Alaska Class Cruiser

Alaska Class Cruiser

The Alaska-class cruisers were a class of six very large cruisers ordered prior to World War II for the United States Navy. Although often called battlecruisers, officially the Navy classed them as Large Cruisers (CB). Their intermediate status is reflected in their names relative to typical U.S. battleship and cruiser naming practices, all were named after "territories or insular areas" of the United States. Of the six that were planned, only three were laid down; two were completed, and the third's construction was suspended on 16 April 1947 when she was 84% complete. The finished two, Alaska and Guam, served with the U.S. Navy for the last year of World War II as bombardment ships and fast carrier escorts. They were both decommissioned in 1947 after spending only 32 and 29 months in service, respectively.

The idea for a large cruiser class originated in the early 1930s, when the U.S. Navy wanted a counter to the "pocket battleships" (Deutschland class) that were being launched and commissioned by Germany. Though nothing resulted immediately, planning for ships that eventually evolved into the Alaska class began in the later 1930s after the deployment of Germany's Scharnhorst class and rumors that Japan was constructing a new battlecruiser class. The Alaska class were intended to serve as "cruiser-killers", capable of seeking out and destroying these post-Treaty heavy cruisers. To facilitate their purpose, the class was given large guns of a new and expensive design, limited armor protection against 12-inch shells, and machinery capable of speeds of about 31–33 knots (36–38 mph, 58–61 km/h).