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The United States Navy reclassified many of its surface vessels in 1975, changing terminology and
hull classification symbol The United States Navy, United States Coast Guard, and United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) use a hull classification symbol (sometimes called hull code or hull number) to identify their ships by type and by ...
s for
cruiser A cruiser is a type of warship. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and can usually perform several roles. The term "cruiser", which has been in use for several hu ...
s,
frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and ...
s, and
ocean escort Ocean escort was a type of United States Navy warship. They were an evolution of the World War II destroyer escort types. The ocean escorts were intended as convoy escorts and were designed for mobilization production in wartime or low-cost mass ...
s.


Classification prior to 1975

From the 1950s to 1975, the US Navy had three types of fast task force escorts and one type of convoy escort. The task force escorts were cruisers (hull classification symbols CAG/CLG/CG), frigates or destroyer-leaders (DL/DLG), and destroyers (DD/DDG); the convoy escorts were ocean escorts (DE/DEG), often called
destroyer escort Destroyer escort (DE) was the United States Navy mid-20th-century classification for a warship designed with the endurance necessary to escort mid-ocean convoys of merchant marine ships. Development of the destroyer escort was promoted by th ...
s as they retained the designation and number series of the World War II vessels. Added in the early 1970s was a new ocean escort called the patrol frigate (PF), another designation previously used in World War II, which was the initial designation of the .Bauer and Roberts, pp. 251-252 In 1975, these classifications were simplified to cruiser (CG), destroyer (DD/DDG), and frigate (FF/FFG). Under the pre-1975 classification, cruisers were large vessels, the size of World War II gun cruisers, intended as the primary surface combatants. All but one () were converted World War II gun cruisers (CL/CLG or CA/CAG), carrying either
Talos In Greek mythology, Talos — also spelled Talus (; el, Τάλως, ''Tálōs'') or Talon (; el, Τάλων, ''Tálōn'') — was a giant automaton made of bronze to protect Europa in Crete from pirates and invaders. He circled the island's s ...
or
Terrier Terrier (from Latin ''terra'', 'earth') is a type of dog originally bred to hunt vermin. A terrier is a dog of any one of many breeds or landraces of the terrier type, which are typically small, wiry, game, and fearless. Terrier breeds vary g ...
surface-to-air missiles (SAMs), and in some cases also Tartar missiles. The primary mission of these ships and the guided missile frigates was to intercept Soviet anti-ship
cruise missile A cruise missile is a guided missile used against terrestrial or naval targets that remains in the atmosphere and flies the major portion of its flight path at approximately constant speed. Cruise missiles are designed to deliver a large warhea ...
s. One cruiser was to be assigned to each carrier group. Most of the cruiser conversions were performed to rapidly deploy the new naval SAMs while the guided missile frigates were being designed and built. There were relatively few cruiser conversions, due to their cost and because the frigates could carry almost as many weapons as a cruiser.Friedman cruisers, pp. 377-378 From 1950 to 1975, frigates were a new type, midway between cruiser and destroyer sizes, intended as major task force escorts. The first ship of the type was a redesignated ASW cruiser; the next four were very large AAW (gun) destroyers (DL), and the remainder were essentially oversize guided missile destroyers classified as DLGs. They carried the mid-range
Terrier missile The Convair RIM-2 Terrier was a two-stage medium-range naval surface-to-air missile (SAM), and was among the earliest surface-to-air missiles to equip United States Navy ships. It underwent significant upgrades while in service, starting with bea ...
, but no offensive (strategic) weapons. Destroyers were developed from the World War II designs as the smallest fast task force escorts. DDs were fast ASW ships; DDGs were AAW ships carrying the short-range
Tartar missile The General Dynamics RIM-24 Tartar was a medium-range naval surface-to-air missile (SAM), and was among the earliest surface-to-air missiles to equip United States Navy ships. The Tartar was the third of the so-called "3 T's", the three primary ...
. Ocean escorts were an evolution of the World War II destroyer escort types. They were intended as convoy escorts and were designed for mobilization production in wartime or low-cost mass production in peacetime. DEs were ASW vessels; DEGs were AAW vessels with Tartar missiles. The U.S. frigate classification was not used by any other navy; similar vessels were either cruisers or destroyers in foreign service. The ocean escort type corresponded to foreign frigates (convoy escorts).


The "cruiser gap"

The
Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
s defined "guided missile cruisers" as large warships armed with long range anti-ship missiles. The term "cruiser" included also two large helicopter carriers (''Moskva'' class). The ships equivalent to U.S. frigates were classified as "large anti-submarine ships", but the larger of them were designated as "cruisers" by Western navies.John Moore (editor). ''Jane's Fighting Ships 1975-1976'', Jane's Yearbooks, London. p. 437 This led to a conclusion, that by 1974, there were only six ships in U.S. service classified as cruisers, but the Soviets had 19 cruisers in service with seven more being built. (All totals exclude gun-only cruisers). All but two of the Soviet ships were relatively small vessels, roughly equivalent to U.S. frigates and far smaller than U.S. cruisers. However, most included a heavy anti-ship
cruise missile A cruise missile is a guided missile used against terrestrial or naval targets that remains in the atmosphere and flies the major portion of its flight path at approximately constant speed. Cruise missiles are designed to deliver a large warhea ...
battery that US surface combatants lacked until the introduction of the Harpoon missile circa 1980. The differing U.S. and Soviet definitions of "cruiser" caused political problems when comparisons were made between U.S. and Soviet naval forces. A table comparing U.S. and Soviet cruiser forces showed six U.S. ships vs. 19 Soviet ships, despite the existence of 21 U.S. "frigates" equal or superior in size to the Soviet "cruisers". This led to the perception of a non-existent "cruiser gap".


Closing the gap

To close this "gap," the U.S. frigate (DL/DLG) classification was eliminated on 30 June 1975. All the gun frigates (DL) had already been stricken or converted to DDGs. Most of the DLGs became cruisers (CG), but the smaller ''Farragut''s became destroyers (DDG). All of the nuclear-powered DLGNs, existing or in construction, were redesignated as CGNs. The change from DLG to CG redefined "cruiser" as smaller ships, more like large destroyers. Cruiser classifications were also simplified, with the guided missile light cruisers (CLG) simply becoming CGs. Gun cruisers retained the "CA" designation although the last remaining gun cruiser, ''Newport News'', was decommissioned three days earlier on 27 June 1975. The ocean escorts (DE/DEG) and patrol frigates (PF) became frigates (FF) or guided missile frigates (FFG). These changes brought U.S. Navy classifications into line with foreign classifications, and eliminated the perceived "cruiser gap." A final change came on 1 January 1980, when the guided missile destroyers (DDG) became guided missile cruisers (CG).


References


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* . * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Reclassification United States Navy in the 20th century Ships of the United States Navy 1975 in the United States Ship naming conventions