Fargo-class cruiser

The Fargo-class cruisers were a modified version of the Cleveland-class cruiser design; the main difference was a more compact pyramidal superstructure with single trunked funnel, intended to improve the arcs of fire of the anti-aircraft (AA) guns. The same type of modification differentiated the Baltimore and Oregon City classes of heavy cruisers, and to a lesser degree the Atlanta and Juneau classes of light cruisers.[2] Changes were made in order to reduce the instability of the Cleveland-class light cruisers, especially their tendency to roll dangerously.[3] The main battery turrets sat about a foot lower and the wing gunhouses (the 5-inch, twin gun mounts on the sides of the ship) were lowered to the main deck. The medium (40 mm) anti-aircraft mounts were also lowered.[4]

USS Huntington in August 1948
Class overview
NameFargo-class
BuildersNew York Shipbuilding Corporation
Operators United States Navy
Preceded byCleveland class
Succeeded byWorcester class
Built1943–1946
In commission1945–1950
Planned13
Completed2
Cancelled11
Retired2
Scrapped2
Preserved0
General characteristics
TypeLight cruiser
Displacement
  • 11,744 long tons (11,932 t) (standard)
  • 14,464 long tons (14,696 t) (full)
Length608 ft .25 in (185.3 m)
Beam66 ft 4 in (20.2 m)
Draft22 ft (6.7 m)
Installed power
Propulsion
Speed32.5 knots (60.2 km/h; 37.4 mph)
Boats & landing
craft carried		2 × lifeboats
Complement1,100 officers and enlisted
Sensors and
processing systems
Armament
Armor
Aircraft carried4 × floatplanes[1]
Aviation facilities2 × stern catapults

In all, 13 ships of the class were planned but only Fargo and Huntington were ever completed, the rest being cancelled at varying states of completion with the de-escalation and eventual end of World War II.[5]

Fargo, the lead ship of the class, was launched on 25 February 1945, but was not commissioned until 9 December 1945, four months after the war ended. Huntington was commissioned early in 1946. The two ships were decommissioned in 1949–1950, and never reactivated.

Ships in class
Construction data
Ship name Hull no. Builder Laid down Launched Commissioned Decommissioned Fate
Fargo CL-106 New York Shipbuilding Corporation, Camden, New Jersey 23 August 1943 25 February 1945 9 December 1945 14 February 1950 Struck 1 March 1970; Sold for scrap, 18 August 1971
Huntington CL-107 4 October 1943 8 April 1945 23 February 1946 15 June 1949 Struck 1 September 1961; Sold for scrap, on 16 May 1962
Newark CL-108 17 January 1944 14 December 1945 — — Construction canceled 12 August 1945 when 67.8% completed, launched on December 14, 1945, for use in underwater explosion tests, sold on 2 April 1949 for scrapping
New Haven CL-109 28 February 1944 — — — Construction cancelled 12 August 1945 and scrapped on slip
Buffalo CL-110 2 April 1944
Wilmington CL-111 William Cramp & Sons Shipbuilding Company, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 5 March 1945
Vallejo CL-112 New York Shipbuilding Corporation, Camden, New Jersey — — — — Construction cancelled 5 October 1944
Helena CL-113
Roanoke CL-114
— CL-115
Tallahassee CL-116 Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, Newport News, Virginia 31 January 1944 — — — Construction cancelled 12 August 1945 and scrapped on slip
Cheyenne CL-117 29 May 1944
Chattanooga (ex-Norfolk) CL-118 9 October 1944

See also

References
  1. Terzibashitsch 1988, p. 311.
  2. Norman Friedman, U.S. Cruisers, An Illustrated Design History 1984 ISBN 978-0-87021-718-0
  3. James J. Fahey, "Pacific War Diary, 1942-1945: The Secret Diary of an American Sailor" 1972 ISBN 978-0395640227
  4. "USS Fargo Class - US warships of WW2".
  5. M. J. Whitley, Cruisers Of World War Two, An International Encyclopedia 1995 ISBN 978-1-86019-874-8

Bibliography
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