Design
The Brooklyns arose from the London Naval Treaty of 1930, which limited the construction of heavy cruisers, i.e., ships carrying guns with calibers between 6.1 inches and 8 inches. The United States did not favor this outcome, being of the opinion that the heavier-gunned ships more suited its Pacific needs. Design started in 1930, with the first four of the class ordered in 1933 and an additional three ships in 1934. Basic criteria had been that speed and range should match heavy cruisers and, when the Japanese Mogami-class cruisers carrying fifteen six-inch main guns appeared, the new U.S. ships would match their weaponry. Various combinations of armor and power plants were tried in the efforts to stay below the Treaty 10,000 ton limit.
The six-inch guns were of a new design, the Mk 16 which could fire a 130-pound shell up to 26,100 yards (nearly 23,900 metres). The intention to mount 1.1 inch anti-aircraft guns was frustrated and the requirement was not fully met until 1943: interim solutions had to be accepted.
From 1942, the bridge structure was lowered and radar was fitted. Increased anti-aircraft weaponry was specified (four quadruple plus four twin 40 mm mountings) but not met. In practice there were varied mixes of 20 mm and 40 mm mountings, 28 40 mm (4x4, 6x2} and twenty 20 mm (10x2) being the most common.
The two ships of the St. Louis-class were modified Brooklyns (exploiting new boiler design, redesigned armor, and secondary armament placed to four twin mounts), while Wichita was a heavy cruiser version (as permitted by the London Treaty). The two wartime cruiser classes, Baltimore and Cleveland, were based on the Wichita-class and the St. Louis-class, respectively. Also derived from the "Brooklyn" design were the Fargo, Oregon City, and Des Moines cruisers. Thus the vast majority of cruisers built by the United States during World War II are derived from the Brooklyn design. In addition the Independence class of light aircraft carriers, which were converted from "Cleveland" class cruisers, and the Saipan light carriers used the basic form of the "Baltimore" class cruiser design.
Read more about this topic: Brooklyn Class Cruisers
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