Albany-class cruiser

	USS Albany, lead ship of her class
Class overview
Operators	United States Navy
Preceded by	Long Beach class
Succeeded by	Leahy class
Built	1959–1964 (conversions)
In commission	1962–1980
Planned	5
Completed	3
Retired	3
Preserved	0 (Anchor of USS Chicago preserved at Navy Pier)
General characteristics
Type	Guided-missile cruiser
Displacement	13,700 tons std, 17,500 tons full load
Length	664 ft (202 m) waterline, 674 ft (205 m) overall
Beam	70 ft (21 m)
Draft	30 ft (9.1 m)
Propulsion	four Babcock & Wilcox boilers, four General Electric geared turbines, 120,000 shaft horsepower, w. four shafts
Speed	32 kn (59 km/h)
Complement	1,222 (72 officers, 1,150 enlisted men)
Sensors and ; processing systems	AN/SPS-30, AN/SPS-10 surface search radar, AN/SPG-49 fire control radar for Talos, AN/SPG-51 fire control radar for Tartar, AN/SQS-23 bow mounted sonar
Armament	2 × Mk 12 twin RIM-8 Talos SAM launchers (104 missiles); 2 × Mk 11 twin RIM-24 Tartar SAM launchers (84 missiles); 1 × Mk 112 ASROC octuple-tube missile launcher; 2 × 5 in (127 mm) gun; 2 × triple Mk-32 torpedo tubes;
Aviation facilities	Flight deck only

The Albany-class

guided-missile cruisers were converted Baltimore and Oregon City-class heavy cruisers of the United States Navy. All original superstructure and weapons were removed and replaced under project SCB 172. The converted ships had new very high superstructures and relied heavily on aluminium to save weight.^[1]

Class description

The conversion was extensive, stripping the ships down to their hulls, removing all armament and the ship's superstructure.

San Francisco Naval Shipyard starting in July 1959 and was recommissioned as CG-11 on May 2, 1964. USS Fall River (CA-131) was originally slated to be CG-12, but USS Columbus (CA-74) was converted instead. Columbus was converted at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard beginning in September 1959 and recommissioning as CG-12 on December 1, 1962. USS Rochester (CA-124) and USS Bremerton (CA-130) were also proposed for conversion to CG-13 and CG-14, but those plans were dropped because of the high cost of the conversion and capabilities of newer guided-missile frigates.^[2]

Weapons and systems

The weapon systems carried included the Mk 77 missile fire-control system with four

Polaris missiles

, but the concept to add these ballistic missiles was dropped in mid-1959.

For

Mk 46 ASW torpedo

were installed.

These cruisers were initially converted into all-missile

5-inch (127 mm) 38 calibre guns

were added to the port side and the starboard side, near their aft exhaust stacks.

In the late 1960s Chicago and Albany underwent major engineering overhauls under SCB 002 and both the missile systems (Talos and Tartar) had new digital fire control system upgrades to handle the increasing threat from Soviet Navy anti-ship cruise missiles and aircraft, although Chicago did not receive all of the changes that Albany received. Columbus did not receive these missile system upgrades due to lack of funding, and would be decommissioned in 1976.^[3] The Talos system was deactivated on the Albany class (leaving them with the Tartar as the only SAM system operational) and all other ships in the fleet that carried it during 1976.

In late 1979 the two surviving ships (Chicago and Albany) were scheduled for massive overhauls.

Harpoon missile launchers were planned to be installed, as well as a major refitting of the ships' machinery, structure, and electronics. The funding appropriated for this work was diverted, however, to other ships and both cruisers were finally decommissioned in 1980.^[4]

Service history

All three ships served extensively through the 1960s and 1970s with Chicago being a long time flagship for the Third Fleet in the Pacific, and Albany serving likewise as the Second Fleet flagship in the Western Atlantic and as the Sixth Fleet flagship in the Mediterranean. Columbus did not receive the extensive Talos fire-control upgrades and extensive refits that the other two ships received in the late 1960s, though she did receive engineering overhauls to allow her to remain active until she was decommissioned early in 1976, and then immediately sold for scrap. Albany and Chicago remained in service until 1980, and while funding for massive overhauls for both was appropriated for 1979, the funds were diverted to other projects, and both ships were laid up in the summer of 1980. Both were retained in the reserve fleet and received minimal preservation until 1990 when they were both sold for scrap.^{[citation needed]}

Ships in class

Ship Name	Hull No.	Converted at	Commissioned	Decommissioned	Fate	Link
Albany	CG-10	Boston Naval Shipyard	3 November 1962	29 August 1980	Disposed of, sold by DRMS for scrapping, 08/12/1990	NVR DANFS
Chicago	CG-11	San Francisco Naval Shipyard	2 May 1964	1 March 1980	Disposed of, sold by DRMS for scrapping, 10/24/1991	NVR DANFS
Columbus	CG-12	Puget Sound Naval Shipyard	1 December 1962	31 January 1975	Disposed of, sold by DRMS for scrapping, 11/01/1977	NVR DANFS

Gallery

Chicago under way in the Coral Sea in 1979 showing the forward AN/SPG-49 radar scanners and Mk 12 SAM launcher
Albany firing Talos and Tartar missiles, 1963
Talos launcher on Columbus, 1962
RIM-24 Tartar launcher on Chicago, 1970
USS Columbus' 8-tube Mk 112 ASROC, 1962
Elevated port side view of Columbus

References

Notes

^ Friedman, Cruisers, pp. 394-398
^ Moore, Jane's, pp. 126
^ Friedman, Cruisers, pp. 398
^ Moore, Jane's, pp. 126

Sources

Friedman, Norman (1984). U.S. Cruisers: An Illustrated Design History.
ISBN 0-87021-739-9
.

Moore, John (1991). Jane's American Fighting Ships of the 20th Century.
ISBN 0-7924-5626-2
.

External links

[1] Friedman, Cruisers, pp. 394-398

[2] Moore, Jane's, pp. 126

[3] Friedman, Cruisers, pp. 398

[4] Moore, Jane's, pp. 126

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

v t e Albany-class cruisers
Albany Chicago Columbus Rochester^X Bremerton^X
Preceded by: USS Long Beach Followed by: Leahy class
X Conversion cancelled
List of cruisers of the United States Navy