The ''Brooklyn''-class cruiser was a

class Class or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used differentl ...

of nine

light cruiser A light cruiser is a type of small or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck. Prior to th ...

s built for 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 ...

between 1935 and 1938. Armed with five triple

gun turret A gun turret (or simply turret) is a mounting platform from which weapons can be fired that affords protection, visibility and ability to turn and aim. A modern gun turret is generally a rotatable weapon mount that houses the crew or mechani ...

s (three forward, two aft), they mounted more main battery guns than any other standard US cruiser. The ''Brooklyn''-class ships were all commissioned between 1937 and 1939, in the time between the start of the

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific Th ...

and before the

invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week aft ...

. They served extensively in both the

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...

and

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

theaters during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. was sunk in the

, and while some of the others were heavily damaged, the remaining ships of the class were decommissioned shortly after the end of the war. Six were transferred to South American navies in 1951, where they served for many more years. One of these, , formerly , was sunk during the Falklands War in 1982.Ewing p. 76 The ''Brooklyn''-class ships had 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 and of World War II.

Design

The ''Brooklyn''-class design was a further refinement of the

heavy cruiser The heavy cruiser was a type of cruiser, a naval warship designed for long range and high speed, armed generally with naval guns of roughly 203 mm (8 inches) in caliber, whose design parameters were dictated by the Washington Naval T ...

that preceded it. The desire for the ''Brooklyn''s arose from the London Naval Treaty of 1930, which limited the construction of heavy cruisers, i.e., ships carrying guns with calibers between . Great Britain needed trade control cruisers and hoped that the treaty would limit nations to smaller cruisers with a range that she could afford. Agreement to the London Treaty and the proceeding with the American

design can be focused to Admiral

William V. Pratt William Veazie Pratt (28 February 1869 – 25 November 1957) was an admiral in the United States Navy. He served as the President of the Naval War College from 1925 to 1927, and as the 5th Chief of Naval Operations from 1930 to 1933. Early l ...

, who overrode the vehement objections of the

General Board The General Board of the United States Navy was an advisory body of the United States Navy, somewhat akin to a naval general staff and somewhat not. The General Board was established by general order 544, issued on March 13, 1900 by Secretary ...

. Under the treaty the US was allowed for 18 heavy cruisers and , with no limit on the number of ships, for light cruisers. The United States needed large cruisers to deal with the extreme ranges that operations in the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contin ...

required. Cruisers with guns and were therefore desired. The US Navy's experience with the 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 carrying fifteen 6-inch main guns appeared, the new US 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.Whitley pp. 248–249 Aviation facilities were moved to the stern of the ship from the

amidships This glossary of nautical terms is an alphabetical listing of terms and expressions connected with ships, shipping, seamanship and navigation on water (mostly though not necessarily on the sea). Some remain current, while many date from the 17th ...

position of the ''New Orleans''-class cruisers.Friedman p. 183 From 1942, the

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

structure was lowered and

radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, we ...

was fitted.

''St. Louis'' subclass

The last two ships of the class, and , were slightly modified versions of the design with new higher pressure boilers and a

unit system of machinery The unit system of machinery was a method of arranging a ship's propulsion machinery into separate units that could each operate autonomously in case of damage to the ship. For a steamship, this would be a boiler room supplying steam to an engine r ...

that alternated boiler and engine rooms to prevent a ship from being immobilized by a single unlucky hit; this system would be used in all subsequent US cruisers. Additionally, AA armament was improved. They were the first US cruisers to be armed with twin 5-inch (127 mm)/38-caliber guns. They could be distinguished visually from the other ''Brooklyn''s by the placement of the after deckhouse, immediately abaft the second funnel, and by the twin 5-inch mounts.

Armament

The ''Brooklyn'' class was equipped with 15 6-inch/47 caliber Mark 16 naval guns, developed from the 6-inch/53 caliber Mark 8 used on the ''Omaha''-class cruiser. The decision was reached as the gun could achieve up to ten rounds per minute rate of fire. This gave the class the ability to send up to 150 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, which did not allow the guns in a turret to move independently. The 6-inch guns were of a new design, the Mark 16, which could fire a armor-piercing shell (AP) up to with twice the penetrative power of the old gun. The ammunition was of the semi-fixed type. The impact of the shell changed the General Board's view on the usefulness of light cruisers in service. As designed, the anti-aircraft weaponry specified eight /25 caliber guns and eight caliber M2 Browning machine guns. The intention to mount /75 caliber anti-aircraft guns was frustrated and the requirement was not fully met until 1943. The weapon as deployed was less than satisfactory with frequent jamming and weight being serious issues. Some of the class had 5-in/38 caliber guns installed versus the 5-in/25 guns. There were varied mixes of Oerlikon cannons and Bofors gun mountings actually installed during World War II, 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 II refit saw the Mk 51 director installed for the Bofors guns. Night engagements were improved when in 1945, the Mark 57 and 63 directors were installed.

Successors

The vast majority of cruisers built by the United States during World War II derive from the ''Brooklyn'' design. Modifications of the ''Brooklyn''-class hull were the predecessors to the two main lines of wartime cruisers, respectively the light cruiser armed with 6-inch guns and heavy cruiser armed with 8-inch guns. The third line, the light cruiser armed with 5-inch guns, shared the same unit system of machinery arrangement as the other two lines, but on a smaller hull with two shafts instead of four. The ''Brooklyn'' class would lead to the ''Cleveland''-class light cruiser (less a fifth triple 6-inch turret), which then led to the and finally the . The other successor was , 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. ''Wichita'' was succeeded by the ''Baltimore'' class and the later class, and finally the upgraded . The ''Atlanta'' class would be succeeded by the and then almost by the cancelled . As the ''Baltimore'' class began building about a year after the ''Cleveland'' class, later ''Cleveland'' developments and improvements were incorporated into the ''Baltimore''-class hull. Finally, both ''Cleveland'' and ''Baltimore'' hulls were converted to light aircraft carriers. The of light aircraft carriers, were converted from ''Cleveland''-class cruisers, and the light carriers used the basic form of the ''Baltimore''-class cruiser design.

Ships in class

Service history

War service

Several ''Brooklyn''s were seriously damaged during World War II, although all but one of the cruisers survived. was severely damaged by a shell that hit her forward turret magazine during the

Battle of Cape Esperance The Battle of Cape Esperance, also known as the Second Battle of Savo Island and, in Japanese sources, as the , took place on 11–12 October 1942, in the Pacific campaign of World War II between the Imperial Japanese Navy and United States Na ...

on 11 October 1942, suffering many casualties, but the magazine (being partially flooded as a result of shell hits in her hull) did not explode. was hit by a ''

kamikaze , officially , were a part of the Japanese Special Attack Units of military aviators who flew suicide attacks for the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, intending t ...

'' attack on 13 December 1944, off

Mindoro Mindoro is the seventh largest and eighth-most populous island in the Philippines. With a total land area of 10,571 km2 ( 4,082 sq.mi ) and has a population of 1,408,454 as of 2020 census. It is located off the southwestern coast of Luz ...

, which killed or wounded 310 crewmen. was torpedoed at the

Battle of Kolombangara The Battle of Kolombangara (Japanese: コロンバンガラ島沖海戦) (also known as the Second Battle of Kula Gulf) was a naval battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II, fought on the night of 12/13 July 1943, off the northeastern coas ...

on 12–13 July 1943, as was her near-sister . 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 An invasion is a military offensive in which large numbers of combatants of one geopolitical entity aggressively enter territory owned by another such entity, generally with the objective of either: conquering; liberating or re-establishing con ...

. On 11 September 1943, was hit by a German

Fritz X Fritz X was the most common name for a German guided anti-ship glide bomb used during World War II. ''Fritz X'' was the world's first precision guided weapon deployed in combat and the first to sink a ship in combat. ''Fritz X'' was a nickname us ...

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 and their 5-inch/25 caliber guns were replaced by four twin 5-inch/38 caliber guns, although the repairs to ''Savannah'' were completed too late for her to see frontline action again. ''Helena'' was sunk in 1943 during the

Battle of Kula Gulf The naval Battle of Kula Gulf (Japanese: クラ湾夜戦) took place in the early hours of 6 July 1943 during World War II. The battle involved United States and Japanese ships off the eastern coast of Kolombangara in the Solomon Islands. It took ...

. The remains of the ship were discovered below the surface of

New Georgia Sound New Georgia Sound is the sound in the New Georgia Islands region that runs approximately southeast–northwest through the middle of the Solomon Islands archipelago in the Southern Pacific Ocean and Melanesia.Paul Allen Paul Gardner Allen (January 21, 1953 – October 15, 2018) was an American business magnate, computer programmer, researcher, investor, and philanthropist. He co-founded Microsoft Corporation with childhood friend Bill Gates in 1975, which ...

's research ship in April 2018. ''St. Louis'' was seriously damaged twice, but survived the war.

Post-war

All ships of the class went into reserve in 1946-47. Six were sold to

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...

n countries in the early 1950s, and served for many more years: ''Brooklyn'' and ''Nashville'' to Chile, ''St. Louis'' and ''Philadelphia'' to Brazil, and ''Boise'' and ''Phoenix'' to Argentina. ''Savannah'' and ''Honolulu'' remained in reserve until struck in 1959. (ex-''Phoenix'') was torpedoed and sunk by during the Falklands War,Ewing pp. 77–88 while (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 1992.

Citations

Sources

* * * * * * * {{Chilean cruisers Cruiser classes