Albany-class cruiser
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The ''Albany''-class guided-missile cruisers were converted and heavy cruisers of the
United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
. All original
superstructure A superstructure is an upward extension of an existing structure above a baseline. This term is applied to various kinds of physical structures such as buildings, bridges, or ships. Aboard ships and large boats On water craft, the superstruct ...
and weapons were removed and replaced under project SCB 172. The converted ships had new very high superstructures and relied heavily on
aluminum Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It has ...
to save weight.


Class description

The conversion was extensive, stripping the ships down to their hulls, removing all armament and the ship's superstructure. , an , was converted at
Boston Naval Shipyard The Boston Navy Yard, originally called the Charlestown Navy Yard and later Boston Naval Shipyard, was one of the oldest shipbuilding facilities in the United States Navy. It was established in 1801 as part of the recent establishment of t ...
starting in January 1959 and recommissioned as CG-10 on November 3, 1962. , a , was converted at
San Francisco Naval Shipyard The Hunters Point Naval Shipyard was a United States Navy shipyard in San Francisco, California, located on of waterfront at Hunters Point in the southeast corner of the city. Originally, Hunters Point was a commercial shipyard established i ...
starting in July 1959 and was recommissioned as CG-11 on May 2, 1964. was originally slated to be CG-12, but was converted instead. ''Columbus'' was converted at
Puget Sound Naval Shipyard Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, officially Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility (PSNS & IMF), is a United States Navy shipyard covering 179 acres (0.7 km2) on Puget Sound at Bremerton, Washington in uninterrupted u ...
beginning in September 1959 and recommissioning as CG-12 on December 1, 1962. and were also proposed for conversion to CG-13 and CG-14, but those plans were dropped because of the high cost of the conversion and capabilities of newer guided-missile frigates.


Weapons and systems

The weapon systems carried included the Mk 77 missile fire-control system with four AN/SPG-49 fire-control radars and two Mk 12 twin launchers for their armament of 104 Talos long-range
surface-to-air missile A surface-to-air missile (SAM), also known as a ground-to-air missile (GTAM) or surface-to-air guided weapon (SAGW), is a missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft or other missiles. It is one type of anti-aircraft syst ...
s, one forward and one aft. These cruisers also carried an armament of 84 shorter-ranged
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 primar ...
s launched from two Mk 11 twin launchers, one to the port of and one to the starboard of the cruiser's main superstructure. The Tartar missiles were controlled by the Mk 74 missile fire-control system with four
AN/SPG-51 The AN/SPG-51 is an American tracking / illumination fire-control radar for RIM-24 Tartar and RIM-66 Standard missiles. It is used for target tracking and Surface-to-air missile guidance on s, s, and s. The Italian Navy used it aboard their ''Au ...
fire-control radars. Some space was allocated on these cruisers amidships abaft the after stack for the possible installation of eight
Polaris missile The UGM-27 Polaris missile was a two-stage solid-fueled nuclear-armed submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM). As the United States Navy's first SLBM, it served from 1961 to 1980. In the mid-1950s the Navy was involved in the Jupiter missile ...
s, but the concept to add these ballistic missiles was dropped in mid-1959. For
anti-submarine warfare Anti-submarine warfare (ASW, or in older form A/S) is a branch of underwater warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, submarines, or other platforms, to find, track, and deter, damage, or destroy enemy submarines. Such operations are t ...
(ASW), one eight-cell Mk 112 "matchbox"
ASROC The RUR-5 ASROC (for "Anti-Submarine Rocket") is an all-weather, all sea-conditions anti-submarine missile system. Developed by the United States Navy in the 1950s, it was deployed in the 1960s, updated in the 1990s, and eventually installed ...
missile launcher was installed amidships on each of these cruisers, located between their two stacks. Also for ASW purposes, two triple Mk 32
torpedo tube A torpedo tube is a cylindrical device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units (also referred to as torpedo launchers) installed aboa ...
s for the Mk 46 ASW
torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, su ...
were installed. These cruisers were initially converted into all-missile
warship A warship or combatant ship is a naval ship that is built and primarily intended for naval warfare. Usually they belong to the armed forces of a state. As well as being armed, warships are designed to withstand damage and are usually faster a ...
s with no naval guns, but later on, two open-mount Mk 24 38 calibre guns were added to the port side and the starboard side, near their aft exhaust stacks. In the late 1960s ''Chicago'' and ''Albany'' underwent major engineering overhauls under SCB 002 and both the missile systems (Talos and Tartar) had new digital fire control system upgrades to handle the increasing threat from Soviet Navy anti-ship cruise missiles and aircraft, although ''Chicago'' did not receive all of the changes that ''Albany'' received. ''Columbus'' did not receive these missile system upgrades due to lack of funding, and would be decommissioned in 1976. The Talos system was deactivated on the ''Albany'' class (leaving them with the Tartar as the only SAM system operational) and all other ships in the fleet that carried it during 1976. In late 1979 the two surviving ships (''Chicago'' and ''Albany'') were scheduled for massive overhauls. SM-1 (MR) missiles (which were to replace the Tartar system), as well as two Phalanx CIWS and two four-cell Harpoon missile launchers were planned to be installed, as well as a major refitting of the ships' machinery, structure, and electronics. The funding appropriated for this work was diverted, however, to other ships and both cruisers were finally decommissioned in 1980.Moore, Jane's, pp. 126


Service history

All three ships served extensively through the 1960s and 1970s with ''Chicago'' being a long time
flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the fi ...
for the Third Fleet in the Pacific, and ''Albany'' serving likewise as the
Second Fleet The United States Second Fleet is a numbered fleet in the United States Navy responsible for the East Coast and North Atlantic Ocean. The Fleet was established following World War II. In September 2011, Second Fleet was deactivated in view of ...
flagship in the Western Atlantic and as the
Sixth Fleet The Sixth Fleet is a numbered fleet of the United States Navy operating as part of United States Naval Forces Europe. The Sixth Fleet is headquartered at Naval Support Activity Naples, Italy. The officially stated mission of the Sixth Fleet in ...
flagship in the Mediterranean. ''Columbus'' did not receive the extensive Talos fire-control upgrades and extensive refits that the other two ships received in the late 1960s, though she did receive engineering overhauls to allow her to remain active until she was decommissioned early in 1976, and then immediately sold for
scrap Scrap consists of Recycling, recyclable materials, usually metals, left over from product manufacturing and consumption, such as parts of vehicles, building supplies, and surplus materials. Unlike waste, scrap Waste valorization, has monetary ...
. ''Albany'' and ''Chicago'' remained in service until 1980, and while funding for massive overhauls for both was appropriated for 1979, the funds were diverted to other projects, and both ships were laid up in the summer of 1980. Both were retained in the reserve fleet and received minimal preservation until 1990 when they were both sold for scrap.


Ships in class


Gallery

File:USS Chicago (CG-11) underway in the Coral Sea, in October 1979.jpg, ''Chicago'' under way in the
Coral Sea The Coral Sea () is a marginal sea of the South Pacific off the northeast coast of Australia, and classified as an interim Australian bioregion. The Coral Sea extends down the Australian northeast coast. Most of it is protected by the Fre ...
in 1979 showing the forward AN/SPG-49 radar scanners and Mk 12 SAM launcher File:USS Albany (CG-10) firing missiles 1963 (colour).jpg, ''Albany'' firing Talos and Tartar missiles, 1963 File:RIM-8 Talos missiles aboard USS Columbus (CG-12), in 1962 (NH 98462).jpg, Talos launcher on ''Columbus'', 1962 File:Mark 11 Mod 2 missile launcher aboard USS Chicago (CG-11), circa in 1970.png, RIM-24 Tartar launcher on ''Chicago'', 1970 File:ASROC launcher USS Columbus 1962.jpg, USS ''Columbus'' 8-tube Mk 112 ASROC, 1962 File:USS Columbus (CG-12) underway in the Mediterranean Sea, in 1974 (NH 81595).jpg, Elevated port side view of ''Columbus''


See also

* List of cruisers of the United States Navy


References


Notes


Sources

* *


External links


RIM-24 ''Tartar'' Surface-to-Air Missile




{{DEFAULTSORT:Albany Class Cruiser Cruiser classes