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USS Samoa (CB-6)

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USS Guam (CB-2) during her shakedown cruise on 13 November 1944. Had she been built, Samoa would have looked quite similar to this.
History
US
NameSamoa
NamesakeSamoa
OrderedSeptember 1940
Laid downN/A
LaunchedN/A
Commissioned17 June 1944
Decommissioned17 February 1947
In serviceN/A
Out of serviceN/A
StrickenN/A
NotesCanceled prior to being laid down.
General characteristics
Class and type"Large cruiser"
Displacementlist error: <br /> list (help)
29,771 tons
34,253 tons(full load)[1]
Length808 ft 6 in (246.43 m)[1]
Beam91 ft 9.375 in (27.97493 m)[1]
Draught27 ft (8.2 m)
Propulsionlist error: <br /> list (help)
4-shaft General Electric steam turbines, double-reduction gearing,[2] 8 Babcock & Wilcox boilers[3]
150,000 shp (112 MW)[1]
Speed31.4[5][6]–33 knots[7][8][3] (36.1–38 mph)
Range12,000 nautical miles (22,000 km) at 15 knots (28 km/h)[1]
ArmamentNine 12-inch (305 mm)/50 caliber Mark 8 guns[1] (3×3) twelve 5-inch (127 mm)/38 caliber dual-purpose[2] guns[1] (6×2)[2] 56 ×40mm (1.57 in) [1] Bofors (14x4)[2] 34 × 20mm Oerlikon (34×1)[1][2]
Aircraft carried4×SC Seahawk[4][A 1]
See USS Samoa for other Navy ships of the same name.

USS[A 2] Samoa (CB-6) was planned to be the last of six Alaska-class "large cruisers"[9][A 3] in the United States Navy, but was canceled prior to construction. Unlike normal U.S. battleship and cruiser naming practices, all of the members of the class were named after "territories or insular areas" of the United States.[10][A 4] When they were ordered, the new class came as a surprise to some, as the U.S. had never finished a battlecruiser in its entire history, even when the type was in its "heyday" in 1906–16.[8][A 5]

Samoa was ordered on 9 September 1940 from the New York Shipbuilding Corporation, as part of the 70% Expansion ("Two Ocean Navy") building program. Although Samoa was scheduled for completion by 1 December 1946, all available materials and slipways were allocated to higher priority ships, such as aircraft carriers, destroyers, and submarines. This postponed her keel laying for a time, and construction had still not begun when steel shortages and a realization that the Alaska "cruiser killers" were no longer needed to hunt down Japanese cruisers (as they were, for the most part, already sunk) hit the Navy. As a result, construction upon Samoa never began, as she was officially canceled on 24 June 1943.

Designing the class

History

United States Navy recognition drawing made for the Alaska class, prepared circa 1945.

Heavy cruiser development had been held steady between World War I and World War II by the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty and successor treaties and conferences. In this treaty, the United States, Britain, Japan, France, and Italy had agreed to limit heavy cruisers to 10,000 tons displacement with 8-inch (20 centimeter) main armament. US "treaty cruisers" designed between the wars followed this pattern. After the Treaty effectively lapsed in 1939, the designs were slightly enlarged into the Baltimore-class.[11]

The original idea for a U.S. class of battlecruiser began in the late 1930s, when the U.S. Navy wanted to counter both the German Scharnhorst class and a new battlecruiser class (the notional Chichibu class)[9] Japan supposedly had under construction.[7][A 6] The Alaska class were intended to serve as "cruiser-killers", in order to seek out and destroy this type of post-Treaty heavy cruiser. To facilitate this, it was planned that this new class would be given large guns of a new (and expensive) design, limited armor protection against 12-inch shells, and machinery capable of speeds up to 31.4–33 knots (36.1–38 mph, 58.1–61 km/h).

The initial impetus for the design of the Alaska class came from reports that Japan was planning and/or building "super cruisers" that were much more powerful than U.S. heavy cruisers.[3][12][A 7] The Navy responded in 1938, when a request from the General Board was sent to the Bureau of Construction and Repair for a "comprehensive study of all types of naval vessels for consideration for a new and expanded building program."[13] The President of the time, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, might have inspired the idea for the class[14] with his desire to have a counter to the raiding abilities of Japanese cruisers and German battlecruisers/"pocket battleships",[15] but these claims are hard to verify.[3]

Design process

The design process of the Alaska class was "torturous"[7] because of the numerous changes and modifications made to the ships' layouts by many different departments and individuals;[7] indeed, the ships had at least nine different planned layouts,[16] ranging from 6,000 ton Atlanta class anti–aircraft cruisers,[15] to "overgrown" heavy cruisers[7] to a 38,000 ton mini-battleship that would have been armed with twelve 12-in guns and sixteen 5-in guns.[15] The General Board, in trying to keep the displacement under 25,000 tons, allowed the designers to have only limited underwater protection in their designs to try to save weight. As a result, the class, when built, were vulnerable to torpedoes and shells that fell short of the ships.[17] Early in their development, the class used the designation CC, signifying battlecruisers in the tradition of the Lexingtons;[A 8] the designation was changed to CB to reflect their new name of "large cruiser", and the practice of referring to them as "battlecruisers" was officially discouraged.[14]

All six members of the class, including Samoa, were officially ordered on 9 September 1940 from the New York Shipbuilding Corporation of Camden, New Jersey.[18] The order for the "large cruisers" came simultaneously with orders for a myriad of other ships due to the goals of the 70% Expansion ("Two Ocean Navy") building program.[12][19][A 9] The Alaska class' role had been altered slightly now, however: in addition to their surface-to-surface role as "cruiser killers", it was also planned for them to escort and protect carrier groups from aircraft. Because of their bigger guns, greater size and increased speed, they would be more valuable in this role than heavy cruisers, while still providing insurance against those 1938 reports that Japan was building "super cruisers" more powerful than U.S. heavy cruisers.[12][3]

Yet another drastic change to the design of the entire class was considered during the "carrier panic" of early 1942. This was the point in the war where the Navy, and the President, realized that the next fleet carriers, the Essex-class aircraft carriers, had not even been laid down yet and only one (USS Hornet (CV-12)) would enter service before 1944.[A 10] It was decided to convert a few hulls that were currently under construction. At different parts of 1942, the Bureau of Ships considered converting some of the Cleveland-class light cruisers, a few of the Baltimore-class heavy cruisers, all six of the Alaska class, or even one of the Iowa-class battleships to aircraft carriers.[20]

A conversion of the Alaska class to carriers was "particularly attractive"[20] because of the many similarities between the design of that class and the new Essex-class aircraft carriers[20]—for example, they both had the same machinery.[9] However, when compared with the Essex class, the Alaska class would have had a shorter flight deck (so they could have carried only 90% of the aircraft),[20] they would have been 11 feet (3.35 m) lower in the water, and they could travel 8,000 miles (13,000 km) fewer at 15 knots (17 mph). In addition, the large cruiser design did not include the massive underwater protections found in normal carriers due to the armor weight devoted to counter shell fire. In the end, the Cleveland class was chosen because the biggest factor was "speed of production", which was found with that class but not any of the others.[21]

Ships

Of the six Alaska class battlecruisers that were planned, only three were ever laid down. The first two, Alaska and Guam, were completed and saw action during the last few years of World War II in the Pacific as shore bombardment ships and carrier escorts. Hawaii, the third, was canceled; construction upon her was suspended on 16 April 1945,[13] when she was 84% complete.[22] The last three, Philippines, Puerto Rico and Samoa, were delayed because all available materials and slipways were allocated to higher priority ships, such as aircraft carriers, destroyers, and submarines.[18] Construction had still not begun when steel shortages and a realization that these "cruiser killers" had no more cruisers to hunt—the fleets of Japanese cruisers had already been defeated by aircraft and submarines—made the Alaska class "white elephants" that were surplus to the goals of the Navy.[3][23] Though Samoa was scheduled to be finished by 1 December 1946, construction upon the last three members, including Samoa, never began, and they were officially canceled on 24 June 1943.[18][24][25]

Armament

Main battery

File:Guam firing.jpg
Guam firing her main battery during a training session sometime in 1944–1945.

Samoa would have been equipped with nine 12"/50 caliber Mark 8 guns mounted in three triple (3-gun) turrets with two turrets forward and one aft, a configuration known as "2-A-1". The previous 12" gun manufactured for the U.S. Navy was the Mark 7 version had been designed and installed in the 1912 Wyoming-class battleships.[26] The Mark 8 was "greatly superior" to this version; in fact, it "was by far the most powerful weapon of its caliber ever placed in service.[27] Designed in 1939, it weighed 121,856 pounds (55,273 kg) including the breech and was capable of an average rate of fire of 2.4–3 rounds a minute. It could throw a 1,140 lb. (517.093 kg) Mark 18 armor piercing shell 38,573 yards (35,271 m) at an elevation of 45°, while the "barrel life" of the guns was 344 shots[26] (compared to the 16"/50 caliber Mark 7 gun found in the Iowa battleships, Alaska battlecruisers could fire about 54 more shots).[28]

The turrets were very similar to those of the Iowa class. The Alaska class had a two-stage powder hoist versus just one in Iowa battleships. This made it safer to operate the guns, while also increasing the rate of fire. There was also a "projectile rammer" that transferred shells from storage on the ship to the rotating ring that fed the guns. However, this feature proved unsatisfactory, and it was not included upon Hawaii nor was it planned to include this on any subsequent ships, including the Samoa.[26]

Because the only ships in the Navy to use or plan to use these guns were the Alaskas, only ten turrets were made during the war (three for each ship built, including Hawaii, with one as a spare). Due to this degree of uniqueness, they cost the Navy $1,550,000 each, and were the most expensive heavy guns purchased by the U.S. Navy in World War II.[14]

Secondary battery

The secondary battery of Samoa would have been composed of twelve 5-inch (127 mm)/38 caliber guns in twin turrets, with four turrets offset on each side of the superstructure (two on each beam) and two centerline turrets fore and aft. The 5"/38 had originally been intended for use on destroyers being built in the 1930s, but by 1934 and into World War II, it had been installed on nearly every major U.S. warship.[29]

Anti-aircraft battery

The anti-aircraft batteries on Samoa would probably have been similar to her sisters' 56 x 40mm guns and 34 x 20mm guns. These numbers can be compared to 48 x 40mm and 24 x 20mm on the smaller Baltimore heavy cruisers and 80 x 40mm and 49 x 20mm on the larger Iowa battleships.[5][30][31]

Bofors 40mm anti-aircraft guns

Bofors 40mm anti-aircraft guns on a MK 12 quadruple mount fire from the deck of the USS Hornet in World War II.

Arguably the best light anti-aircraft gun of World War II, the 40mm Bofors was used on almost every major warship in the US and UK fleet during World War II from about 1943 to 1945. Although a descendant of German and Swedish designs, the Bofors mounts used by the United States Navy during World War II had been heavily "Americanized" to bring the guns up to the standards of the US Navy. This resulted in a gun system set to English standards (now known as the Standard System) with interchangeable ammunition, which simplified the logistics situation for World War II. When coupled with hydraulic couple drives to reduce salt contamination and the Mark 51 director for improved accuracy, the 40mm Bofors became a fearsome adversary, accounting for roughly half of all Japanese aircraft shot down between 1 October 1944 and 1 February 1945.[32]

Oerlikon 20mm anti-aircraft guns

The Oerlikon 20mm anti-aircraft gun was one of the most numerous anti-aircraft guns of World War II; The U.S. alone manufactured a total of 124,735 of these guns. When activated in 1941, these guns replaced the 0.50" (12.7mm) M2 Browning MG on a one-for-one basis. The Oerlikon gun remained the primary anti-aircraft weapon of the United States Navy until the introduction of the 40mm Bofors in 1943.[33]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ The Seahawk made its operational debut upon Guam on 22 October 1944.
  2. ^ Technically, "USS" should not be in this article's title since this ship was never commissioned; however, it has been included here to adhere to the naming conventions of Wikipedia.
  3. ^ See Alaska class battlecruiser#"Large cruisers" or "battlecruisers"?.
  4. ^ With only a very few exceptions, U.S. battleships were named for states, e.g. USS Nevada (BB-36) or USS New Jersey (BB-62), while cruisers were named for cities, e.g. USS Juneau (CL-52) or USS Quincy (CA-71). See United States ship naming conventions. Also, Alaska and Hawaii were "insular areas" of the United States at this time; they acceded to the Union as the forty-ninth and fiftieth States in 1959.
  5. ^ The two Lexington class aircraft carriers of World War II fame (USS Lexington (CV-2) and USS Saratoga (CV-3)) were originally part of a 1916 six-ship battlecruiser class. Due to the Washington Naval Treaty, they were converted to aircraft carriers, while the other four (USS Constellation (CC-2), USS Ranger (CC-4), USS Constitution (CC-5) and USS United States (CC-6)) were all canceled.
  6. ^ Jane's thought that this mythical battlecruiser would have six 12-inch guns and 30-knot (34.52 mph) speed packed into a 15,000-ton ship. See Worth, 305.
  7. ^ Japan actually developed plans for two of the "super cruisers" in 1941, though it was mostly in response to these new Alaska's. However, the ships were never ordered due to the greater need for carriers. See Super Type A Cruiser.
  8. ^ The Lexington class would have been designated CC-1 through CC-6, had they been built.
  9. ^ Along with the Alaska's, there were 210 other ships ordered at the same time: two Iowa-class battleships, five Montana-class battleships, twelve Essex-class aircraft carriers, four Baltimore-class heavy cruisers, 19 Cleveland-class light cruisers, four Atlanta-class light cruisers, 52 Fletcher-class destroyers, twelve Benson-class destroyers and 73 Gato-class submarines.
  10. ^ USS Franklin (CV-13) was eventually commissioned on 31 January 1944.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Dulin, Jr., Garzke, Jr., 184.
  2. ^ a b c d e Fitzsimons, Bernard, ed., Volume 1, 59.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Gardiner and Chesneau, 122.
  4. ^ Swanborough and Bowers, 148.
  5. ^ a b "Alaska". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Navy Department, Naval History and Heritage Command. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |accessdaymonth= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  6. ^ "Hawaii". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Navy Department, Naval History and Heritage Command. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |accessdaymonth= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  7. ^ a b c d e Worth, 305.
  8. ^ a b Miller, 200.
  9. ^ a b c Fitzsimons, Volume 1, 58.
  10. ^ Greer, 84.
  11. ^ Bauer and Roberts, 139.
  12. ^ a b c Pike, John (2008). "CB-1 Alaska Class". GlobalSecurity.org. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |accessdaymonth= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  13. ^ a b Dulin, Jr., Garzke, Jr., 189.
  14. ^ a b c Morison, Morison and Polmar, 85.
  15. ^ a b c Dulin, Jr. and Garzke, Jr., 179.
  16. ^ Dulin, Jr. and Garzke, Jr., 179–183.
  17. ^ Dulin, Jr., Garzke, Jr., 183.
  18. ^ a b c "Samoa". DANFS. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |accessdaymonth= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  19. ^ Rohwer, 40.
  20. ^ a b c d Friedman, 190.
  21. ^ Friedman, 191.
  22. ^ "Hawaii". DANFS. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |accessdaymonth= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  23. ^ Fitzsimons, Volume 1, p.59.
  24. ^ "Philippines". DANFS. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |accessdaymonth= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  25. ^ "Puerto Rico". DANFS. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |accessdaymonth= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  26. ^ a b c DiGiulian, Tony (2008-02-07). "12"/50 (30.5 cm) Mark 8". Navweaps.com. Retrieved 2008-10-15.
  27. ^ Dulin, Jr. and Garzke, Jr., 190.
  28. ^ DiGiulian, Tony (2008-02-07). "United States of America 16"/50 (40.6 cm) Mark 7". Navweaps.com. Retrieved 2008-10-16.
  29. ^ DiGiulian, Tony (2008-03-27). "United States of America 5"/38 (12.7 cm) Mark 12". Navweaps.com. Retrieved 2008-07-25.
  30. ^ "Baltimore". DANFS. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |accessdaymonth= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  31. ^ "Iowa". DANFS. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |accessdaymonth= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  32. ^ DiGiulian, Tony (2008-05-14). "Sweden, British, USA, German and Japanese Bofors 40 mm/56 (1.57") Model 1936". Navweaps.com. Retrieved 2008-07-25.
  33. ^ DiGiulian, Tony (2008-05-14). "British, Swiss and USA 20 mm/70 (0.79") Oerlikon Marks 1, 2, 3 and 4". Navweaps.com. Retrieved 2008-07-25.

Bibliography

  • Bauer, Karl Jack; Roberts, Stephen S. (1991). Register of Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1775-1990: Major Combatants. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 0313-2-6202-0.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) Google books link
  • Dulin, Jr.,Robert O.; Garzke, Jr.; William H. (1976). Battleships: United States Battleships in World War II. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1557-5-0174-2.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) Google Books link
  • Fitzsimons, Bernard, ed. (1978). Illustrated Encyclopedia of 20th Century Weapons and Warfare, Volume 1. London: Phoebus. {{cite book}}: |author= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  • Friedman, Norman (1983). U.S. Aircraft Carriers: An Illustrated Design History. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0870-2-1739-9.
  • Gardiner, Robert; Chesneau, Roger (1980). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1922-1946. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0870-2-1913-8.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) Google Books link
  • Greer, Gordon B. (2004). The First Decade of the Twentieth Century. iUniverse. ISBN 0595-3-0725-6.
  • Miller, David (2005). Illustrated Directory of Warships of the World: From 1860 to the Present. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 1851-0-9857-7. Google books link
  • Morison, Samuel Loring; Morison, Samuel Eliot; Polmar, Norman (2005). Illustrated Directory of Warships of the World: From 1860 to the Present. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 1851-0-9857-7.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) Google Books link
  • Rohwer, Jürgen (1992). Chronology of the War at Sea, 1939-1945: The Naval History of World War Two. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1591-1-4119-2. Google books link
  • Swanborough, Gordon; Bowers, Peter M. (1968). United States Navy Aircraft Since 1911. Funk & Wagnalls.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) Google books link, though no preview available.
  • Worth, Richard (2002). Fleets of World War II. Da Capo Press. ISBN 0306-8-1116-2. Google Books link

Public Domain This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.

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