Operators United States Navy Succeeded by Des Moines class Planned 10 | Preceded by Baltimore class In commission 1946–70 | |
Name Oregon City-class cruiser | ||
The Oregon City class was a class of heavy cruisers of the United States Navy. Although it was intended to build ten, only four were completed – one of those as a command ship. The three ships completed as cruisers were in commission from 1946 to 1970.
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Design and development
The Oregon City-class cruisers were a modified version of the previous Baltimore-class 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 also differentiated the Cleveland and Fargo classes of light cruisers.
History
Ten ships were authorized for the class with three being completed and the fourth suspended during construction. The final six ships were cancelled, 5 after being laid down. Construction on the incomplete fourth ship was resumed in 1948 and the ship served as a command ship Northampton (CLC-1). All three completed cruisers were commissioned in 1946. Oregon City was decommissioned after only 22 months of service, one of the shortest active careers of any World War II-era cruiser. Albany was later converted into a guided missile ship, becoming the lead ship of the Albany class and served until 1980. A similar conversion was planned for Rochester but was cancelled.