The London Treaty, which had set the limits
for cruisers at 10,000 tons and 8" guns,
expired in the late 1930s. In 1938, discussions
began in the US about building large cruisers
capable protecting Atlantic convoy routes
against the German Deutschland Class vessels.
Such a vessel met with little enthusiasm
in the Navy, but President Roosevelt took
a personal interest in the project, and by
the end of 1939 a 12" gunned cruiser
was of the three main types under consideration
for US expanded cruiser program. By late
1939, the rapid German victory in Europe,
the desire to have vessels capable of acting
as escorts for fast carrier battle groups
combined with the need to protect long lines
of communication in the Pacific from super-cruisers
rumored to be building in Japan fueled the
program.
Preliminary designs ranged from 17,300 to
34,1000 tons, carrying between 6 and 9 main
guns. The final design dates to June 1941,
with initial orders totaling 6 ships. Even
as they were being laid down plans were drawn
up to convert them to carriers, but the resulting
vessel would not have been satisfactory.
The large cruiser program resulted in vessels
that were too large and expensive to be used
as cruisers, yet far too weakly protected
to operate as battleships. Manuverability
was poor, and no torpedo defense system was
provided for. Two of these vessels entered
service late in the war, serving as front
line units for only 2 years before being
retired. Another sat incomplete until being
broken up in 1958, and the other three were
cancelled. Postwar discussions about converting
the Alaska Class vessels into missile ships
or command ships came to nothing.
| Alaska: Laid down 17 Dec 1941 Launched 15 Aug 1943 Commissioned 17 Jun 1944 |
Guam: Laid down 2 Feb 1942 Launched 12 Nov 1943 Commissioned 17 Sep 1944 |
Hawaii: Laid down 20 Dec 1943 Launched 11 Mar 1945 Commissioned N/A |
|
| Philippines Puerto Rico Samoa: Cancelled |
Builders: All- New York Shipbuilding |
Complement 1,517 Design |
|
| Displacement 27,000 tons standard 34,253 tons max |
Dimensions 808' x 90' 9" |
Draught 32'at full load |
|
| Main guns 9 x 12/50" (3 x 3) |
Secondary guns 12 x 5/38" (6 x 2) |
AA Guns 56 x 40mm 34 x 20 mm |
Torpedo tubes none |
| Armour Belt 9"tapered to 5" inclined 10-degrees |
Turret Armor 12.8" face, 5" roof, 6" sides |
Deck Armor 1.4" + 2.8" + .6" |
Conning Tower Armor 10" |
| Boilers 8 x Babcock & Wilcox 565 psi @ 850-degrees |
Turbines 4 sets x GE GE geared drive turbines |
Power output 180,000 shp |
Shafts 4 |
| Speed 33 kts |
Range 12,000 @ 15 knots |
Fuel 3,618.6 tons oil |
Aircraft 3 floatplanes two catapults |
Fates:
Alaska - saw action off Iwo Jima, Okinawa, and
mainland Japan
before being placed in reserve at Bayonne,
New Jersey in Feb 1947
Sold and broken up July 1961.
USS Guam covered the landings at Okinawa, China,
and Korea
before being mothballed with her sister,
also Feb 1947.
Sold and broken up May 1961.
USS Hawaii- Mothballed when 85% complete.
Main turrets removed circa 1947.
Hull broken up June 1958
USS Philippines
USS Puerto Rico
USS Samoa:
Cancelled, not laid down
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