USS Newport News (CA-148)
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| Keel laying: | November 1, 1945 |
| Launch: | March 6, 1948 |
| Commissioning: | January 29, 1949 |
| Decommissioning: | June 27, 1975 |
| Technical specifications | |
| Length: | 218.69 m |
| Width: | 23.32 m |
| Draft: | 8.2 m |
| Standard displacement: | 17,000 ts |
| Maximum displacement: | 20,980 ts |
| Drive: | 4 screws each with a General Electric steam turbine and a Babcock & Wilcox steam boiler, power: 120,000 hp |
| Maximum speed | 33 kn (61.12 km / h) |
| Armament: |
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| Crew: | 1667 officers and men |
The entered service in 1949 USS Newport News (CA-148) was a heavy cruiser of the Des Moines-class cruiser . She served as the flagship of the blockade fleet during the Cuban Missile Crisis and took part in the Vietnam War with three missions . The Newport News was the last gun- only cruiser in active service in the United States Navy when guided missiles had become the main weapon system for cruisers.
Name and classification
The USS Newport News (CA-148) was named after the city of Newport News , Virginia , in which it was built. She was the second ship to be named after the city , after the naval freighter USS Newport News (AK-3) .
The CA-148 classification identifies them as a heavy cruiser with 203 mm guns. It bore the highest number in the numbering for cruisers in the US Navy.
technology
Technically, the class was based on the Baltimore class or Oregon City class , with whose slow rate of fire the US Navy was not satisfied. The higher weight of the new main armament and the need to carry more ammunition required a significantly larger hull. The armor has been strengthened compared to its predecessors. The performance of the drive system remained unchanged, so that the top speed was somewhat reduced compared to the previous classes.
The USS Newport News was the first US Navy ship to be completed with experimental air conditioning .
Armament
The main armament consisted of nine fully automatic 203 mm guns in three triple turrets. This armament made these ships the most powerful heavy cruisers ever built. Armor-piercing shells weighing 152 kg and HE shells weighing 118 kg were available as ammunition. The rate of fire was ten rounds per minute.
As secondary armament, twelve 127-mm multi-purpose guns were on board in six twin turrets. The arrangement of these towers was the same as in the two previous classes.
Initially, 40 mm Bofors anti-aircraft guns in quadruple mounts and 20 mm Oerlikon anti-aircraft guns were to serve as anti-aircraft armaments , but these were not installed or removed immediately after commissioning due to their limited effectiveness against kamikaze and guided missile attacks. Instead, the new 76 mm L / 50 gun in double mounts was used as anti-aircraft armament. The number of 76 mm L / 50 guns was reduced several times during the service life.
electronics
The radar systems for positioning were changed several times during the service period. When it was commissioned until 1949, it carried an SR-3 and an SP radar. In 1950 the SR-3 radar was exchanged for an SG-6 system. In 1958, the positioning systems consisted of a SPS-6B as 2D radar and an associated SPS-8A radar for finding the height of aerial targets. These remained on board until the end of the service period. In 1961 a SPS-37 air surveillance radar and a SPS-10 surface search radar were added.
The fire control consisted of two Mk.54 / Mk.13, four Mk.37 / Mk.25 and four Mk.12/22 fire control radar systems over the entire period of service, as with all ships of the Des Moines class.
history
construction
The construction contract for the USS Newport News (CA-148) was awarded to the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company in 1943 as one of two Des-Moines-class ships , but the actual construction was delayed due to war-related priorities for other ships. Construction work began with the keel laying on November 1, 1945.
In May 1946 it was decided that of the four ships still under construction at the time, only those that had already reached a degree of production of at least 20% would be completed. In addition to the USS Des Moines (CA-134) and the USS Salem (CA-139) , the USS Newport News (CA-148) received approval for further construction, while the less advanced USS Dallas (CA-140) was demolished unfinished .
On March 6, 1948, the Newport News was finally launched and was put into service on January 29, 1949.
Since the construction contract originated from the Second World War, the ship was still equipped with twelve 20-mm anti-aircraft guns for contractual reasons, but these were removed immediately after commissioning. The planned two aircraft catapults for seaplanes , however, were no longer installed, and the aircraft hangar in the stern of the ship was henceforth used to accommodate traffic boats.
The USS Newport News was already delivered with the so-called "peace gray" paint and a large identification number. It was never painted in camouflage like the ones used on ships that were put into service in World War II.
commitment
1949–1962: Service in the Atlantic and Mediterranean
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From 1950 to 1961, the USS Newport News served primarily in the Atlantic, including training trips and maneuvers in the Caribbean and the western Atlantic. There were also annual secondments to the 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean.
During the Syria crisis in September 1957, the USS Newport News moved with other ships from the 6th Fleet to the eastern Mediterranean in order to be able to intervene in the event of an escalation.
When the Moroccan city of Agadir was devastated by a severe earthquake on February 29, 1960, the USS Newport News, 75 nautical miles northeast of Sicily , was ordered to go there and provide humanitarian and material aid. She covered the 1,225 nautical miles in 40.5 hours at an average speed of 31 knots and reached Agadir on March 3rd.
Following the assassination of the ruler of the Dominican Republic, Rafael Leónidas Trujillo Molina, and the ensuing unrest, the USS Newport News was briefly instructed to be on call in international waters off the Dominican Republic should the situation there escalate. After the crisis was resolved, she returned to Norfolk and then went on a training trip to Puerto Rico .
Conversion to the flagship
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In early 1962, the USS Newport News received additional facilities and accommodation to serve as the flagship of the Commander in Chief of the 2nd Fleet . To this end, two double mounts with 76.2 mm guns were removed amidships and a box-shaped deck structure was built in their place, which contained the new rooms for the fleet staff. In addition, it received a number of new communication antennas.
Cuban Missile Crisis
After being converted into a flagship, the USS Newport News first took part in the NATO maneuver RIPTIDE III in August 1962 and then visited numerous northern European ports. She acted as the flagship of the NATO commander of the 2nd fleet (ComStrikFltLant) .
During the Cuban Missile Crisis , from October 22, 1962 , the USS Newport News , together with other ships of the Atlantic Fleet, pushed through the naval blockade of Cuba . In the further course of the blockade, the USS Newport News was stationed as a flagship northeast of Cuba. When the Soviet Union finally withdrew the medium-range missiles of the types R-12 and R-14 from Cuba, it supported the counting of the missiles transported on cargo ships. Together with the destroyer USS Leary (DDR-879) she controlled the Soviet freighter Labinsk, which was loaded with missiles . A helicopter operating from the USS Newport News checked the Bratsk freighter, which was also loaded with missiles, for nuclear weapons with the aid of a neutron detector . With the end of the crisis, the USS Newport News returned to its home port of Norfolk.
Operations in the Atlantic
From 1963 to 1967 the USS Newport News carried out mainly NATO exercises in the Atlantic, artillery and amphibious exercises on the east coast and in the Caribbean, and training trips.
During the 1965 crisis in the Dominican Republic , the USS Newport News sailed from Norfolk on April 29 and acted as the flagship of the Commander of Joint Task Force 122 off Santo Domingo . She fulfilled this function until the dissolution of Joint Task Force 122 and the transfer of command to the US Army on land on May 7th. Following this mission, the USS Newport News received modifications to increase combat value in its home port in Norfolk.
Missions in Vietnam
On September 1, 1967, the guided missile cruiser USS Springfield (CLG-7) replaced the USS Newport News as the flagship of the commander of the 2nd Fleet. The latter left its home port of Norfolk on September 5 and moved to Southeast Asia for a six-month deployment. On 9 October it reached Da Nang and took over the task of the flagship of ComCruDesFlot 3 (Commander Cruiser Destroyer Flotilla 3) . In this function she received the callsign "Thunder". During Operation Seadragon , she shot at coastal targets in North Vietnam the first night after her arrival . This was followed by numerous artillery missions to seal off the battlefield north of the demilitarized zone to support troops of the Americans and their allies in South Vietnam . After more than 20 North Vietnamese gun emplacements had fired over 300 projectiles at the USS Newport News during a battle on December 19, 1967 without getting hit, the ship was nicknamed "The Gray Ghost from the East Coast" by the American troops : "The gray ghost from the east coast"). The first mission in Vietnam ended on April 21, 1968, and the USS Newport News returned via the Panama Canal to Norfolk, where it arrived on May 13, 1968 and was overhauled at the shipyard.
On November 21, 1968, the USS Newport News ran out for its second mission in Vietnam. As of December 25, the cruiser supported troops in the Mekong Delta and near the demilitarized zone. On June 3, 1969, the USS Newport News left Vietnam and returned to Norfolk via San Francisco and the Panama Canal, where it arrived in early July.
A six-month stay in the shipyard in the first half of 1970 was used for maintenance, repairs and preparation for new missions. As the flagship of the commander of the third fleet, the USS Newport News undertook numerous operations and exercises in the Atlantic. Visits to European and South American ports took place.
In May 1972, the USS Newport News was placed under the command of the Seventh Fleet and returned to Vietnam for her third and final mission. In the summer of this year, the USS Newport News, together with the two guided missile cruisers USS Oklahoma City (CLG-5) and USS Providence (CLG-6), shelled the port of Hoi Phong as part of Operation Custom Tailor . This operation, known as the "Three Cruiser Raid", was the last time that several large ships were used jointly for coastal shelling.
When the cruiser was on an artillery mission off the coast of the demilitarized zone on October 1, 1972, an explosion occurred in the middle gun of the second turret. A defective fuse in a grenade caused a detonation when it was fired. 20 crew members were killed and 36 injured. The entire turret was so badly damaged by the explosion that it was permanently out of order.
Despite the damage to the second turret, the USS Newport News continued its use until December 1972.
Repairs and missions in the Atlantic
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After the end of the last mission in Vietnam, the USS Newport News returned to its home port of Norfolk. At times it was planned to replace the destroyed second turret with one of the already decommissioned sister ships or alternatively with one of the recently decommissioned Baltimore-class heavy cruiser , the USS Saint Paul (CA-73) . The latter had also carried turrets with three 203 mm guns, but they were not automatic and less powerful. In the end, all repair alternatives were too expensive and the second turret was deactivated and left on board, so that the main armament was reduced to six 203 mm guns. Outwardly, this was evident from the lack of the central cannon barrel of the second tower.
From 1973 to 1974 the USS Newport News operated again in the Atlantic. She carried out several training trips and port visits in Europe. An examination of the ship showed that the condition was too poor for another overhaul to have been worthwhile to keep the USS Newport News in service even longer, especially since its exclusively cannon armament was no longer up to date.
Whereabouts
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The USS Newport News was decommissioned on June 27, 1975 after a service period of over 26 years, making it one of the longest-serving cruisers in the US Navy. She was until her deletion from the Naval Vessel Register on July 31, 1978 with the reserve fleet in the Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility in Philadelphia . It remained there even after it was deleted until it was finally sold on February 25, 1993 to the metal recycling company Southern Scrap Material in New Orleans for scrapping.
With the decommissioning of the USS Newport News , the era of the exclusively cannon-armed cruisers in the US Navy ended. All cruisers that were in service from this point on had guided missiles as their primary weapon system.
A memorial room for the USS Newport News has been set up on board its museum ship sister ship, the USS Salem (CA-139) , in Quincy, Massachusetts .
literature
- Stefan Terzibaschitsch : US Navy cruiser - from the Omaha class to the Long Beach class. Koehler, Herford 1984, ISBN 3-86047-588-6 .
- Norman Friedman: US Cruisers: An Illustrated Design History. Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD 1984, ISBN 978-0-85368-651-4 .
Web links
- Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships : USS Newport News (CA-148)
- Naval Vessel Register : USS Newport News (CA-148)
- Navsource: Cruiser Photo Index CA-148 USS Newport News
- USS Newport News Home Page , website dedicated to the USS Newport News (CA-148)
- Investigation report on the tower explosion
Individual evidence
- ^ Norman Friedman: US cruisers: an illustrated design history. P. 364.
- ↑ a b Stefan Terzibaschitsch: Cruiser of the US Navy - From the Omaha class to the Long Beach class. P. 343.
- ↑ Stefan Terzibaschitsch: Cruiser of the US Navy - From the Omaha class to the Long Beach class. P. 246.
- ↑ a b Stefan Terzibaschitsch: Cruiser of the US Navy - From the Omaha class to the Long Beach class. Pp. 330-331.
- ^ Norman Friedman: US cruisers: an illustrated design history. P. 356.
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships: USS Newport News (CA-148)
- ↑ a b c d Stefan Terzibaschitsch: Cruiser of the US Navy - From the Omaha class to the Long Beach class. P. 250.
- ↑ Stefan Terzibaschitsch: Cruiser of the US Navy - From the Omaha class to the Long Beach class. P. 251.
- ↑ a b Stefan Terzibaschitsch: Cruiser of the US Navy - From the Omaha class to the Long Beach class. P. 249.
- ↑ United States Naval Shipbuilding Museum Online: Memorial Rooms ( Memento of the original from September 19, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
