Name Brooklyn-class cruiser Succeeded by St. Louis class In commission 1937–82 | Preceded by Omaha class Built 1935−38 | |
Operators United States Navy
Argentine Navy
Brazilian Navy
Chilean Navy | ||
The Brooklyn-class cruisers were seven light cruisers of the United States Navy that served during World War II. Armed with 5 (three forward, two aft) triple turrets mounting 6-inch guns, they and their two near sisters of the St. Louis-class mounted more heavy-caliber guns than any other US cruisers. The Brooklyns were all commissioned during 1937 and 1938 in the time between the start of the war in Asia and before the outbreak of war in Europe. They served extensively in both the Pacific and Atlantic theaters during World War II. Though some were heavily damaged, all survived the war. All were decommissioned shortly after the end of the war, and five were transferred in 1951 to South American navies, where they served for many more years. One of these, the General Belgrano, formerly the USS Phoenix (CL-46), was sunk during the Falklands War in 1982.
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The Brooklyn-class ships were a strong influence on US cruiser design. Nearly all subsequent US cruisers, heavy and light, were directly or indirectly based on them. Notable among these are the Cleveland-class light cruiser and Baltimore-class heavy cruiser of World War II.
Design
The Brooklyns arose from the London Naval Treaty of 1930, which limited the construction of heavy cruisers, i.e., ships carrying guns with calibers between 6.1 inches and 8 inches. Great Britain needed trade control cruisers and hoped that the treaty would limit nations to smaller cruisers to a 6,000 to 8,000 ton range that she could afford. The United States needed large cruisers to deal with the extreme ranges that operations in the Pacific Ocean required. Cruisers with 6" guns and 10,000 tons were therefore desired. The US Navy's experience with the Omaha Class Cruiser was not all that could be hoped for. The light hull design caused a stressed hull and was very overweight. Design started in 1930, with the first four of the class ordered in 1933 and an additional three ships in 1934. Basic criteria had been that speed and range should match heavy cruisers and, when the Japanese Mogami-class cruisers carrying fifteen six-inch main guns appeared, the new U.S. ships would match their weaponry. Various combinations of armor and power plants were tried in the efforts to stay below the Treaty 10,000 ton limit.
From 1942, the bridge structure was lowered and radar was fitted.
Armament
The Brooklyn Class was equipped with 15 6"/47 Mark 16 naval guns. Developed from the 6"/53 Mark 8 used on the Omaha Class cruiser The decision was reached as the gun could achieve up to a ten rounds per minute rate of fire. This gave the class the ability to send up to one hundred and fifty rounds a minute at its intended target. This allowed the cruiser to smother an enemy ship with fire. The turret arrangement was five turrets each mounting three guns on a single sleeve. The six-inch guns were of a new design, the Mk 16 which could fire a 130-pound shell up to 26,100 yards (nearly 23,900 metres). The 130 pound shell had twice the penetrative power of the old gun. The ammunition was of the semi-fixed type.
As designed the anti-aircraft weaponry specified eight 5"/25 caliber gun and eight M2 Browning .50 caliber machine guns. The intention to mount 1.1 inch anti-aircraft guns was frustrated and the requirement was not fully met until 1943. The weapon as deployed was less than satisfactory frequent jamming and weight were serious issues. Some of the class had 5"/38 caliber gun installed vice the 5"/25 guns. There were varied mixes of 20 mm and 40 mm mountings actually installed during World War 2, 28 40 mm (4 × 4, 6 × 2) and twenty 20 mm (10 × 2) being the most common.
Fire Control
The Brooklyn Class was deployed with the Mark 34 director and later the Mark 3 radar. This would be upgraded to the Mark 8 and again to the Mark 13 radar. The secondary battery was controlled by the Mark 28 and upgraded to the Mark 33 fire control systems. The associated radars were the Mark 4 fire control radar and upgraded again to the Mark 12. Two anti-aircraft fire directors were fitted to each ship. A late World War 2 refit saw the Mk 51 director installed for the 40mm Bofors guns. Night engagements were improved when in 1945 the Mark 57 and 63 directors in installed.
Successors
The vast majority of cruisers built by the United States during World War II derive from the Brooklyn design. Modifications of Brooklyn-class hull were the predecessors to the two main lines of wartime cruisers, respectively the Cleveland-class light cruiser armed with 6-inch (152 mm) guns and Baltimore-class heavy cruiser armed with 8-inch (203 mm) guns.
The first derived class was the two-ship St. Louis-class, which were modified Brooklyns using new boiler design, redesigned armor, and secondary armament placed into four twin mount turrets (two turrets per side). This class would lead onto the Cleveland-class light cruiser (less a fifth triple 6-inch turret), of which two were upgraded as the Fargo-class cruiser. The other predecessor was the USS Wichita, built on a modified Brooklyn-class hull, with a heavy cruiser armament featuring three rather than five triple turrets, but each turret containing larger 8-inch guns, and increased armor. The Wichita was succeeded by the Baltimore-class ( including the Oregon City-class cruiser subclass, and the upgraded Des Moines-class cruiser. As the Baltimore-class began building about a year after the Cleveland-class, later developments and improvements were transferred to the Baltimore-class hull.
Finally, both Cleveland and Baltimore hulls were converted to light aircraft carriers. The Independence-class of light aircraft carriers, were converted from Cleveland-class cruisers, and the Saipan-class light carriers used the basic form of the Baltimore-class cruiser design.
War service
Several Brooklyns were seriously damaged during the war, but all of the cruisers survived. Boise was severely damaged by shell hit in her forward turret magazine during the Battle of Cape Esperance on 11 October 1942, suffering many casualties but luckily the magazine (being partially flooded as a result of shell hits in her hull) did not explode. Nashville was hit by a kamikaze attack on 13 December 1944 off Mindoro which killed or wounded 310 crewmen. Honolulu was torpedoed at the Battle of Kolombangara on July 12–13, 1943, as was her near-sister St. Louis. After being repaired in the United States, Honolulu returned to service only to be torpedoed by a Japanese aircraft on 20 October 1944 during the invasion of Leyte. On 11 September 1943 Savannah was hit by a German Fritz X radio guided bomb which penetrated her #3 turret and blew out the bottom of the ship. Skillful damage control by her crew saved her from sinking. While under repair in the United States, Savannah and Honolulu were rebuilt with a bulged hull that increased their beam by nearly 8 feet and their 5 inch guns were reinstalled as four twins, though the repairs to Honolulu were completed too late for her to see action again.
Post-war
All ships of the class were deactivated by early 1947. Except for Honolulu and Savannah, which had been modernized with bulges, 5"/38 secondaries and Mk 37 directors, so were retained for potential reactivation until sold for scrap in 1959 and 1966, respectively, the rest were sold to South American countries in the early 1950s and served for many more years: Brooklyn and Nashville to Chile, Philadelphia to Brazil, and Boise and Phoenix to Argentina. ARA General Belgrano (ex-Phoenix), was torpedoed and sunk by HMS Conqueror during the Falklands War, while O'Higgins (ex-Brooklyn) remained in service with the Chilean Navy until 1992. She sank under tow (on her way to the scrappers) in the mid Pacific in 1994.