Albany class cruiser

The "Albany" Class guided missile cruisers were converted "Baltimore" and "Oregon City" class heavy cruisers of the United States Navy. All original superstructure and weapons were removed and replaced. The converted ships had new very high superstructures and relied heavily on Aluminum to save weight.

Class description

The conversion was extensive, stripping the ships down to their hulls, removing all armament and the ship's superstructure. USS|Albany|CA-123, a Baltimore class cruiser, was converted at Boston Naval Shipyard starting in January 1959 and recommissioning as CG-10 on November 3 1962. USS|Chicago|CA-136, an Oregon City class cruiser, was converted at San Francisco Naval Shipyard starting in July 1959 and was recommissioning as CG-11 on May 2 1964. USS|Fall River|CA-131 was originally slated to be CG-12, but USS|Columbus|CA-74 was converted instead. "Columbus" was converted at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard beginning in September 1959 and recommissioning as CG-12 on December 1 1962. USS|Rochester|CA-124 and USS|Bremerton|CA-130 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.Moore, John. "Janes American Fighting Ships of the 20th Century". p126. Mallard Press, 1991. ISBN 0-7924-5626-2.]

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 the RIM-8 Talos, one forward and one aft. The ships also carried shorter ranged RIM-24 Tartar missiles launched from two Mk 11 twin launchers, one port and one starboard of the main superstructure. Tartar was controlled by the Mk 74 missile fire control system and four AN/SPG-51 fire control radars. Space was allocated midships for the installation of eight Polaris missiles, but plans to add ballistic missiles were dropped in mid-1959. One eight cell "matchbox" ASROC launcher was installed midships, between the two stacks. The ships were initially converted with no guns, but open mount Mk 24 5"/38 guns were added later port and starboard, near the aft exhaust stack. Phalanx CIWS and Harpoon were planned to be installed, but the remaining ships were decommissioned before their installation.Moore, John. "Janes American Fighting Ships of the 20th Century". p126. Mallard Press, 1991. ISBN 0-7924-5626-2.]

Units

Gallery

References

External links

* [http://www.designation-systems.net/dusrm/m-24.html RIM-24 "Tartar" Surface-to-Air Missile]
* [http://www.designation-systems.net/dusrm/m-8.html RIM-8 "Talos" Surface-to-Air Missile]
* [http://www.gyrodynehelicopters.com/asroc.htm ASROC "Anti-Submarine Rocket"]