USS Louisville (CA-28)
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The USS Louisville (ID: CA 28) was a heavy cruiser in the United States Navy . The ship was part of the first Northampton class assembly . Built between the world wars, the cruiser was used in World War II and survived the war after numerous missions. In 1959 the ship was scrapped.
Building history and technology
After authorization (three years late) in 1927, the Louisville was laid down on July 4, 1928. The ship is named after the city of Louisville in the US state of Kentucky . The cruiser was launched on September 1, 1930 at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and entered service on January 15, 1931. The construction cost was 9 million dollars (1931 value).
The ship belonged to the first subgroup of the Northampton class (CA 26-28). Compared to the three units of the second assembly (CA 29-31), its three units were characterized by the lack of extension of the upper deck and the correspondingly converted space to the side of the first chimney. They weren't meant to be flagships that needed that extra space. At this point, the ships of the first assembly carried dinghies, which were housed on the second assembly (also because of the torpedo tubes that were missing from the beginning) to the side of the aft superstructure. The division of the class into two parts also continued in the modified Northampton class ( Portland class , CA 33 and CA 35), in which the USS Portland corresponded to the variant without and the USS Indianapolis to the variant with a flagship function.
The manning of Louisville was originally 45 officers and 546 men, during the war the number rose considerably to 68 officers and 1,061 men (1945), in particular due to the drastically increased, personnel-intensive anti-aircraft armament and considerable additional technical equipment.
According to the Washington fleet agreement , the ship was designed for a standard displacement of 10,000 ts (to 1,016 kg), with a planned operational displacement of 11,574 tn.l. Immediately after commissioning, the displacement with full equipment was 11,826 tn.l. After doubling the secondary armament in 1940, a maximum displacement of 13,353 tons. - Number for the largely identical sister ship USS Chester - reached. During the war it grew over 13,910 tons due to numerous retrofits. (1943) to the last 14,030 tn.l. (1945). When it was put into service, about 4,500 tn.l. on the actual hull structure, almost 2,000 tn.l. on the drive, around 550 tn.l. on the armor, almost 900 tons. on armament, the rest on superstructures, other equipment and supplies. The waterline length was 177.39 m, the total length 182.88 m, the width 20.14 m in the waterline, the draft, depending on the load, 4.95 m to 7.16 m.
The drive was carried out by four Parsons - geared turbines on four propellers (eight boilers of White-Forster), with a design capacity of 107,000 shp (shaft horsepower American) and a design speed of 32.5 knots . These values were slightly exceeded during the test drives (109,049 shp for 32.76 kn at 10,503 tn.l., 1931). The turning circle (tactically) was 686 m at 20 kn. The fuel reserves (oil) were at a maximum of 3,067 tn.l. intended for a sea endurance of 10,000 nautical miles at 15 kn. In fact, during the war (1945), 2,957 tn.l. only 7,580 nm at 15 kn and 5,250 nm at 20 kn. The reason was the typically too cheap calculation in the design, the significantly increased operating weight during the war and also the wear and tear of the machine system due to the years of very high stress in use.
The side armor (belt height 4.57 m) was (only) 3.00 to 3.75 inches thick, the armor thickness of the bulkheads was 2.5 inches at the ammunition chambers and 1.5 inches at the drive, the deck was 1.0 Inches (2.0 inches above the ammo chambers). The barbeds of the turrets were 1.5 "armored, the main turrets 2.5" at the front, 1.5 "at the top, and 0.75" at the sides and back. The command tower was protected with 1.5 inches of armor (1 inch = 25.4 mm). Overall, the armor was far too light for a ship of this size and was drastically reinforced in the later, second generation of heavy cruisers built between the wars (almost three times the weight used for the armor).
Armament
The main armament consisted of nine guns of the caliber 203 mm (eight inch) L / 55 Mk.14 / 0 in three triplet turrets (two raised in front, one aft), whereby the three gun barrels of a turret were in a cradle and could only be moved together . The fired shells weighed 260 pounds, the range was around 30 km, and the rate of fire at 2.1 rounds per barrel per minute. The life of a tube has been estimated at over 700 shots.
As secondary armament (medium artillery), especially for defense against destroyers, and as heavy flak, four 127 mm (five inch) L / 25 guns in open single mounts (on both sides of the aft superstructure) were on board. The number was doubled in 1940 by four more identical guns on the hangar roofs. Two Mk.24 master transmitters (for the eight-inch) and two Mk.19 fire control devices (for the five-inch) were on board for fire control. During the major modernization in 1943, these were replaced by the modern types Mk.34 (for the eight-inch) and Mk.33 (for the secondary armament). From 1942 fire control radars were conducted (see radar equipment).
The Louisville was completed (as the last heavy cruiser in the US Navy) with six torpedo tubes with a diameter of 533 mm (two triplets in niches in the aft superstructure), which, however, were sold again in 1934. For the conception of heavy cruisers as well as larger light cruisers (10,000 ton classes), the US Navy uniformly provided pure artillery armament from the mid-1930s. From then on, torpedo tubes were reserved for the more agile, smaller cruisers (6,000-ton classes) and destroyers.
The light anti-aircraft armament of the Louisville originally consisted of only eight, from 1940 of twelve machine guns 12.7 mm (0.50 cal). In 1941, four 3-inch anti-aircraft guns are said to have been on board as an interim solution. In May 1942 these were replaced by 16 28 mm (1.1 inch) guns in four quadruplets (across the bridge and beyond the second funnel) and twelve 20 mm Oerlikon cannons , the number of which increased by seven in November 1942 (four around the main mast, two in the bridge, one on tower B) was increased to 19. The fire control for the 28 mm quadruplets was taken over by Mk.44 fire control devices.
During the major modernization in 1943, the flak was again significantly strengthened, namely to 24 tubes of 40 mm Bofors guns (four quadruplets, four twins) and a total of 27 individual flak 20 mm Oerlikon (one on tower C, 16 in the aft superstructure , two next to the first chimney, eight on the forecastle and next to the bridge). The fire control for the Bofors guns was taken over by Mk.51 control devices. The armament was retrofitted one last time in 1945: an additional 40 mm quadruple on the forecastle brought the total to 28 tubes (5 × 4, on the forecastle, on the other side of the bridge and beyond the aft superstructure, 4 × 2 on the bulwark deck), and the 20 mm single flak were replaced by 13 twins of the same caliber (26 tubes) (six on the decks in front of the bridge, six in the aft superstructure, one on tower C).
When it was commissioned, the cruiser had two catapults and a double hangar for float on-board aircraft , three to four of which were carried. For weight reasons, the starboard catapult was removed in March 1945. The aircraft types used were initially Vought O3U Corsair, then from 1936 Curtiss SOC Seagull biplane. It was not until the last conversion in March 1945 that three modern Curtiss SC -1 Seahawk came on board.
Radar equipment
During the war, the Louisville was extensively equipped with radar . In May 1942 the SC-1 came on board as an air search radar, which was replaced by SK during the major renovation in 1943. From November 1942, an SG sea search radar was also on board, after the conversion at the end of 1943 there were two. In 1945 the hunter guidance system (pencil beam) SP was added. The fire control was retrofitted in 1942 with two Mk.3 (FC) for the heavy artillery and two Mk.4 (FD) for the secondary armament for radar operation. During the major renovation in 1943, the new fire control devices were equipped with the modern phased array system Mk.8 Mod.1 (one system for each Mk.34 fire control device), while the old Mk.4 for the new masters of the secondary artillery type Mk.33 -Radars (pre-built) were taken over technically unchanged. In 1945 the Mk.8 Mod.1 radars were replaced by the fully weather-protected, closed variant Mk.8 Mod.3, which largely corresponded to the Mk.13, and the two Mk.4 antennas were replaced by the new lightweight microwave dish (lightweight antenna). Mk.28 exchanged.
Extensive ECM / ECCM systems such as DBM and the S-band TDY-1a blocking transmitter were added. In the aft superstructure, SQ was found as an emergency system for navigation, and the aft 40 mm quadruplets already had their own Mk.34 fire control radar as part of the anti-kamikaze retrofit. On the foremast, in addition to TBS and VHF radio antennas, the BK transponder for the own friend-foe identification (IFF) and the corresponding BN interrogator for the identification of other ships were installed.
painting
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In 1942/1943 the Louisville was uniformly painted in Measure 21 (vertical surfaces “navy blue 5-N” over everything, decks “deck blue 20-B”). At the end of the major renovation in December 1943, the cruiser was presented in the so-called “dazzle” camouflage scheme Measure 32 Design 6D with a complex side pattern of “light gray (5-L)”, “ocean gray (5-O)” and “ dull black (BK) "and a deck pattern made of" ocean gray (5-O) "and" deck blue (20-B) ". The cruiser carried this scheme until the beginning of 1945. The last modification, which followed the hit Kamikaze in January 1945, led in March 1945 to a change to the "graded system" of Measure 22, with the vertical color "navy blue (5-N)" below the main deck, "haze gray (5-H)" above, and decks completely in "deck blue (20-B)", although the wooden decks were no longer painted towards the end of the war. In 1945 the ship was repainted in peace gray (Measure 27, "haze gray 5-H" over everything, untreated natural-colored wooden decks), with a large white code number "28" shaded black on the edge on both sides of the bow, as has become customary after the war.
Major renovation in 1943
After her first war experience, the Louisville was significantly rebuilt and modernized at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard at the end of 1943. In essence, the large aft main mast with its platforms disappeared, giving way to a modern superstructure block with new control devices, while a new main mast in the form of a three-legged mast was constructed around the front of the second chimney. The bridge was slimmed down while the front tripod mast was cut and redesigned. The top third of the mast was cut off and the ends of the mast legs connected to a platform that carried the front Mk.34 guidance device. The goal was lower, lighter superstructures with better platforms for air defense and modern fire control.
The basic design of the conversion corresponded to that which the half-sisters Portland and Indianapolis went through in the middle of the war. The later conversion of the sister ship the USS Chester was similar, but even more radical with an even lower overall silhouette. The USS Augusta was recently modernized in the same way . The three other sister ships were lost in the first year of the war.
In addition to the restructuring of the superstructure, the conversion included a basic modernization of the light flak and an exchange of the fire control devices. The radar equipment was also brought up to date on later occasions, with a final upgrade in March 1945. To compensate for weight, the starboard catapult and the range finder in tower A were also released and the 40 mm anti-aircraft guns were brought to blind fire capability by installing four master sensors Mk.63 and Mk.34 radar on some of the guns. The high power requirements of the extensive radar equipment brought the on-board electricity network to the limit of its capacity.
From a technical point of view, the old cruiser remained unrestrictedly at the level of development until the end of the war in 1945, which was not inferior to any new build in terms of equipment. The ship's handicap, however, has always been the relatively light armor.
Mission history
After the commissioning in January 1931, Captain E. J. Marquart took over the ship as the first commanding officer. The official identification number was CL 28, because the heavy cruisers were originally not assigned to the old armored cruiser category (CA for "Cruiser, Armored") according to the specifications of the Washington Treaty . However, that already happened on July 1, 1931, with which the Louisville was now finally (and retrospectively) categorized as CA 28.
The maiden voyage ("shakedown cruise") took the Louisville over the Panama Canal to New York . It was then stationed in the Pacific , where it remained until the beginning of 1934 and was temporarily used as a training ship for the air defense .
From April 1934, the ship took part in an extensive voyage with representative fleet visits in Central and South America . In 1935/36 the cruiser sailed again in the Pacific, for the first time also in the North Pacific and in arctic waters around Alaska , where the ship was later to be used in the war. In November 1936, the cruiser was part of a naval association that brought President Franklin D. Roosevelt to the Pan American Conference in Buenos Aires .
1937–1938 Louisville was back in service in the Pacific and in 1938 visited Australia for the first time . After a trip to the Caribbean at the turn of the year 1938/39, the ship was initially stationed again on the US Pacific coast. In August 1939, Louisville moved via Bahia ( Brazil ) to the South Atlantic and completed its first task initiated by the war that began in Europe, namely the takeover of gold worth 148 million US dollars (1939) from the British government, that of South Africa was shipped to the United States for storage.
In 1941 the Louisville was back in the Pacific. At the beginning of the war in December, the Louisville was deployed in convoy protection in East India . In January 1942, he took part in the military security of Samoa . She then belonged to the escort of the carrier attacks on the Marshall and Gilbert Islands , in which one of their aircraft was lost. After operations in March / April 1942 in the area of the Ellice Islands , the Bismarck Archipelago and the Solomon Islands , the Louisville returned to the US west coast in May 1942. The first war retrofitting took place at the Mare Island naval shipyard, in particular with light flak and radar. From June to September 1942, the Louisville was then in action in the North Pacific and involved in the bombardment of the island of Kiska , which the Japanese had captured in the course of the Midway operation in June 1942.
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In November 1942, the next war retrofitting took place in Mare Island, which, however, only included small changes and a moderate addition to the 20 mm anti-aircraft gun. In January 1943, the Louisville was then back in the South Pacific and saw the end of the fighting for Guadalcanal in Task Force 67 in the Battle of Rennell Island . She took her damaged sister ship the USS Chicago in tow, which however had to be abandoned after being hit by an air torpedo. From April 1943, missions in the North Pacific followed for the rest of the year, including taking part in the retaking of the islands of Attu and Kiska in May and July 1943. In October 1943, the cruiser returned to Mare Island for a major modernization, which was completed in December .
From January to September 1944, the Louisville was involved in numerous landing operations by the Americans in the central and south Pacific (Marshall Islands, attacks on Truk , conquest of the Mariana Islands ), both firing at coastal positions and acting as a flagship. On October 17, 1944, she was part of the Allied landing fleet for the landing in the Gulf of Leyte , where she took part in fire support for the landing forces for seven days in a row.
On the night of October 24th to 25th, 1944, the Louisville was involved in a major sea battle for the only time during its long war mission. In the Strait of Surigao , two Japanese combat units with battleships, cruisers and destroyers met a superior US defense fleet that was supposed to secure the landing area off Leyte. In particular, by radar-guided artillery fire from battleships and cruisers, including the Louisville , the Japanese units could be stopped and forced to retreat, with the Japanese losing the battleships Fusō and Yamashiro , the cruisers Mogami and Abukuma and several destroyers. The Louisville remained undamaged as almost all American ships.
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The Louisville remained in service in the Philippines at the turn of the year. As part of the landing operations in the Gulf of Lingayen, the cruiser was attacked from the air on January 5, 1945 and received two kamikaze hits, which caused moderate damage. The crew of the cruiser had 32 dead and 56 injured, but the ship remained operational and initially continued its mission. The very next day, however , the Louisville was withdrawn for repairs and crossed the Pacific for her fourth and final docking time and retrofitting in Mare Island from February to April 1945.
In May 1945 the Louisville returned to the Pacific Front and took part in the fighting for Okinawa . On June 5, 1945, she was hit again by a kamikaze plane. Although the external damage after the collapse of the forward funnel looked considerable, this time the effects were rather minor because the Japanese aircraft had not penetrated the deck but fell sideways over the starboard wall into the water. Although there were 59 wounded among the crew of the cruiser this time too, only one was killed. The repair took place in June 1945 in Pearl Harbor . The last missions of the Louisville from August to October 1945 essentially included escorting troop transports (return of Allied prisoners of war and Japanese troops from China).
At the beginning of 1946, the Louisville finally left the Pacific via Panama and was placed in reserve in Philadelphia on June 17, 1946. She was mothballed in 1947, i. H. after removing sensitive equipment, anchored long-term sealed against weather and corrosion. On March 1, 1959, the ship was finally deleted from the list of ships and sold for scrapping in September 1959. The scrapping itself took place in New York in November 1959.
The Louisville was awarded a total of 13 Battle Stars for its long and successful service in the Pacific War .
Oddities
In 1938 the crew of the Louisville had to rescue their own "fans" from the water. Before Sydney, marine enthusiasts Australians had rented a ferry so they could see the American cruiser better as it passed the harbor entrance. As all passengers then huddled on one side of the ferry to watch the American ship, the ferry capsized. The onlookers were saved by the Louisville .
Models
A finished model of the Louisville is available from a German manufacturer in the 1/1250 waterline scale, which represents the last appearance of the ship in March 1945.
literature
- Steve Wiper: USS Louisville CA-28. Warship Pictorial, Tucson 1998, ISBN 0-9654829-2-8 .
- Norman Friedman: The Chester Class Cruisers. In: Warship Vol.17 . Conway, London 1981, pp. 10-21, ISBN 0-85177-209-9 .
- Norman Friedman: US Cruisers. Arms & Armor Press, London 1985, ISBN 0-85368-651-3 .
- Stefan Terzibaschitsch : US Navy cruiser. Koehler, 2nd edition Herford 1984, ISBN 3-7822-0348-8 .
- Al Adcock: US Heavy Cruisers in action, Part 1. squadron / signal, Carrollton 2001, ISBN 0-89747-422-8 .
- Kizu Tohru: US Cruisers of World War II, Ships of the World Volume 578. Kaijinsha, Tokyo 2001 (without ISBN).
Web links
Footnotes
- ↑ The TDY system consists of three components with numerous antennas, the direction finder on the main mast with two antennas back to back, the actual jammers in oval weatherproof housings on the side of the hull at main deck height and the similar-looking samplers in the superstructure, as well as for other smaller frequency ranges Antennas of various types in the masts (closer: Norman Friedman: Naval Radar. Conway, London 1981, p. 132/133; the other, Cruiser Electronics. In: Warship Vol.6, Conway, London 1978, p. 74 ff., 79; Steve Wiper: USS Louisville CA-28. Warship Pictorial, Tucson 1998, p. 47/48)
- ↑ Black was required by Measure 32 camouflage; Large-format shipyard photos of the renovation cast doubt on this, as the color that can be seen there is significantly lighter than black. It could be "navy blue 5-N".
- ↑ In contrast to many literary representations, the US Navy officially does not use a hyphen between the parts of the registration number. In the lemma it is used here because this representation has established itself in today's literature
