The Oregon City-class was a class of heavy cruisers of the United States Navy. Largely based on the preceding Baltimore-class of heavy cruisers, ten Oregon City-class ships were planned, but only four were completed. Of the completed ships, one was the USS Albany, which, in 1962, was converted to be the lead ship of the Albany-sub class of guided missile cruisers. Another vessel of the class, the USS Northampton would be converted to a command ship in 1951. The completed ships were in-commission from 1946 to 1980, with the Albany being the final vessel of the class to serve. All vessels of the class were eventually sold for scrap.
Design and development The Oregon City-class cruisers were a modified version of the previous 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 also differentiated the and classes, and to a lesser degree the and classes of light cruisers.Norman Friedman, U.S. Cruisers, An Illustrated Design History 1984
History Ten ships were authorized for the class with three being completed and the fourth suspended during construction. The final six ships were cancelled, five after being laid down. Construction on the incomplete fourth ship was resumed in 1948 and the ship served as a command ship . All three completed cruisers were commissioned in 1946. Oregon City was decommissioned after only 22 months of service, one of the shortest active careers of any World War II-era cruiser. Albany was later converted into a guided missile ship, becoming the lead ship of the and served until 1980. A similar conversion was planned for Rochester but was cancelled.
Ships in class
+Ships in classWhitley 1999, p. 269. Name Hull Number Builder Laid down Launched Commissioned/Recommissioned Decommissioned FateCA-122Bethlehem Steel Corporation, Fore River Shipyard, Quincy, Massachusetts8 April 19449 June 194516 February 194615 December 1947Struck 1 November 1970; Sold for scrap, 17 August 1973CA-1236 Mar 194411 Jun 194515 June 194630 June 1958Converted to Guided Missile CruiserGardiner and Chumbley 1995, p. 578. Struck 30 June 1985; Sold for scrap, 12 August 1990CG-103 November 1962 29 August 1980CA-12429 May 194428 August 194520 December 194615 August 1961Struck 1 October 1973; Sold for scrap, 24 September 1974CA-12531 August 194427 January 19517 March 19538 April 1970Converted to command ship during construction – Struck and sold for scrap, 31 Dec 1977CLC-1CambridgeCA-12616 December 1944colspan=3 rowspan=6 Cancelled 12 August 1945 and scrapped on slipBridgeportCA-12713 January 1945Cancelled 12 August 1945 and scrapped on slipKansas CityCA-1289 July 1945Cancelled 12 August 1945 and scrapped on slipTulsaCA-129Cancelled 12 August 1945NorfolkCA-137Philadelphia Naval Shipyard27 December 1944Cancelled 12 August 1945 and scrapped on slipScrantonCA-13827 December 1944Cancelled 12 August 1945 and scrapped on slip
Gallery
See also Albany-class cruiser List of cruisers of the United States Navy
Notes
References
Bibliography Gardiner, Robert and Stephen Chumbley (editors). Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1947–1995. Annapolis, Maryland US: Naval Institute Press, 1995. . Whitley, M.J. Cruisers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia. London: Brockhampton Press, 1999. ,
External links
Global Security.org – Oregon City class cruiser DANFS