Baltimore Class Cruiser - Crew

Crew

The size of the crew of a Baltimore-class cruiser varied by era and by tactical situation. Different sources also differ about the numbers. Naturally, the crew sizes were larger during wartime and furthermore, some cruisers—including all three of the modified Albany-class—were used as flagships and therefore housed an admiral and his staff.

At launch, during and shortly after the war, the crews consisted of around 60 officers and about 1000 rank and file crewmen. When an admiral's staff was aboard during wartime, this number could swell to 80 officers and 1500 crewmen. On the Bostons, the standard crew, even in peacetime and without an admiral's staff, was 80 officers and around 1650 crewmen. Because the Albany-class was equipped almost exclusively for guided-missiles, it required less crew than the Bostons, and was roughly comparable numerically to the basic Baltimore.

Compared to today's crew sizes, these numbers seem high. The modern Ticonderoga class cruiser is manned by about 400, a sign of the advances of automation and computerization on warships through the Navy's Smart Ship program.

Quarters for the crew lay mostly below deck as the superstructure was the site of the Combat Information Center (CIC) and possibly the Admiral's headquarters.