USS Worcester (CL-144)

USS Worcester (CL-144)

For other ships of the same name, see USS Worcester.

USS Worcester (CL-144)
Career (United States)
Name:	USS Worcester (CL-144)
Builder:	New York Shipbuilding Corporation of Camden, New Jersey
Laid down:	29 January 1945
Launched:	4 February 1947
Commissioned:	26 June 1948
Decommissioned:	19 December 1958
Struck:	1 December 1970
Fate:	Sold for scrap 5 July 1972
General characteristics
Class & type:	Worcester-class light cruiser
Displacement:	14,700 tons
Length:	680 ft
Beam:	71 ft
Draft:	26 ft
Propulsion:	General Electric turbines 4 boilers 4 shafts 120,000 shp
Speed:	33 knots (38.0 mph; 61.1 km/h)
Range:	8,000 nmi (15,000 km) @ 15 knots (17 mph; 28 km/h)
Complement:	1401 officers and enlisted
Armament:	12 × 6"/47 DP guns (6×2) 24 × 3"/50 AA 12 × 20 mm AA
Aircraft carried:	Curtiss SC-1 Seahawk Seaplane (1948-1949) Sikorsky HO3-S Dragonfly Helicopter (1949-) Target Drone "Denny" (1949-)

The second USS Worcester (CL-144) was laid down on 29 January 1945 at Camden, New Jersey, by the New York Shipbuilding and Drydock Corp.; launched on 4 February 1947; sponsored by Miss Gloria Ann Sullivan, the daughter of Mayor and Mrs. F. G. Sullivan of Worcester, Mass.; and commissioned at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard on 26 June 1948, Capt. T. B. Dugan in command.

Combining destroyer maneuverability with cruiser size and given a main battery that could deal not only with surface targets but with aircraft as well, Worcester embodied many of the lessons learned during World War II. She and her sister ship, Roanoke (CL-145), epitomized the hard-hitting dual-purpose cruiser.

The light cruiser was named after two previous ships of that name, honoring Worcester, Massachusetts.