Description
In an effort to remain within treaty limits, while still mounting a very heavy main battery of ten 8" guns, the hull was of welded construction, and the armor belt was thin (varying from 2.5 to 4 inches in thickness). This was inadequate to protect her vitals from enemy 8" shells and was no thicker than the armor on 6" gun cruisers. In fact, Pensacola and Salt Lake City were classified as light cruisers due to their minimal armor until re-designated in July 1931 as heavy cruisers in accord with international practice of designating all cruisers with guns larger than 6" as heavy cruisers.
Flush-decked and with their main battery equally divided fore and aft, they were handsome and well proportioned ships.
Their main armament consisted of ten 8 in (200 mm) guns, in two twin turrets on the main deck, and two triple turrets two decks above, making it one of the two US Navy ship classes (besides the Nevada-class battleships) to have different-sized turrets for main armament. All guns in each turret were mounted in a single slide, and were unable to elevate independently of each other. Also, unlike the very few other ships with different sized main battery turrets, these ships had the larger triple turrets mounted higher up than the smaller twin turrets. No other ships actually built shared this feature, although the original design for the Lexington-class battlecruisers would have shared this odd status as they called for ten 14-inch (360 mm) guns in triple turrets superfiring over twin turrets. In this way they would have seemed like scaled up Pensacolas. Placing heavier turrets above lighter ones causes top heavyness and reduces stability but allows for finer lines for a given length.
Unfortunately, because of the rather unusual main battery layout and their heavy tripod fore-masts, they were top-heavy and prone to excessive rolling. This combined with low freeboard forward made them inferior seaboats compared to later designs. Rework in the shipyards modified the hull and superstructure in the 1930s to eliminate the rolling.
The Navy only built two ships in this class before switching to the Northampton class design. Many of the deficiencies of the Pensacola-class were corrected by reducing the main battery to three triple turrets (two forward, one aft) and adding an additional upper deck forward of amidships.
Read more about this topic: Pensacola Class Cruiser
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