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IN the ten years since World War II, United States naval shipbuilding progress, nurtured by extensive scientific research and development and applying many combat lessons of that war, has been greater than at any previous time. This new construction and conversion program indicates clearly that the Navy is aggressively facing the tremendous challenge of swiftly changing technology in order adequately to maintain the fundamental policy of the service in support °f the nation.
Net expenditures, actual and estimated, for the Navy’s shipbuilding during the fiscal years 19461956 amount to slightly over six and one-half billion dollars. Since World War II and up to December 1, 1955, the United States Navy has constructed 232 new hulls and converted or performed major alterations on 445 others, a total of 677 ships completed, either under appropriations for construction of ships, Navy, or shipbuilding and conversion, Navy. The statistical summary is shown in the opposite column.
shore fire support ship.” 1955 in particular has been an epochal year in the commissioning of new types, including the Forrestal, first of the giant carriers, the Forrest Sherman, the prototype of a new destroyer class, and the initial American midget submarine, the X-l. Hull conversions, exceeding new construction by almost a two-to- one ratio, have emphasized warships, particularly carriers. The veteran Thetis Bay will be ready this
CLARK, Jr., U. S. Naval Reserve
Bureau of Ships Designation | New | Converted/ Altered | Total |
Warships | 17 | 365 | 382 |
Amphibious warfare | 20 | 6 | 26 |
Mine warfare | 69 | 38 | 107 |
Patrol | 3 | 22 | 25 |
| — | — | — |
Combatant total | 109 | 431 | 540 |
Auxiliary | 9 | 10 | 19 |
Service | 113 | 4 | 117 |
Experimental | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| — | — | — |
Grand total | 232 | 445 | 667 |
nomenclature as “ | nuclear | power submarine,” | |
“tactical command | ship,” | “frigate,” | and “in- |
New construction has made such contributions to current American naval vessel classification
spring as the first Marine assault helicopter carrier, embodying lessons of the Korean War. The outstanding conversion of 1955 was the Boston, world’s first guided missile cruiser. Missile experiments conducted aboard the Mississippi and those planned by the Boston will tell what part the battleship and the cruiser will play in this particular weapons development of modern warfare.
World War II clearly saw the aircraft carrier emerge as the most powerful capital ship in naval history. Late war and post-war developments have added two new American classes, the Midway and the Forrestal. To realize operational possibilities, naval jet aviation demands carriers with stronger and longer flight decks, more powerful catapults and arresting gear, larger elevators, and higher hangar decks than were available in World War II. Analysis of war damage reports, including those of typhoons, and technological research in Britain and the United States have led to three major carrier developments: angled, armored flight deck, enclosed bow, and steam catapults.
The Honorable Charles S. Thomas, Secretary of the Navy, has given the best and shortest description of this latest American carrier. “The Forrestal is the biggest ship ever built, the most complicated ship ever built, the most powerful ship ever built.” Yet the Saratoga, to be commissioned next month, will be of even greater displacement, size, and speed. The Ranger, third of the class, will be ready next year. The three Midways, completed during 1945-1947 and incorporating many war lessons, introduced the armored flight deck in American carriers. But jet aviation progress has been so swift that both Franklin D. Roosevelt and Midway currently are being modernized. These ships will have angled flight decks and will be ready this year and next, respectively.
Seven of the famous Essex class are under conversion: the Essex, Hornet, Ticonderoga, Randolph, Wasp, Hancock, and Lake Champlain. Work has been completed on the Bennington, Lexington, Bon Homme Richard, and Shangri-La, the latter being the first of these to embody the three main postwar carrier developments. Eventually 24 American attack carriers will have angled flight decks and enclosed bows while twelve of them also will possess steam catapults. Yet, despite this tremendous carrier program now in progress, the United States Navy is producing a well-balanced fleet of surface and subsurface vessels with all types and classes receiving close and impartial scrutiny for present and future fleet value.
American submarine development in the past ten years has been exceptional, particularly in the recent nuclear-power boats which deservedly command world attention. The Nautilus, com-
missioned in 1954 and the most important engineering achievement of the post-war period, will be joined in operations later this year by the Seawolf. Two others are scheduled for completion in 1958. Other memorable experimental construction includes the high speed Albacore of revolutionary hull design and the X-l, to be used in harbor assault tests. In 1951-1952 the Navy added six snorkeled attack submarines capable of over seventeen knots submerged speed and will commission three others next year. Engines of these boats now in service are only one-half as heavy as earlier machinery. Fifty-one older submarines now are guppy-snorkels.
Submarines long have been other submersibles’ most deadly stalkers. American anti-submarine submarines now include the post-war Barracuda, Bass, and Bonita which possess the latest devices and weapons, and seven boats, converted in 1950— 1953. Six former Gatos are radar pickets with hulls lengthened over thirty feet to accommodate new electronics equipment. They will soon be joined by two new pickets. Among other important, diversified submarine types are the guided missile boats, Tunny and Barbero; the oiler, Gravina; and the troop transports, Perch and Salmon. The United States is carrying on a highly progressive program of submarine experimentation both in new construction and conversion.
In American cruiser development the three 17,000-ton Des Moines class ships, completed in 1948-1949, are still the world’s heaviest cruisers and were the first warships to mount completely automatic rapid fire 8-inch guns. The large light cruisers Worcester and Roanoke, both commissioned in 1948, have displacements believed to be almost two thousand tons greater than Russia’s Sverdlov. In 1953 the new Northampton, a modified heavy cruiser, joined the Navy as the first designed tactical command ship. Two of the World War II Baltimore class have become guided missile ships, work on the Boston being completed last November and Canberra’s estimated for this June.
Important progress also has been achieved in frigates, destroyers, and escort and radar vessels. The frigate Norfolk, completed in 1953 and of comparable tonnage to Britain’s Dido cruisers, is designed for fleet anti-submarine duties and equipped with the latest search devices and destruction weapons. Four Mitscher frigates, completed in 1953-1954, are of 3,700 tons and feature light-weight machinery.
A comparison of some of the characteris ics of World War II Fletchers and those of the new Forrest Sherman indicates how American destroyers by a remarkable gain in horsepower frorn 60,000 to 100,000 have at least maintained their earlier speed abilities while at the same time enjoying an increase in standard displacement of some 800 tons. The Shermans will use aluminum exclusively in the entire ship’s structure above the main deck. Three other destroyers will join their class leader this year. Meanwhile in 1956 the converted Gyatt will have the distinction of being the first guided missile destroyer in the fleet. The Navy recently has commissioned three of the new Dealey class, most modern of fast ocean convoy escort vessels, some of which also have an all aluminum superstructure, and will add four more before 1958. Radar warning ships are receiving close attention, ten escort vessels currently being under conversion to radar pickets while eight ocean radar station ships, originally Liberty cargo hulls, have been completed.
Finally, in addition to the preceding ships and types, many new American mine warfare, amphibious, and auxiliary vessels have been added or are under construction. Some twenty-five ocean and eighteen coastal wooden-hulled nonmagnetic minesweepers are being built, the majority under the Mutual Security Program, for such foreign countries as the Netherlands, Belgium, France, and Italy. Among the amphibious warfare craft the inshore fire support ship Carronade is a new type, and numerous improved tank and dock landing ships have been completed. Recent auxiliary additions number the Glacier, world’s most powerful icebreaker, four large oilers, the fast cargo ship Tulare, two store ships, and, still under construction, two ammunition ships.
In brief, the United States Navy’s post-war shipbuilding program has made a proud contribution to national security since 1945. The accompanying pictorial section presents a selected number of representative new or conversion ship constructions of the Navy during the past decade.
The atomic age first heralded to the world by the war blasts of 1945 now has entered the horizon of American naval propulsion. The Nautilus, displacing 2,980 tons light, 300' long, 28' beam, is capable of a cruising range in excess of the earth’s circumference, realistically opening up vistas considered years ago by Jules Verne. Her full, rounded bow is indicative of hull design for greater submerged than surfaced speed. Diving depth is believed to be 700 feet. Nuclear power experiments with surface vessels can be expected within the next few years.
Both British and Italian midget submersibles performed creditably in harbor assaults during the last war. The X-l, built by the Fairchild Engine and Airplane Corporation, is the first naval vessel designed and constructed by an American aircraft manufacturer. This 25-ton craft is some 50 feet long and has a crew' of five. She held trials last fall in Tong Island Sound.
The Pickerel (inset) is shown surfacing from a depth of ISO feet and emerging at the exceptionally steep angle of 48 degrees back in 1952. Two years earlier this converted guppy made a submerged run from Hong Kong to Pearl Harbor, a distance of 5,200 miles, in 21 days. The Albacore is a high speed experimental target submarine completed in 1953 by the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. Believed to be the world’s fastest submersible, her short hull is fish-shaped and ratio of beam to length is much greater than in conventional craft.
, Another submarine hull of Electric Boat Division slides down the ways and into the Thames River at Groton, July
r I 21, 1955. As is characteristic of an age of rapid technological improvement, the Seawolf is of greater displacement
t and dimensions and will have considerably more submerged speed than her distinguished predecessor. 575’s steam
turbine will be fired by a sodium-propelled reactor while diesels and batteries will supply auxiliary power.
307
Trout (above), Wahoo (center), and Tang (below) are members of the Tang class, and the leader has the distinction of being the first large submersible completed by the Navy since World War II. Their hulls are some 40 feet shorter than those of earlier boats. Streamlined design and lightweight radial engines also contribute to their reported submerged speed in excess of 17 knots. The continuing diversified uses of submarines have been a remarkable feature of post-war experimentation.
Originally completed in 1943, seven years later the Guavina (above) was recommissioned as an oiler. Early last year during Caribbean operations while underway she successfully refueled a P5M and furnished tangible evidence of the good weather practicability of the logistics support of sea-planes by submarines. Barracuda (center) is an antisubmarine submarine. Her displacement is 765 tons and medium-sized dimensions are 196'X 25'X16'. The conspicuous, bulbous bow contains the newest listening gear. Barracuda in 1954 achieved 1,481 hours of submerged time, including a record longest dive of 230 hours. T-l (below) is shown at sea in 1953, three months after launching. Her displacement is 250 tons and dimensions are about half those of regular-sized boats.
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Proving the considered vital importance of missile ships to progressive navies, the famous heavy cruiser Boston, originally built at Fore River and later converted by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation, was recommissioned last November. Her after stack and 8-inch turret have been taken out and two twin launching platforms for Terrier missiles installed on different levels. The Boston also mounts six 8-inch and numerous smaller guns. (See page XVIII of this issue.)
This 1948 view shows the Loon guided missile in place aft on the launching ramp with its housing watertight steel hangar just forward of the platform. Recently the Mare Island Naval Shipyard converted another submarine to similar use. Postwar missile experiments also continue aboard the Norton Sound and the Mississippi.
IN MEMORY OF A GALLANT SHIP FROM DOWN UNDER
Shown in drydock at Camden the Canberra becomes the second guided missile heavy cruiser and will be completed by mid-June. An unusual rarity and fine tribute to a wartime ally, this American warship was named in honor of the Australian cruiser sunk in the Japanese hit-and-run raid off Savo Island.
DES MOINES AERIAL CLOSEUP FROM 500 FEET
This 33-knot heavy cruiser slices through the water and attention is clearly focussed on her forward 8-inch triple turrets and S-inch twin mounts. All guns are automatic. Bethlehem-Quincy completed this class leader in late 1948. The Des Moines' ratio of length to beam is approximately 9| to 1. Unlike her sister ships, she is not air con ditioned.
Today only the sleek Manchester (above) of the 27 Cleveland class cruisers remains in commission and by spring she also will be mothballed. The Worcester (below), a 32-knot class leader, was completed in 1948 by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation who also built the Roanoke. These sister ships are heavier than any existing cruiser in the Soviet or British Navies. The Worcester has conducted tests with an exterior spray system for removal of hull radiological contamination.
Such American World War II experience as the failure of the Maryland as an improvised communications vessel at Tarawa eventually resulted in the construction of the Northampton (above) as a tactical command ship for conducting carrier and amphibious operations. This 17,200-ton vessel is equipped with many post-war electronics developments and has the world’s largest seagoing radar.
The Oregon City (top) is a class leader and like her sister ships, Albany and Rochester, was completed in 1946 by bethlehem-Quincy. Now in reserve, she mounts nine 8-inch, twelve 5-inch, and many anti-aircraft guns. The Salem (center) is another fine Fore River product, and the Newport News (below) appropriately was built by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company. In the background the Franklin D. Roosevelt rides at anchor. The automatic 8-inch batteries of the Salem and Newport News reportedly fire four times faster than conventional ordnance, an obvious indication of post-war technological gains in fire power.
Completed in 1953 by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation, The Norfolk has the double distinction of being the modern American Navy’s first and largest frigate. Built with a cruiser hull, her standard displacement is 5,600 tons and speed is 32 knots. Designed for anti-submarine operations with fast carrier task forces, the Norfolk's construction embodies atomic test lessons. She is armed with eight 3-inch and eight 20 mm. guns, four anti-submarine rocket launchers and four fixed 21" torpedo tubes.
Bethlehem-Quincy constructed the Willis A. Lee (above) and the Wilkinson (below), two of the four MUschef frigates now in commission. The class leader is reproduced in color on the cover of this issue of the Proceedings. These vessels are armed with two 5-inch and four 3-inch guns, two anti-submarine rocket launchers, and four fixed 21-inch torpedo tubes.
NEWEST AMERICAN DESTROYERS
The John Paul Jones (left), second of the class, is shown after launching last year at Bath, Maine. Her gun batteries are so distributed to furnish more fire power aft than forward. She will be completed late this month. The Forrest Sherman (above) is the first of this class and develops from 66 to 100 per cent more horsepower than recent destroyers constructed in Russia and Britain. These American vessels are completely air conditioned, and their aluminum superstructures are the result of extensive metals tests.
Originally designed as a Gearing class destroyer, the Epperson’s construction was delayed, and finally she was completed as an escort destroyer in 1949. She displaces 2,425 tons, is capable of 35 knots, and armament includes special anti-submarine weapons as well as four 5-inch and six 3-inch guns. At present there are seven other escort destroyers in commission with similar characteristics to those of the Epperson.
This low-silhouetted vessel is shown on trials off the Maine coast in 1954. Three of these fast ocean convoy escorts are in commission and ten others will be completed by the end of 1957. Of 1,450 tons standard displacement, mounting four 3-inch guns and making 25 knots, some of these vessels achieve a significant weight reduction by the use of aluminum above the main deck, a widespread American naval construction policy.
She is one of 48 destroyers which are somewhat larger than the Allen M. Sumner class. The builders of these 35- knot destroyers were Bath Iron Works Corporation; Bethlehem Quincy, San Francisco, and Staten Island; Consolidated Steel Corporation; Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company; and Todd Pacific Shipyards. The Forrest Royal was launched and completed in 1946. Of 2,425 tons, she mounts six 5-inch and six 3-inch guns.
designated EDD 828, the Timmerman was constructed at Bath and commissioned in 1952, the first U. S. postwar naval ship completed. Of greater significance for the future is her engineering mission. Her General Electric and Westinghouse lightweight machinery have been installed to determine under operating conditions how much Weight reduction in the engineering plant can be accomplished without strength loss. The Timmerman develops 1 W),000 horsepower and has exceeded 40 knots.
RADAR PICKET ESCORTS
The Wagner (above) and Vandivier and Wagner (below), in an earlier stage of construction, are shown at the Boston Naval Shipyard. Of 1,390 tons and 24 knots, these postwar ships were begun as destroyer escorts, but later they were converted and completed late last year. Indicating the Navy’s interest in this type of ship, at the present time twelve escorts either are under actual or planned conversion to radar pickets. Work will be performed by various government shipyards.
She is a combination icebreaker and oceanographic laboratory. Of all welded steel, thick, insulated double hull, and possessing the largest capacity diesel power plant of any American-built ship, the Glacier can ram through ice more than 20 feet thick. Two helicopters are carried for observation. Her most novel feature is a 1,200 foot antenna supported aloft by two balloons, affording a reliable communications range of some 1,500 miles.
Hie American fleet train in the last war proved to be of invaluable logistics support in many areas. In the Pacific these highly mobile auxiliary vessels extended supplies thousands of miles beyond the fixed shore bases, assisting the Navy’s advance to the strategic center of Japan’s home islands. Last year Ingalls Shipbuilding Company completed the newest store ships, Vega and Rigel. They are the largest and most modem vessels of this type, W|th light displacement of 7,950 tons and full load almost double.
NEW OCEAN BROOMS SWEEP CLEAN
The Direct (left) and Bold (above) are two of the 52 fleet non-magnetic minesweepers added to the American Navy since the war. Ten others are under construction. Many additional hulls are building in this country under the Mutual Security Program for several foreign nations. These ships have a full load displacement of 750 tons and a range of 2,400 miles at 12 knots. Until last year they were classified as wooden minesweepers.
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NO MAGNETIC ATTRACTION
The coastal minesweepers Cormorant (left) and Bluebird (above) were built in 1953 at Mare Island. Mine warfare reached a new high in combat effectiveness during 1941-1945 after steadily increased importance in the American Civil, Russo-Japanese, and the World Wars. Today defensive measures against mining, especially in littoral areas, remain one of the paramount concerns of leading navies. Almost one hundred of these coastals have been constructed in the United States for foreign iNA I U countries.
She was built by the Puget Sound Bridge and Dredging Company and commissioned last year at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. Her name is derived from the Caron Iron Works in Scotland which produced the carronade gun of the mid-eighteenth century. Her mission is to furnish close gunnery support for troops engaged in amphibious landings. In comparison with earlier vessels, the Carronade's displacement is three times greater and her hull 40 feet longer. She has the latest rapid fire launchers and rockets as well as many improvements in shipboard habitability.
The new landing ship dock Plymouth Rock is shown against an impressive harbor background. Ingalls Shipbuilding Corporation of Pascagoula, Mississippi, has built four of this class and has four more under construction. Larger and faster than their World War II predecessors, these vessels of 11,270 tons full load displacement have helicopter landing platforms, two 50-ton cranes, and can carry 21 LCMs.
The Terrell County is one of the 15 LST 1156-1170 series. These ships have been built by the Bath Iron Works Christy Corporation, and the Ingalls Shipbuilding Corporation. Their design includes many improvements based on lessons learned from two experimental ships. By the winter of 1957-1958 seven new landing ships, tank, will be ready and of further increased size, capacity, and speed.
Bethlehem Pacific Coast Steel Corporation’s Tulare, named after a California county, is called the world’s most modern and largest attack cargo ship. Commissioned this January, she is capable of 22 knots and displaces 18,000 tons, full load. The Tulare possesses the latest electronics and radar improvements, has helicopter landing platform, and her two masts are capable of hoisting 60-ton landing craft.
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Bethlehem-Sparrows Point is completing both the Suribachi (above) and the Manna Kea, the Navy’s newest ammunition ships which will displace 17,400 tons, full load. Built to special naval design, they will have the most modern stowage and hoisting facilities. In comparison with earlier construction these vessels are heavier and larger and will develop about 10,000 more horsepower.
The Hassayampa (above) and the Neosho (below) are members of a new class of giant fleet oilers, the largest naval tankers ever built. Constructed by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation and Bethlehem-Quincy, respectively, they are designed for rapid transfer of petroleum products and cargo to forces afloat. They can carry 130,600 barrels of fuel oil, 48,700 of aviation fuel, and 8,000 of diesel oil.
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United States continental air defense is supplemented seaward by four ocean radar station ships now in service, and these are the first vessels to be converted to that purpose. The Guardian (above) has a CIC, air and surface search radar, and extensive communications equipment. Four other vessels are under conversion at the Charleston and Norfolk Naval Shipyards and will be completed late this winter.
John Trumpy & Sons of Annapolis, Maryland, built the PT 811 (above) and Bath Iron Works the PT 810 (below). I'-lectric Boat Division and the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard also have each built one of this type. Each of the four boats is of different design and characteristics. In common, they have aluminum hull, four engines, and use gas fuel. PT boats definitely are still in the experimental stage, and the Navy hopes to draw valuable conclusions from the operational results of these four craft.