St. Louis-class cruiser (1938)

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USS St. Louis (CL-49)
Class overview
Name: St. Louis-class cruiser
Operators:
Preceded by: Brooklyn class
Succeeded by:
Completed: 2
Lost: 1
Retired: 1
Preserved: 0
General characteristics
Type: Light cruiser
Displacement:
  • 10,000 long-tons (standard)
  • 13,327 long-tons(Full)
Length: 608.3 feet (185 m)
Beam: 61.7 ft (18.8 m)
Draft: 19.8 ft (6.0 m)
Propulsion:
  • (4) 618psi Boilers
  • 4 Gear Turbines
  • 4 Screws
  • 100,000 Horsepower
Speed: 33 knots
Complement: 888 officers and enlisted men
Armament:
Armor:
  • 3-5 in Belt
  • 2 in Deck
  • 1.25-6.5 in Turrets
  • 6 in Barbettes
  • 2.25-5 in CT
Aircraft carried: 4 Curtiss SOC Seagulls
Aviation facilities: 2 Aft catapults

The St. Louis class light cruisers were a pair of warships that served in the US Navy during World War II. The class was a slight modification of the seven-ship Brooklyn class that immediately preceded them, incorporating new higher pressure boilers and a new boiler arrangement, with machinery on the "unit system": alternating boiler and engine rooms to prevent a ship from being immobilized by a single unlucky hit. Additionally, AA armament was improved. They were the first US cruisers to be armed with twin five-inch (127 mm) 38-caliber guns. They could be distinguished visually from the Brooklyns by the placement of the after deckhouse, immediately abaft the second funnel, and by the twin 5" mounts.

Both ships were commissioned in 1939, and were active in the Pacific in World War II. Helena was sunk in 1943 during the Battle of Kula Gulf. St. Louis was seriously damaged twice, but survived the war and was transferred to the Brazilian navy in 1951, where she served until 1976.

St. Louis- class ships

Ship Name Hull No. Builder Commission–
Decommission
St. Louis CL-49 Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company 19 May 1939 – 20 June 1946
Helena CL-50 Brooklyn Navy Yard 18 September 1939 – Sunk, Battle of Kula Gulf, 6 July 1943

External links

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