USS Alaska (CB-1)
_off_the_Philadelphia_Navy_Yard_on_30_July_1944.jpg) USS Alaska
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | USS Alaska |
| Namesake | Territory of Alaska |
| Ordered | 9 September 1940 |
| Builder | New York Shipbuilding Corporation |
| Laid down | 17 December 1941 |
| Launched | 15 August 1943 |
| Commissioned | 17 June 1944 |
| Decommissioned | 17 February 1947 |
| Stricken | 1 June 1960 |
| Honors and awards | Three battle stars for World War II service |
| Fate | Scrapped in 1960 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Alaska-class large cruiser |
| Displacement |
|
| Length | 808 ft 6 in (246.4 m) |
| Beam | 91 ft 1 in (27.8 m) |
| Draft | 31 ft 10 in (9.7 m) |
| Installed power |
|
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 33 knots (61 km/h; 38 mph) |
| Range | 12,000 nmi (22,000 km; 14,000 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph) |
| Crew | 1,517 |
| Armament |
|
| Armor |
|
| Aircraft carried | 4 |
USS Alaska was the lead ship of the Alaska class of large cruisers which served with the United States Navy during the end of World War II. She was the first of two ships of her class to be completed, followed only by Guam; four other ships were ordered but were not completed before the end of the war. Alaska was the third vessel of the US Navy to be named after what was then the territory of Alaska, and was assigned the hull number CB-1. She was laid down on 17 December 1941, ten days after the United States entered the war, was launched in August 1943 by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation, in Camden, New Jersey, and was commissioned in June 1944. She was armed with a main battery of nine 12 in (305 mm) guns in three triple turrets and had a top speed of 33 kn (61 km/h; 38 mph).
Due to being commissioned late in the war, Alaska saw relatively limited service. She participated in operations off
Design
Alaska was 808 feet 6 inches (246.43 m)
The ship was powered by four sets of
The ship was armed with a
The main
Service history
Alaska was authorized under the Fleet Expansion Act on 19 July 1940, and ordered on 9 September.
World War II
_underway_in_the_Atlantic_Ocean_in_August_1944_(80-G-K-5580).jpg)
After her commissioning, Alaska steamed down to
On 8 January 1945, Alaska left California for Hawaii, arriving in Pearl Harbor on 13 January. There she participated in further training and was assigned to Task Group 12.2, which departed for Ulithi on 29 January. The Task Group reached Ulithi on 6 February and was merged into Task Group 58.5, part of Task Force 58, the Fast Carrier Task Force. Task Group 58.5 was assigned to provide anti-aircraft defense for the aircraft carriers; Alaska was assigned to the carriers Enterprise and Saratoga. The fleet sailed for Japan on 10 February to conduct air strikes against Tokyo and the surrounding airfields. The Japanese did not attack the fleet during the operation. Alaska was then transferred to Task Group 58.4 and assigned to support the assault on Iwo Jima. She served in the screen for the carriers off Iwo Jima for nineteen days, after which time she had to return to Ulithi to replenish fuel and supplies.[8]
Alaska remained with TG 58.4 for the Battle of Okinawa. She was assigned to screen the carriers Yorktown and Intrepid; the fleet left Ulithi on 14 March and reached its operational area southeast of Kyushu four days later. The first air strikes on Okinawa began that day, and claimed 17 Japanese aircraft destroyed on the ground. Here, Alaska finally saw combat, as the Japanese launched a major air strike on the American fleet. Her anti-aircraft gunners destroyed a Yokosuka P1Y bomber attempting to crash into Intrepid. Shortly thereafter, Alaska was warned that American aircraft were in the vicinity. About ten minutes later, her gunners spotted an unidentified aircraft, approaching in what they thought was a threatening manner; they shot down what turned out to be a Grumman F6F Hellcat fighter, though the pilot was uninjured. Later that afternoon, Alaska shot down a second Japanese bomber, a Yokosuka D4Y.[8]
_underway_on_11_September_1944_(NH_97127).jpg)
The following day, the carrier Franklin was badly damaged by several bomb hits and a kamikaze. Alaska and her sister Guam, two other cruisers, and several destroyers were detached to create Task Group 58.2.9 to escort the crippled Franklin back to Ulithi. On the voyage back to port, another D4Y bomber attacked Franklin, though the ships were unable to shoot it down. Gunfire from one of the 5-inch guns accidentally caused flash burns on several men standing nearby; these were the only casualties suffered by her crew during the war. Alaska then took on the role of fighter director; using her air search radar, she vectored fighters to intercept and destroy a Kawasaki Ki-45 heavy fighter. On 22 March, the ships reached Ulithi and Alaska was detached to rejoin TG 58.4.[8]
After returning to her unit, Alaska continued to screen for the aircraft carriers off Okinawa. On 27 March, she was detached to conduct a bombardment of
Alaska then returned to Ulithi to resupply, arriving on 14 May. She was then assigned to TG 38.4, the reorganized carrier task force. The fleet then returned to Okinawa, where Alaska continued in her anti-aircraft defense role. On 9 June, she and Guam bombarded
Post-war
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On 30 August, Alaska left Okinawa for Japan to participate in the 7th Fleet occupation force. She arrived in
In 1958, the Bureau of Ships prepared two feasibility studies to see if Alaska and Guam were suitable to be converted to guided missile cruisers. The first study involved removing all of the guns in favor of four different missile systems. At $160 million this was seen as too costly, so a second study was conducted. This study left the forward batteries—the two 12-inch triple turrets and three of the 5-inch dual turrets—in place and added a reduced version of the first plan for the aft. This would have cost $82 million, and was still seen as too costly.[11] As a result, the conversion proposal was abandoned and the ship was instead stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 June 1960. On 30 June, she was sold to the Lipsett Division of Luria Brothers to be broken up for scrap.[8]
Footnotes
Notes
Citations
- ^ a b c d Friedman 1980, p. 122.
- ^ Swanborough & Bowers, p. 148.
- ^ Friedman 1984, p. 303.
- ^ Egan, p. 36.
- ^ Friedman 2008, p. 210.
- ^ Friedman 1984, p. 483.
- ^ Friedman 1984, p. 301.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i DANFS.
- ^ Cressman, p. 339.
- ^ Rohwer, p. 423.
- ^ Garzke & Dulin, p. 187.
References
- "Alaska III (CB-1)". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Navy Department, Naval History and Heritage Command. 11 June 2015. Retrieved 24 September 2018.
- Cressman, Robert (2000). The Official Chronology of the U.S. Navy in World War II. Annapolis: US Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-55750-149-3.
- Egan, Robert S. (March 1971). "The US Navy's Battlecruisers". Warship International. VIII (1). International Naval Research Organization: 28–51.
- Friedman, Norman (1980). "United States of America". In Gardiner, Robert & Chesneau, Roger (eds.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. pp. 86–166. ISBN 978-0-87021-913-9.
- Friedman, Norman (1984). U.S. Cruisers: An Illustrated Design History. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-0-87021-739-5.
- Friedman, Norman (2013) [First published 2008]. Naval Firepower: Battleship Guns and Gunnery in the Dreadnought Era. Barnsley: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-185-4.
- Garzke, William H. Jr.; Dulin, Robert O. Jr (1976). Battleships: United States Battleships in World War II. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-55750-174-5.
- ISBN 978-1-59114-119-8.
- Swanborough, Gordon; Bowers, Peter M. (1968). United States Navy Aircraft Since 1911. Funk & Wagnalls.
External links
- USS Alaska (CB-1) Website Information for and about veterans that served on the USS Alaska CB-1 during World War II.