Fargo-class cruiser

USS Huntington in August 1948
Class overview
NameFargo-class
BuildersNew York Shipbuilding Corporation
Operators United States Navy
Preceded byCleveland class
Succeeded byWorcester class
Built1943–1946
In commission1945–1950
Planned13
Completed2
Cancelled11
Retired2
Scrapped2
Preserved0
General characteristics
TypeLight 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]

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 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 — — 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 Haven CL-109 28 February 1944 — — — 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 — — — — Construction cancelled 5 October 1944
Helena CL-113
Roanoke CL-114
— 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 (ex-Norfolk) CL-118 9 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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