德拉克講海軍歷史 戰艦指南 240 - 美國海軍克利夫蘭級輕巡洋艦 克利夫蘭號

Brooklyn class had represented the pinnacle of the surface-action light cruiser in the U.S. Navy during the interwar period. But by the end of the decade, other issues were beginning to look more important. And, in addition, the naval treaty system had collapsed, obviating the 10,000 ton upper limit on displacement that had dictated some of the Brooklyn's design choices. It was hoped to increase protection and, most crucially, anti-aircraft firepower in a new class of ships. And, as a result, the Cleveland class was also allowed to grow to an eventual standard displacement of just under 12,000 tons. However, even with this expansion, it proved impossible to keep the Brooklyn's 15 guns and all the other upgrades on a hull that was regarded as even remotely viable in terms of cost and dockyard space for mass production. Thus, one of the triple turrets had to be deleted, resulting in a cruiser that had a main battery of 12 6-inch guns in four triple turrets, a pair superfiring forward and a pair superfiring aft. Some of this loss of surface firepower was compensated for by the secondary battery consisting of no less than a dozen 5-inch .38 caliber guns in six twin mountings. Whilst four of these were found in the expected wing mounts, the other two were mounted on an Amidships line partially superfiring over the upper four and a half triple 6-inch mounts, which meant an eight-gun broadside was possible from these secondary weapons, as opposed to a six-gun broadside if all the twin mounts had been installed down the wings. It also represented a double improvement over the Brooklyn's, as not only were there four more guns and the overall layout was more efficient, but as 5-inch .38 caliber weapons, they were fully dual-purpose, as opposed to the 5-inch .25 caliber guns on the earlier vessels, which were designed for anti-aircraft work only. The light and medium anti-aircraft fit was an ever-moving target, although the first ships of the class were laid down in summer 1940. Already, this aspect of their design was under revision as lessons from the war in Europe poured in. The first hulls hit the water in 1941, but would not commission until summer 1942 and thereafter, by which point the USA itself was at war. Thus, whilst the first ships would typically carry around a dozen 40mm Bofors and almost twice that number of 20mm Oerlikons, this had not been the originally designed anti-aircraft battery, and by the end of the war, this ratio had more than reversed with 40mm Bofors well outnumbering Oerlikons by almost 3 to 1 on some ships. As with almost all U.S. cruisers designed after World War I, no torpedoes were carried, and in keeping with later U.S. Navy design thought, the four floatplanes carried were installed aft instead of amidships. As planned, they would have been the most numerous class of cruiser in history, with 52 ordered, but the demands of war overtook this and, merely, 27 would be completed. Some of those vessels removed from the roster would be reordered to a modified design, although ultimately most of them would end up cancelled, In any event, the ships completed as cruisers could make just over 32 knots using four screws supplied by 100,000 sharp horsepower, protected by up to five inches of belt armor, two inches of deck armor, and a fairly heavy for a light cruiser, six and a half inches of armor on the turret base. As U.S. Navy cruisers were also at risk of becoming an endangered species by the end of 1942, most of the class would be assigned to the Pacific on completion, although some would see service in the European theater as well. Remarkably, none of the class would be lost during the conflict, although it wasn't for lack of trying on the enemy's part, with a number of the class showing up in friendly ports with various important bits missing and or on fire at various points during the conflict. However, their slightly pre-war design had meant that with more anti-aircraft guns, fire control systems, and radar, the ships had become somewhat top-heavy and mildly unstable as a result. Thus, along with the introduction of many newer cruisers during the war, the class was largely decommissioned very soon after the war ended, with some vessels being taken in hand for conversion into missile cruisers. The gun-based ships would remain in the reserve fleet until the end of the 1950s before being scrapped, whilst the missile conversions would last until the end of the 1970s before undergoing the same fate, with the sole exception of the USS Little Rock, which is preserved as a museum ship on the east coast.