The Cleveland-class was a group of light cruisers built for the United States Navy during World War II. Fifty-two were ordered, and 36 were completed, 27 as cruisers and nine as the of light aircraft carriers. They were deactivated within a few years after the end of the war, but six were converted into missile ships, and some of these served into the 1970s. One ship of the class, USS Little Rock (CL-92), remains as a museum ship.

Development A development of the preceding , the Cleveland class was designed with increased cruising range, anti-aircraft armament, and torpedo protection compared with earlier U.S. cruisers.Norman Friedman, U.S. Cruisers, An Illustrated Design History 1984

After the London Naval Treaty of 1930, the U.S. Navy took up a renewed interest in the 6-inch gun-armed light cruiser, partially due to the Navy complaining about the 8-inch gun's slow rate of fireUS Cruisers: An Illustrated History Friedman, Norman p. 270 of three rounds per minute compared to the ten rounds per minute of 6-inch guns. At this time, the U.S. Navy began to deploy drones to use as targets for anti-aircraft targets, which could simulate both dive and torpedo bombers. The simulations showed that without fire control directors and computers, the ships of the fleet would be almost helpless against the density of aircraft attacks envisioned in any future war. Mechanical computers alone could weigh up to 10 tons and had to be housed below decks for both weight and protection measures.Naval Anti-Aircraft Guns and Gunnery loc 3772 - 3792 As World War II was to prove, the pre-war assumptions were optimistic as eventually, every anti-aircraft gun platform above 20 mm would end up having remote power, with fire control and radar aiming.US Cruisers: An Illustrated History Friedman, Norman pp 259-265

As designed, the Cleveland class was already a tight design, but requests to widen the ship were turned down as it would affect production rates. Shortly after the Fall of France, the Two-Ocean Navy Act changed those production rates rapidly. In order to fit the new heavier fire control and radar systems within the allotted tonnage for a cruiser, the No. 3 gun turret was omitted. This also gave room for the enlargement of the bridge spaces to accommodate the new combat information center and necessary radars, along with enough tonnage to fit an additional pair of 5-inch/38 twin mounts, located fore and aft of the superstructure, with wider arcs of fire. Despite the loss of three 6-inch guns compared to the preceding Brooklyn and St. Louis classes, the more advanced fire control gave the Cleveland class a firepower advantage in practical use.

Towards the end of World War II, the increase of light anti-aircraft weapons made the class top-heavy, so to compensate, some ships had one of the two catapults, and No. 1 turret rangefinders removed.Stefan Terzibaschitsch: Kreuzer der U.S. Navy. Koehler, Herford (Germany) 1984, p. 174. Top weight issues would plague the class with every addition of equipment having to be weighed against what would have to be removed. For example, the tighter installation of the control radar necessitated the removal of the 20 mm clipping rooms, where 20 mm rounds were loaded into their magazines.

Subclasses Fifty-two ships were originally planned, but nine of them were completed as the light aircraft carriers of the , and two were completed to a different design, with a more compact superstructure and a single stack, called the . Of the 27 Cleveland class commissioned, one () was completed as a guided missile cruiser, and five were later modified as and guided missile cruisers. Two of each of these had enlarged superstructures to serve as flagships. Following the naming convention at the time, all the ships completed as cruisers were named for U.S. cities or towns.M. J. Whitley, Cruisers Of World War Two, An International Encyclopedia 1995

Service The Cleveland-class cruisers served mainly in the Pacific Fleet during World War II, especially with the Fast Carrier Task Force, and some served off the coasts of Europe and Africa in the U.S. Atlantic Fleet. All of these warships, though worked heavily, survived the war. All were initially decommissioned by 1950, except for , which remained in service until 1956. None were recommissioned for the Korean War, as they required a crew almost as large as the ships, so those were reactivated instead. All non-converted ships were sold off from the reserve fleet for scrapping beginning in 1959. The six that were completed as or converted into guided missile cruisers were reactivated during the 1950s and then served into the 1970s. All, particularly the Talos-armed ships, suffered from greater stability problems than the original design due to the extra top weight. This was particularly severe in Galveston, leading to its premature decommissioning in 1970. and had to have a large amount of ballast and internal rearrangement to allow service into the 1970s.Those Cleveland Class Cruisers. An exercise inexpediency in N.Wilder Post.' Sea Classics Oct 2013, V46, No 10', pp18-25 & 65 The last of these missile ships in service, Oklahoma City, was decommissioned in December 1979.

Museum ship One Cleveland-class ship remains. , refit in 1960 and re-designated as Galveston-class guided missile light cruiser CLG-4 (later CG-4), is now a museum ship at the Buffalo and Erie County Naval & Military Park in Buffalo, New York, alongside the , and the , .

Ships in class + Construction data Ship name Builder Laid down Launched CommissionedRecommissioned Decommissioned Fate CL-55New York Shipbuilding Corporation, Camden, New Jersey1 July 19401 November 194115 June 19427 February 1947Struck 1 March 1959; Sold for scrap, 18 February 1960 CL-5618 August 194017 December 194129 July 194230 November 1946Struck 1 March 1959; Sold for scrap, 18 February 1959 CL-572 December 194012 February 19429 September 194224 January 1947Struck 1 March 1959; Sold for scrap, 22 January 1960 CL-5826 December 19404 April 194215 October 19427 February 1947Struck 1 March 1959; Sold for scrap, 4 February 1960 CL-591 May 1941 Reordered as the light aircraft carrier CL-607 June 194110 June 194224 November 194229 October 1946Struck 1 March 1959; Sold for scrap, 9 November 1959 CL-612 June 1941 Reordered as the light aircraft carrier CL-62Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, Newport News, Virginia17 February 194120 March 194229 January 19432 January 1947Struck 1 March 1959; Sold for scrap, 12 November 1959 CL-6314 April 194115 May 194224 March 19439 May 1947Struck 1 March 1959; Sold for scrap, 16 December 1959 (ex-Flint) CL-64Bethlehem Steel Corporation, Fore River Shipyard, Quincy, Massachusetts7 March 194217 July 194321 January 194410 September 1946Struck 1 April 1966; Sunk as target, 28 October 1969 CL-656 February 194328 December 19438 June 194412 January 1950Struck 1 December 1970; Sold for scrap, 5 July 1972 CL-6613 February 19439 March 19449 September 194430 September 1949Struck 31 July 1980; Sold for scrap, 11 March 1980 CLG-72 July 196015 May 1974 CL-6721 April 194319 August 194423 December 194418 June 1949Struck 1 December 1973; Sold for scrap, 20 March 1975 CLG-826 March 19605 June 1969 CL-76New York Shipbuilding Corporation, Camden, New Jersey11 August 1941 Reordered as the light aircraft carrier CL-7717 November 1941 Reordered as the light aircraft carrier CL-7829 December 1941 Reordered as the light aircraft carrier CL-7916 March 1942 Reordered as the light aircraft carrier CL-80Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, Newport News, Virginia9 July 194123 February 194331 August 194329 August 1946Struck 1 December 1961; Sold for scrap, 5 March 1962 (ex-Vicksburg) CL-814 August 194119 June 194320 December 194315 December 1947Struck 1 March 1959; Sold for scrap, 1 June 1961 CL-82Bethlehem Steel Corporation, Fore River Shipyard, Quincy, Massachusetts27 July 194328 December 194415 May 194514 June 1949Struck 30 September 1978; Sold for scrap, 15 July 1980 CLG-617 September 195931 August 1973 CL-8325 September 19445 March 194629 October 194627 June 1956Struck 1 April 1960; Sold for scrap, 31 October 1961 Buffalo CL-84Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company, Kearny, New Jersey Cancelled, 16 December 1940 CL-85New York Shipbuilding Corporation, Camden, New Jersey11 April 1942 Reordered as the light aircraft carrier (ex-Cheyenne) CL-86Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, Newport News, Virginia26 October 194214 December 194312 June 194430 June 1947Struck 1 October 1962; Sold for scrap, 25 August 1964 CL-879 November 194213 January 194418 September 194425 June 1949Struck 1 January 1960; Sold for scrap, 14 November 1960 Newark CL-88Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company, Kearny, New Jersey Cancelled 16 December 1940 CL-89William Cramp & Sons Shipbuilding Company, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania2 August 19418 December 194228 December 194330 June 1947Struck 1 September 1961; Sold for scrap, 20 July 1962 (ex-Wilkes-Barre) CL-906 September 19416 March 194317 May 19441 July 1949Struck 1 November 1969; Sold for scrap, 12 January 1971 CL-918 December 194220 February 194422 December 194430 June 1947Struck 15 December 1979; Sunk as target, 25 March 1999 CLG-57 September 196015 December 1979 CL-926 March 194327 August 194417 June 194524 June 1949Struck 22 November 1976; Donated to the Buffalo and Erie County Naval & Military Park as a Museum ship, 1 June 1977 CLG- 43 June 196022 November 1976 CL-9320 February 194422 April 194528 May 1958May 1970Struck 21 December 1973; Sold for scrap, 16 May 1975 CLG-3 CL-944 September 1944 Contract cancelled, 12 August 1945 CL-99New York Shipbuilding Corporation, Camden, New Jersey31 August 1942 Reordered as the light aircraft carrier CL-10026 October 1942 Reordered as the light aircraft carrier CL-101Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, Newport News, Virginia3 March 194325 April 19448 January 194530 June 1947Struck 2 January 1971; Sold for scrap, 11 February 1972 CL-10228 June 194320 September 194425 June 194515 June 1949Struck 15 January 1971; Sold for scrap, 26 February 1974 CL-103New York Shipbuilding Corporation, Camden, New Jersey14 December 194224 December 19431 July 19449 October 1947Struck 15 January 1971; Sunk in testing, 13 May 1972 CL-10425 January 19436 February 19443 December 19441 July 1949Struck 1 October 1962; Sunk in testing, 1 October 1970 CL-1058 March 194319 March 19447 January 19451 March 1949Struck 1 September 1961; Sold for scrap, 6 April 1962

See also List of cruisers of the United States Navy

References

Bibliography

External links

Statistics Global Security.org - Cleveland class cruiser Hazegray - US Cruisers List: US Light/Heavy/AntiAircraft Cruisers, Part 2 Cleveland Class Light Cruisers