Shipbucket

As requested here is some stuff from N Firedmans book
the rest of the stuff is in my Photo bucket account at the link below
A very quick summary IMHO is that at the end of WWII the USN had such a overwealming lead in the technical and numeric side of cruiser design that they didn't need to build any new cruiser but where driven by the requiement to get missiles to sea ( big and complex with hugh handling and magines /radar requirements that they had to use cruiser size hulls rather that build a WWII cruiser replacement
Welcome any other ideas views


Link to the rest of the drawings
http://s719.photobucket.com/albums/ww199/graham003/

Graham Murdoch

Many Many Thanks Graham

Very strange to see that there is a relative "hole" in US cruisers designs between late 1944 and +/- 1954

For 5000/8000 tons cruisers:
The stillborn AA Light Cruiser project is designed in 1944 but canceled in 1945.
The ASW cruiser USS Norfolk, designed by 1947/1949, is derived from the Atlanta and stillborn project hull's. But before and after the Norfolk (1946/1954) is there were other studies on this class of ship (5000/8000 tons)?....by 1954/1955, the need for a 6/8000 tons cruisers disaperead with the advent of the Farragut DDG project.

At the same time, by 1949/1953, the advent of Norfolk (5/8000 tons), Mitscher (3500/4800 tons) severely disturbed/confused the light-cruisers/destroyers terms

For large light cruisers AA (9000/14 000 tonnes)
The Worcester large AAW light cruisers are designed by late 1943/through 1944 (their hull is derived from Baltimore CA). And after, no project in 1946/1953 for a large AAW cruiser armed with guns ?

Conversion studies of the heavy cruiser Wichita are considered by 1948/1949, there is no picture ? The following projects are the first conversion of some Baltimore CA class (Boston, Canberra) by 1954/1955 (they will be re-commissioned by late1955/early 1956)

For large heavy cruisers (16,000 + tons)
The large heavy cruisers of the Salem class are designed by 1943/early 1944. For the Long Beach (designed by 1956/1957), the hull is derived from Salem. But in 1946/1953, no project ?

By cons, studies of large nuclear powered missiles cruisers (1955/1957) will be quickly abandoned as too expensive

These are such good looking ships. I love that old USS Enterprise radar antenna look. Thanks for sharing them.