Fargo-class cruiser

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USS Huntington (CL-107) at Naples, Italy, circa in August 1948 (NH 93200).jpg
USS Huntington in August 1948
Class overview
NameFargo-class
Builders New York Shipbuilding Corporation
OperatorsFlag of the United States (1912-1959).svg  United States Navy
Preceded by Cleveland class
Succeeded by Worcester class
Built1943–1946
In commission1945–1950
Planned13
Completed2
Cancelled11
Retired2
Scrapped2
General characteristics
Type Light cruiser
Displacement
  • 11,744 long tons (11,932 t) (standard)
  • 14,464 long tons (14,696 t) (full)
Length608 ft .25 in (185.3 m)
Beam66 ft 4 in (20.2 m)
Draft22 ft (6.7 m)
Installed power
Propulsion
Speed32.5 knots (60.2 km/h; 37.4 mph)
Range20000km at 15kn
Boats & landing
craft carried		2 × lifeboats
Complement1,100 officers and enlisted
Sensors and
processing systems
Armament
Armor
Aircraft carried4 × floatplanes [1]
Aviation facilities2 × stern catapults

The Fargo-class cruisers were a modified version of the 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, and to a lesser degree the Atlanta and Juneau classes of light cruisers. [2] Changes were made in order to reduce the instability of the Cleveland-class light cruisers, especially their tendency to roll dangerously. [3] 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. [4]

Contents

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 and eventual end of World War II. [5]

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

Ships in class

Construction data
Ship nameHull no.BuilderLaid downLaunchedCommissionedDecommissionedFate
Fargo CL-106 New York Shipbuilding Corporation, Camden, New Jersey 23 August 194325 February 19459 December 194514 February 1950Struck 1 March 1970; Sold for scrap, 18 August 1971
Huntington CL-1074 October 19438 April 194523 February 194615 June 1949Struck 1 September 1961; Sold for scrap, on 16 May 1962
NewarkCL-10817 January 194414 December 1945——Construction canceled 12 August 1945 when 67.8% completed, launched on 14 December 1945, for use in underwater explosion tests, sold on 2 April 1949 for scrapping
New HavenCL-10928 February 1944———Construction cancelled 12 August 1945 and scrapped on slip
BuffaloCL-1102 April 1944
WilmingtonCL-111 William Cramp & Sons Shipbuilding Company, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 5 March 1945
VallejoCL-112New York Shipbuilding Corporation, Camden, New Jersey————Construction cancelled 5 October 1944
HelenaCL-113
RoanokeCL-114
—CL-115
TallahasseeCL-116 Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, Newport News, Virginia 31 January 1944———Construction cancelled 12 August 1945 and scrapped on slip
CheyenneCL-11729 May 1944
Chattanooga (ex-Norfolk)CL-1189 October 1944

See also

References

  1. ↑ Terzibashitsch 1988, p. 311.
  2. ↑ Norman Friedman, U.S. Cruisers, An Illustrated Design History 1984 ISBN   978-0-87021-718-0
  3. ↑ James J. Fahey, "Pacific War Diary, 1942-1945: The Secret Diary of an American Sailor" 1972 ISBN   978-0395640227
  4. ↑ "USS Fargo Class - US warships of WW2".
  5. ↑ M. J. Whitley, Cruisers Of World War Two, An International Encyclopedia 1995 ISBN   978-1-86019-874-8

Bibliography


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