New Orleans Class Cruiser - Design

Design

The New Orleans class design was a test bed for innovations in cruiser design, which is why there were three distinct designs within this class.

• Design #1: New Orleans, Astoria, and Minneapolis.
• Design #2: Tuscaloosa and San Francisco.
• Design #3: Quincy and Vincennes.

This class was the direct ancestor for all subsequent USN gun cruisers. From them came the Brooklyn, Wichita, Cleveland, and the Baltimore class cruisers. While the Washington Naval Treaty was still being observed, new technology was implemented in the New Orleans class because the USN knew that if and when war came, they would need this knowledge to build ships (which were already in the planning stage) beyond the treaty limits. The USN came to the conclusion that no 10,000 ton cruiser could adequately perform the roles given.

Originally the USS Tuscaloosa (CA-37) was the lead ship of this class, but USS Astoria (CA-34), USS New Orleans (CA-32) and USS Minneapolis (CA-36), laid down as Portland-class ships, were reordered to the Tuscaloosa design in 1930; USS Portland (CA-33) and USS Indianapolis (CA-35) were being built in civilian rather then Navy yards and were completed as originally designed.

Three ships of the class (Astoria, Quincy, and Vincennes) were all lost in the Battle of Savo Island in 1942. Immediately following the Guadalcanal Campaign the remaining ships of the class went through major overhauls in order to lessen top heaviness due to new electrical and radar systems (as well as more anti-aircraft weaponry) which was being added as technology advanced. In doing so, the ships took on a new appearance, most notably in the bridge area and became known as the New Orleans-class.

The four survivors were decommissioned shortly after the war ended, and scrapped in 1959–1961.