Belknap-class cruiser (original) (raw)

US guided missile cruiser class

USS Sterett on 7 September 1990
Class overview
Name Belknap class
Builders Several
Operators United States Navy
Preceded by Leahy class
Succeeded by California class
Subclasses Truxtun class
Built 1962–1967
In commission 1964–1995
Completed 9
Retired 9
General characteristics
Type Guided missile cruiser
Displacement 7,930 tons[1] (8,057 metric tons)
Length 547 ft (167 m)[1]
Beam 55 ft (17 m)[1]
Draft 29 ft (8.8 m)[2]
Propulsion four 1200 psi (8300 kPa) boilers, two geared steam turbines, two shafts. 85,000 shp (63,384 kW)[1]
Speed 32 knots[1] (59 km/h)
Complement 27 officers, 450 enlisted[1]
Sensors and processing systems AN/SPS-10 surface search RADAR[3] AN/SPS-48 3D air search radar[3] AN/SPS-49 2D air search radar 2 AN/SPG-55 Terrier missile fire control radar[3][4] AN/SQS-26 SONAR[3][5]
Armament (final configuration) 1 × Mk 10 Mod 7 Guided Missile Launching System with 40 SM-2ER Standard missiles 20 × RUR-5 ASROC Antisubmarine Missiles (Fired from the Mk 10 launcher) 2 × 4 Harpoon missile launchers 2 × 3 Mark 46 torpedo launchers 1 × [5 Inch/54-caliber Mk. 42](/wiki/5%22/54%5Fcaliber%5FMark%5F42%5Fgun "5"/54 caliber Mark 42 gun") gun 2 × Phalanx CIWS[1][2]
Armor none[2]
Aircraft carried (final configuration) 1 × SH-2H Seasprite[1]

The _Belknap_-class cruiser was a class of single-ended guided-missile cruisers (their missile armament was installed only forward, unlike "double-ended" missile cruisers with missile armament installed both forward and aft) built for the United States Navy during the 1960s. They were originally designated as DLG frigates (destroyer leaders; the USN use of the term frigate from 1950 to 1975 was intended to evoke the power of the sailing frigates of old),[_citation needed_] but in the 1975 fleet realignment, they were reclassified as guided missile cruisers (CG).

When commissioned, the main armament of the Belknap class was a [5-inch/54-caliber Mk. 42](/wiki/5%22/54%5Fcaliber%5FMark%5F42%5Fgun "5"/54 caliber Mark 42 gun") gun on the quarterdeck and a twin-rail RIM-2 Terrier Mk 10 Missile Launcher on the foredeck.[6] The Mk 10 Mod 7 launchers in this class were also capable of launching RUR-5 ASROC to eliminate need for a separate Mk 112 ASROC launcher.[7] These were unofficially spoken of as Ter/AS (tear-ass) launchers.[_citation needed_] The class was also equipped with two twin [3"/50 caliber guns](/wiki/3%22/50%5Fcaliber%5Fgun "3"/50 caliber gun") for defence against sub-sonic aircraft.[2] In the early 1980s, the Terrier missiles were replaced with RIM-67 Standard missiles; and during the NTU program in the late 1980s and early 1990s the class had its Standard SM-1 system upgraded to utilize SM-2ER Block II, the 3-inch guns were replaced with two 4 cell Harpoon Surface-to-surface missile launchers, and two Phalanx CIWS systems were installed.[2]

The derivative USS Truxtun shared the weapons systems outfit of the Belknap class, but was nuclear-powered, larger and substantially unrelated in design (for example, many weapons systems in different locations, such as the aft-facing GMLS). Most information related to nuclear cruisers is still classified, but Truxtun appears to be more a Belknap-like derivative of the nuclear cruiser Bainbridge than the other way around.[6]

Name Pennant Builder Laid Down Launched Commissioned Decommissioned Fate
_Belknap_-class conventional cruiser
Belknap CG-26 Bath Iron Works, Bath 5 February 1962 20 July 1963 7 November 1964 15 February 1995 Sunk as target, 24 September 1998
Josephus Daniels CG-27 23 April 1962 2 December 1963 8 May 1965 21 January 1994 Broken up at Brownsville, 1999
Wainwright CG-28 2 July 1962 25 April 1965 8 January 1966 15 November 1993 Sunk as target, 12 June 2002
Jouett CG-29 Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton 25 September 1962 30 June 1964 3 December 1966 28 January 1994 Sunk as target, 10 August 2007
Horne CG-30 San Francisco Naval Shipyard, San Francisco 12 December 1962 30 October 1964 15 April 1967 4 February 1994 Sunk as target, 29 June 2008
Sterett CG-31 Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton 25 September 1962 30 June 1964 8 April 1967 24 March 1994 Broken up at Brownsville, 2005
William H. Standley CG-32 Bath Iron Works, Bath 29 July 1963 19 December 1964 9 July 1966 11 February 1994 Sunk as target, 25 June 2005
Fox CG-33 Todd Shipyard, San Pedro 15 January 1963 21 November 1964 8 May 1966 15 April 1994 Broken up at Brownsville, 2008
Biddle CG-34 Bath Iron Works, Bath 9 December 1963 2 July 1965 21 January 1967 30 November 1993 Broken up at Philadelphia, 2001
_Truxtun_-class nuclear-powered cruiser
Truxtun CGN-35 New York Shipbuilding Corporation, Camden 17 June 1963 19 December 1964 27 May 1967 11 September 1995 Disposed of through Ship-Submarine Recycling Program at Bremerton, 1999
  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Pike, John E. (5 February 2005). "CG 26 BELKNAP class". GlobalSecurity.org. Retrieved 12 January 2007.
  2. ^ a b c d e Toppan, Andrew (17 July 2000). "US Cruisers List: Guided Missile Cruisers". Haze Gray and Underway. Archived from the original on 7 January 2007. Retrieved 12 January 2007.
  3. ^ a b c d Blackman, Raymond V. B. Jane's Fighting Ships (1970/71) p.429
  4. ^ Polmar, Norman "The U.S. Navy: Shipboard Radars" United States Naval Institute Proceedings December 1978 p.144
  5. ^ Polmar, Norman "The U.S. Navy: Sonars, Part 1" United States Naval Institute Proceedings July 1981 p.119
  6. ^ a b Doehring, Thoralf. "The TRUXTUN – class". Unofficial US Navy Site. Retrieved 13 January 2007.
  7. ^ Bauer, Karl Jack; Roberts, Stephen S. (1991). Register of Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1775-1990: Major Combatants. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 215. ISBN 0313262020.

38°04′52″N 122°05′19″W / 38.0812°N 122.0885°W / 38.0812; -122.0885