Oregon City-class cruiser

USS Rochester on 20 September 1953
Class overview
Name	Oregon City class
Builders	Bethlehem Steel Corporation, Fore River Shipyard
Operators	United States Navy
Preceded by	Baltimore class
Succeeded by	Des Moines class
Subclasses	Albany class
Built	1944–1951
In commission	1946–1961[note 1]
Planned	10
Completed	4
Canceled	6
Retired	4
General characteristics
Type	Heavy cruiser
Displacement	13,260 long-tons (standard)
Length	664 ft (202 m) wl 673 ft 5 in (205.26 m) oa
Beam	70 ft 10 in (21.59 m)
Draft	26 ft 4 in (8.03 m)
Propulsion	General Electric steam turbines turning 120,000 hp (89,000 kW)
Speed	32.4 knots (60.0 km/h; 37.3 mph)
Boats & landing craft carried	2 × lifeboats
Complement	1,142 officers and enlisted
Sensors & processing systems	AN/SPS-6 air-search radar AN/SPS-8A height-finding radar
Armament	As Built: 3 × triple 8"/55 caliber guns 6 × twin 5"/38 caliber guns 11 × quad and 2 x twin Bofors 40 mm guns 8 × single Oerlikon 20 mm cannons Post-1953 (Albany, Rochester): 3 × triple 8"/55 caliber guns 6 × twin 5"/38 caliber guns 10 × twin 3"/50 caliber guns
Armor	6 Inch belt armor
Aircraft carried	4 × Vought OS2U Kingfishers
Aviation facilities	2 × aircraft catapults Helipad (later conversion)

The Oregon City-class was a class of heavy cruisers of the United States Navy. Largely based on the preceding Baltimore-class of heavy cruisers, ten Oregon City-class ships were planned, but only four were completed. Of the completed ships, one was the USS Albany, which, in 1962, was converted to be the lead ship of the Albany-sub class of guided missile cruisers. Another vessel of the class, the USS Northampton would be converted to a command ship in 1951. The completed ships were in-commission from 1946 to 1980, with the Albany being the final vessel of the class to serve. All vessels of the class were eventually sold for scrap.

The Oregon City-class cruisers were a modified version of the previous Baltimore-class design; the main difference was a more compact pyramidal superstructure with single trunked funnel, intended to improve the arcs of fire of the anti-aircraft (AA) guns. The same type of modification also differentiated the Cleveland and Fargo classes, and to a lesser degree the Atlanta and Juneau classes of light cruisers.^[1]

Ten ships were authorized for the class with three being completed and the fourth suspended during construction. The final six ships were cancelled, five after being laid down.^[2] Construction on the incomplete fourth ship was resumed in 1948 and the ship served as a command ship Northampton (CLC-1). All three completed cruisers were commissioned in 1946. Oregon City was decommissioned after only 22 months of service, one of the shortest active careers of any World War II-era cruiser. Albany was later converted into a guided missile ship, becoming the lead ship of the Albany class and served until 1980. A similar conversion was planned for Rochester but was cancelled.

• 
  USS Oregon City
• 
  USS Albany
• 
  USS Rochester
• 
  USS Northampton

• Albany-class cruiser
• List of cruisers of the United States Navy

• Gardiner, Robert and Stephen Chumbley (editors). Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1947–1995. Annapolis, Maryland US: Naval Institute Press, 1995. ISBN 1-55750-132-7.
• Whitley, M.J. Cruisers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia. London: Brockhampton Press, 1999. ISBN 1-86019-874-0,

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Oregon City class cruiser.

• Global Security.org – Oregon City class cruiser
• DANFS