norman "The U.S. Navy: Sonars, Part 1" United States Naval Institute Proceedings July 1981 p.119
  6. 1 2 Doehring, Thoralf. "The TRUXTUN – class". Unofficial US Navy Site. Retrieved 13 January 2007.
  7. Bauer, Karl Jack; Roberts, Stephen S. (1991). Register of Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1775-1990: Major Combatants. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 215. ISBN   0313262020.

Bibliography

38°04′52″N122°05′19″W / 38.0812°N 122.0885°W / 38.0812; -122.0885