November 15 - Focus: New Orleans-class and IJN Akitsu Maru and Kirishima

[Ariecho]

General:

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November 15 was another busy date in WWI and WW2 history.  What follows are the other events that we didn't cover, but that (in our eyes) were worth writing about.  As SirDerpofCamelot did yesterday, if you feel like covering any of them in this thread, please go ahead.  

1902 - IJN Niitaka was launched

1906 - IJN Satsuma was launched

1916 - SMS Karlsruhe was commissioned

1933 - FS Montcalm was laid down

1937 - FS Georges Leygue, Gloire, and Montcalm were commissioned

1944 - IJN Akitsu Maru was sunk

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Statistics: On a November 15, between 1917 and 1945

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Allies:

43 surface ships were laid down

25 surface ships were launched

43 surface ships were commissioned

6 surface ships were lost

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Germany:

1 surface ship was commissioned

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Japan:

2 surface ships were launched

1 surface ship was commissioned

2 surface ships were sunk

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Italy:

1 surface ship was commissioned

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1933

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On November 15, 1933, not 1 but 2 New Orleans-class ships had an important event:  USS Quincy (CA 39) was laid down, while her older sister, USS Tuscaloosa (CA37), was launched on that very same day.

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If you ever wondered where the name Quincy came from, here is a hint.  The shipyard who built USS Quincy was Bethlehem Steel Corporation Shipbuilding Division, headquartered in … Quincy, Massachusetts.  USS Tuscaloosa, for her part, was built by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation (see my article about them in Navygaming), and named after the city of Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

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New Orleans-class

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The New Orleans-class was composed of 7 heavy cruisers.  Heavy cruisers, according to the London conference of 1930, meant that they could displace up to 10,000 tons, and could be armed with 8-inch guns, as opposed to light cruisers, who could only be armed with 6-inch guns.  Here is an interesting thing about heavy cruisers’ denomination.  Under the conference’s terms, a cruiser would be referred to with the letter “C”.  Cruisers would be separated into 2 classes: (A) heavy and (B) light.  So, it makes perfect sense that heavy cruisers were since then preceded with CA.  Now, why do we have CL for light cruisers, and not CB?  Is it because it is reserved for the battlecruisers (CB) when it would make more sense to call them BC.  But I digress…

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The New Orleans-class should have actually been named the Astoria-class, as the Astoria was the first ship of the class to be laid down.  As a matter of fact, they were, until USS Astoria was sunk during the battle of Savo Island, at which point, the other ships were reclassified as New Orleans-class heavy cruisers.

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Predecessors:

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Treaty heavy cruisers

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Jracule wrote a splendid article on US Heavy cruisers, which you can find here.  I will only speak briefly about all these classes, but you should know that before the United States Navy developed the New Orleans class, several other classes of “Treaty Cruisers” were built.  The first ones were the Pensacola-class, followed by the Northampton-class, then the Portland-class, and eventually the New Orleans-class.

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The Pensacola-class only had 2 cruisers: USS Pensacola (CA 24) and USS Salt Lake City (CA 25).  Pensacola cruisers’ trademark was their 10 8-inch guns in 2 triple batteries mounted over 2 twin batteries.

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The Northampton-class was an improvement over the Pensacola-class.  Instead of the Pensacola-class odd guns’ disposition, the Northampton-class had 9 8-inch guns divided into 3 turrets of 3.  The Northampton-class counted 6 ships: USS Northampton (CA 26), Chester (CA 27), Louisville (CA 28), Chicago (Ca 29), Houston (CA 30)and Augusta (CA 31).  All were laid down in 1928.

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The Portland-class followed the Northampton-class.  5 ships were supposed to be built, but in the end, only 2 were commissioned: USS Portland (CA 33)and USS Indianapolis (CA 35).  Like their predecessors, these “heavy” cruisers still had a very light armor, typical of all Treaty cruisers.  This said, with an average 5-inch, they were still better protected than their predecessor, as the Northampton-class’ armor was only 3-inch.  Armament remained the same (203mm/55 Mark 14), with 9 guns in 3 triple turrets.

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New Orleans-class

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With “only” 588 feet in length, the New Orleans cruisers were shorter than two of their predecessors, who were either 600 feet long, or longer.  Only the Pensacola cruisers, with 570 feet, were shorter than them.  To achieve the reduction in length, engineers sacrificed the extra space in the machinery rooms, shortening them by  4 feet each.  They compensated that with a thick armor, and a higher displacement that, after war was declared on the United States, eventually exceeded any treaty agreement.

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Armor

New Orleans-class cruisers’ armor was this still generally light and similar to the Portland’s belt, but better protection was provided on the turrets.  Their speed, listed as 33 knots (other sources might disagree) was also comparable to other heavy cruisers, give or take.  Their advantage though, was in their endurance, which was far greater than most European heavy cruisers.

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Armament

The New Orleans’ main armament was originally the same as what could be found on the Portland.  The 8-inch (203mm)/55 Mark 14, model 0 or model 1.  New Orleans received the Mark 14 model 0, Minneapolis received the Mark 14 model 1, and Astoria, Tuscaloosa, San Francisco, Quincy, and Vincennes received the Mark 12, which resulted in different turrets.  Theoretical values for the guns indicated a range of 31,700 yards (18 miles), with an armor penetration of 5-inch at 10,000 yards.

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Turrets' difference

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New Orleans’ secondary armament was the 5-inch dual-purpose gun, and the ships eventually also received adequate antiaircraft guns when their original 1.1-inch was replaced by 40mm Bofors.

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Operational fate

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Each of this ships deserves more than a few paragraphs to describe what they (and the men who served on them) went through.  I’ll try to give them justice.

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USS New Orleans (CA 32) was one of the 2 heavy cruisers present in Pearl Harbor, in 1941.  In 1942, she was present at the battle of the Coral Sea then at Midway, where she was tasked with escorting USS Saratoga, after she was hit.  She then served during the Guadalcanal campaign, and was part of the battle of Tassafaronga, on November 30. During the fight, she was hit by a torpedo that totally destroyed her bow, annihilating anything in front of turret #2.

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She only returned into action late 1943, when she participated in the battles of Wake Island and Gilbert Islands.  In 1944, she was one of the two ships (the other one being her sister Minneapolis) who intercepted and sank IJN Katori.  She also participated in Saipan, Truk, and the battle of the Philippine Sea, and was present at Leyte Gulf.

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There, as part of TF 34, she was part of the sinking of CV Chiyoda and DD Hatsutskuki.  Her last influential campaign was Okinawa.  She survived the war, to be scrapped in 1959.

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Damage occurred during battle of Tassafaronga (November 30/December 1, 1942)

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Astoria (CA 34) missed the Pearl Harbor attack, as she was on her way to Midway.  She was then attached to USS Yorktown’s escort, then to the ANZAC force, alongside USS Chicago and HMAS Australia.  Astoria was present at both the battles of Coral Sea and Midway, and then was deployed to Guadalcanal.

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On August 9, she was sunk during a surprise attack by 7 Japanese cruisers.  After avoiding 4 salvoes, Astoria was struck by the 5th one, which set her turret #1 ablaze, giving the Japanese ships a perfect target.

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USS Astoria, early 1942

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Minneapolis (CA 36) received her first operational deployment as escort to USS Lexington’s group (TF 11), then to the ANZAC force.  Minneapolis participated in both Coral Sea and Midway campaigns, then joined the Guadalcanal campaign.  On November 30, 1942, she was also present in Tassafaronga, when she was hit by torpedoes launched by Japanese destroyers.  Although heavily damaged, she managed to sail back to the United States, where she stayed until September 1943.  She was active in many campaigns afterwards, including Leyte Gulf, Bataan, Corregidor, and Okinawa.  Her last war mission led her to Korea where she accepted the Japanese surrender.  She was decommissioned in 1947, and scrapped in 1959.

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Minneapolis' damage after Tassafaronga

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Tuscaloosa (CA 37) started her pre-war career in the Atlantic, in what was then called the “neutrality patrols”.  She then did some convoy escort duties in 1942, until she was called back home.  She was present during Operation Torch (I mentioned her in our article on Casablanca), then she was assigned to USS Ranger’s escort.  After serving at Utah Beach during D day and Operation Dragoon (southern France invasion), she left for the Pacific and was present during both the Iwo Jima and Okinawa campaigns.  She survived the war, and was scrapped in 1959.

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USS Tuscaloosa (March 1942)

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San Francisco (CA 38) was present in Pearl Harbor when the Japanese attacked, but she was not damaged.  She was assigned to USS Saratoga’s group in support of Wake Island operations, then to USS Lexington’s group, in the same area.  She was present in the Guadalcanal campaign (as you could read from our November 14 edition),  and in October 1942, she received an “assist” award on the sinking of Japanese destroyer Fubuki.  The actions between November 12 and November 15 didn’t start well for her, as she was hit on the 12th by a Japanese aircraft.  The 13th didn’t provide any relief, as mentioned earlier, and she barely escaped the action, with a dead Admiral and Captain onboard.  After repairs, she was present again in several actions in the Pacific, where she didn’t receive any substantial damage.  She survived the war and was scrapped in 1959.

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USS San Francisco and DM Gwin, October 1944

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Quincy (CA 39), like Tuscaloosa, started her career in the Atlantic then in the Mediterranean.  She then traded assignments between the Atlantic and the Pacific until 1942, when she received her final assignment in the Pacific.

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During the Guadalcanal campaign, she was patrolling off the coast of Savo Island, north of Guadalcanal, between August 8 and August 9, when she was ambushed, alongside USS Astoria and Vincennes.  3 Japanese cruisers (Aoba, Furutaka, and Tenryū) focused on her, the latter one hitting her with 2 torpedoes.  The attacks continued with the Japanese using everything in range against her, until another torpedo from Aoba gave her a fatal blow.  She sank within 12 minutes.

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USS Quincy under Japanese search lights

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Vincennes (CA 44) also participated in the “neutrality patrols” and was also assigned to receive some of the French gold that had been transferred to Morocco, and bring it to the United States.  USS Vincennes was present during the Doolittle raid and the battle of Midway, where she helped defend USS Yorktown.  She participated in the Guadalcanal campaign and helped with shore bombardment and antiaircraft duties.

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During the night between November 8 and November 9, she was part of the cruiser group involving USS Astoria and Quincy.  Like her sisters, she was caught by surprise by Admiral Mikawa’s raid, and received full attention from half of the Japanese cruisers (the other ones were targeting Quincy), who hit her several times.  Being pummeled by gun shells, she altered her course just to launch herself in the wake of two Long Lance (type 93) torpedoes, stopping dead in the water within minutes.  Three New Orleans-class cruisers had been sunk during the same night.

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USS Vincennes on her way to Guadalcanal

[NGTM_1R]

1944

Akitsu Maru is, along with sistership Nigitsu Maru and a few other ships, a floating demonstration of the "What the-oh, it's Japan" phenomenon all internet users are occasionally afflicted with. You may recall from our No.101/T.101 discussion that the IJN was pretty slow about the whole “landing craft are useful and could be more useful if only we built some bigger ones and ships designed to deploy them.”

 

The Imperial Japanese Army wasn't. And if the Navy wasn't going to build them some amphibious craft, then by god the Army would do it for themselves. The result is what is sometimes considered the world's first amphibious assault ship, though being of a pre-helicopter age (mostly, we'll get to that) her capabilities were a lot more limited than that title would suggest.

 

Akitsu Maru was laid down as a passenger liner in September of 1939 for Nippon Kaiun K.K., but requisitioned before launching in 1941 by the Imperial Japanese Army for conversion to a “landing craft depot ship”. This belies her true purpose of lifting a regiment . In the USN Akitsu Maru would have probably been classed as an APA; a dedicated transport outfitted to land troops via its own boats. Then there's the elephant in the room.

Akitsu Maru in painting form as she was originally completed.

Your eyes do not deceive you. That's a flight deck. Now, with the mast and erect-able derricks blocking it aft plus it doesn't go all the way aft, you're not landing here. But it's a flight deck. You can launch aircraft, but not recover them. The idea was Akitsu Maru could launch aircraft to cover a landing, which could then land ashore at newly captured airstrips. This is such an obvious gamble that it was never actually done, but the ability to carry about 30 planes and send them ashore when somebody did finally take an airfield wasn't a bad one. There was no hanger deck, the flight deck was just a structure over the regular ship's deck, so aircraft were parked in a semi-sheltered but still open to the air area.

 

Launched in September 1941 and completed in January of 1942, Akitsu Maru's first major operation was literally the next month when she participated in the invasion of Java. She was busy shuffling troops and supplies around the Japan/Korea/China area with occasional trips to Rabaul. This describes her until 18 November 1943, when the United States, in the form of submarine USS Crevalle, turns up. Crevalle fires six torpedoes at Akitsu Maru, but the poor quality of the Mark 14 means the detonate short. On the 27th her convoy is attacked by B-25s, with Hakone Maru being sunk, but Akitsu Maru is untouched.

Akitsu Maru after escort carrier conversion; your guess as to the plane is as good as mine, but it's sure not a Ki-76.

In April 1944 Akitsu Maru is converted at Aioi for a full carrier deck and outfitted with seven Ki-76 “Stella” Type 3 Command Liaison Aircraft, which while not actually copies of are at the least close cousins to the famous German Fi-158 Storch light utility aircraft. As her Ki-76 aircraft are fitted to carry two 60kg depth bombs and an arrestor hook, it is reasonable to assume Akitsu Maru also acquired arresting gear, but the existent literature does not state this is so. She will serve as a yeoman escort carrier, since the IJN is really poor at doing it in the eyes of the Army (and of their enemies).

Flight ops; Ki-76s on Akitsu Maru's deck.

On the 14th of November, 1944, Akitsu Maru finally beats up that “pre-helicopter age” comment I made earlier for its lunch money, embarking two Kayaba Ka-1 autogyros for VSTOL use, able to carry a single 60kg depth charge or bomb each, and thus becomes the world's first LHD if you squint hard enough. The next day in the Korean Strait USS Queenfish, alerted by codebreaking, sights the convoy Akitsu Maru is a part of at 1052. One of the air escort drops a smoke float, having sighted the submarine, and the escorts charge. Queenfish launches four torpedoes from stern tubes at 1155, en route to deep submergence. One of the torpedoes strikes Akitsu Maru's aft magazine, setting off a supply of depth charges for use with the EMB suicide attack boats aboard, and the after portion of the ship blows apart in a massive explosion, then another as water hits her boilers. Akitsu Maru capsizes to port in three minutes. 67 crew, 140 gunners, and 2,093 men of the 64th Infantry Regiment share the ship's fate. 310, mostly ship's crew, survive to be rescued by escorts.

Something cool for you: Akitsu Maru conducting trials on Japanese autogyros for her use during the war, IN VIDEO. It starts 5 minutes in.

Dimensions

Length: 471 feet 7 inches

Width: 64 feet

Draft: 25 feet 9 inches

Displacement: 11800 tons standard

Armament

2x 75mm Type 88 AA Gun

10x 75mm field gun

Engines

4 boilers, 2 turbines, 2 shafts

7500 SHP

Performance

20 knots

Aircraft

As Ferry

30

As carrier

8 + 2 autogyro

Landing Craft

20 as standard complement, up to 27 as designed

[NGTM_1R]

Oh and because Kirishima, my earlier post about Kirishima; it's recycled, so feel free to skip if you've read it.

 

NGTM_1R, on 08 September 2013 - 10:52 PM, said:

Kirishima (“Misty Island”, a 1700 meter high active volcano in Kagoshima Prefecture on Kyushu), was laid down on 17 March 1912, at Mitsubushi Zosen Kaisha in Nagasaki. She is launched in December of of next year, but curiously is transferred before the end of the month to nearby Sasebo for completion.

 

 

(Launching Day for Kirishima, 1 December 1913.)

Before Kirishima joins the fleet, World War 1 breaks out. Work on Kirishima and equally incomplete sistership Haruna is accelerated. On April 19 1915, Kirishima is officially commissioned and completed. June 12 sees the ship assigned to BatDiv 1 along with Haruna, but the ugly truth is neither ship is ready for action. It is another several months until Kirishima is deployed for the first time, but she has begun regular patrols off the China coast by April of 1916. World War 1 is, as for the other Kongos, boring. In July of 1918, Kirishima serves an unusual duty in transporting Prince Arthur of Connaught, the last of Queen Victoria's sons, home to Canada.

Between the wars there are the little incidents of peacetime; in September 1922 Kirishima sideswipes with destroyer Fuji during excerises, resulting in minor damage to both vessels. In September of the next year, the Great Kanto Earthquake occupies the month as First Fleet engages in rescue and recovery work around Kure. December of 1926 to April of 1930 occupies her first reconstruction period. (And the ship has no less than six commanding officers during this period of under four years!) The second reconstruction takes place from 18 November 1934 to 8 June 1936, leaving Kirishima in the configuration she will eventually go to war in.

 

(Kirishima in 1938, photographed off Amoy on the China coast by USS Pillsbury, 21 Oct 1938.)

War looms in 1941. Kirishima arrives at Sasebo on 11 November 1941 for final maintenance and resupply prior to wartime operations. She reports to Hashirajima four days later for her first wartime assignment; BatDiv 3, Second Section. North to Etorofu Island in the Kuriles, to meet up with Dai-Ichi Kido Butai, the carrier strike force, which Kirishima will provide escort for during the Pearl Harbor attack. The time Kirishima spends in the North Pacific is actually quite brutal on the ship, as the harsh weather leads to significant damage to the deck fittings, and tears the protective coverings off her forward gunports. Kirishima requires a 3-day stay in a drydock at Kure for repairs after returning from Pearl Harbor.

 

(Kirishima, Hiei, and Akagi from right to left, in the North Pacific headed for Hawaii, 6 December 1941. Note the heavy seas breaking over Kirishima's forward turrets.)

Kirishima is part of the same farce regarding USS Edsall near Java as Hiei is. Kirishima, showing more restraint than Hiei, holds her fire until 1718, opening at a range of 19,400 yards, and checking fire at 1730. Kirishima fires 87 14” Type 1 AP and 62 6” shells at Edsall for no hits.

 

In the Indian Ocean Kirishima herself sees no action, but one of her floatplanes spots a fleeing British fleet oiler and showing unusual bloodthirstiness for a scout strafes it. Kirishima returns to Japan and conducts gunnery practice in the Iyo Nada prior to joining Kido Butai for Midway. During the battle Kirishima tangles several times with USS Nautilus, engaging the submarine's periscope with her guns. Nautilus returns at least one torpedo, but misses. As June 4 closes Kirishima stands by crippled Hiryu faithfully, ready to tow her, but as the night wears on it becomes obvious that Hiryu's fires cannot be stopped and the ship cannot be saved, and Kirishima turns for home.

 

Next, the Battle of the Eastern Solomons. Kirishima, testing new AA mutual defense techniques, is stationed much closer in to Shokaku than normal. There is distinct nervousness among the bridge watch at having two capital ships so close, but the formation appears to work during the battle, as Kirishima and Shokaku are able to combine their heavy AA firepower against a B-17 strike. The two ships return to Truk, then Kirishima sorties again to provide “distant cover” for Haruna and Kongo's bombardment of Henderson Field, returning to Truk once more.

 

25 October 1942, the day before the Battle of Santa Cruz, is a busy one for Kirishima. At 1000 hours, Kirishima's floatplanes intercept a PBY-5A snooping on the task force, chasing it away damaged. At 1500, six B-17s bomb Kirishima but fail to score. The next day American carrier aircraft attack. Kirishima escapes being attacked by a section of Dauntlesses, but is ordered home. They will not see action until next month.

 

It is 13 November 1942. Despite the warnings available, Kirishima stumbles into the First Naval Battle of Guadalcanal blindly, guns secured fore and aft, loaded with incendaries, ignorant there are enemy warships in the area until they open fire on escorting destroyer Akatsuki. Kirishima engages USS Portland early in the battle and scores one hit but quickly loses track of the target; she shifts fire to USS Helena, again scoring a single hit, while her secondary batteries engage destroyers USS Laffey, USS Monssen, and USS Aaron Ward at various points. Kirishima's director crews find it almost impossible to maintain fire on a single target during the melee, at one point firing three salvos at USS San Francisco before they realize they have accidentally shifted targets from Helena. San Francisco takes three hits against her armor belt from Kirishima, but as they are Type 3 Sanshikidan shells, the result is minor damage only. Return fire hits Kirishima with at least one 8” shell in the is raked by machinegun fire, killing seven men. During the action Kirishima fires 27 Type 1 AP 14”, 22 Type 3 Sanshikidan 14”, and 8 Type 0 high-explosive 14”, plus 313 6” rounds.

 

(Takao, foreground, and Kirishima, in the back, headed south to Guadalcanal as seen from Atago's deck, shortly after dawn on November 14 1942; Kirishima has less than twenty-four hours left to live.)

Vice Admiral Kondo, relieving Vice Admiral Abe, is ordered to collect his remaining forces and make a second attempt to shell Henderson Field. Inbound to Henderson Field again, the force runs afoul of USS Trout, which fires five torpedoes. One, a dud, strikes Kirishima, a second runs underneath an escorting destroyer. After this scare, the Second Naval Battle of Guadalcanal opens.

At 2210, 14 November 1942, light cruiser Sendai reports two enemy cruisers and four destroyers north of Savo Island. This is a serious failure of identification; the “cruisers” are actually fast battleships USS South Dakota and USS Washington. At 2301 Washington reveals this to Sendai, light cruiser Nagara, and destroyers Uranami and Ayanami in the most inconvenient manner possible, opening up with main and secondary batteries in radar control. Sendai makes smoke and runs for it, while Nagara and the destroyers launch torpedoes before making smoking and running. The smoke is no defense, as Washington and South Dakota's guns blast Ayanami into a wreck.

 

At 2351 lookouts aboard Kirishima sight South Dakota off the starboard bow. At 2353, searchlights from Kirishima and heavy cruisers Atago and Takao illuminate South Dakota and they open fire with all available guns. Kirishima fires a total of 117 14” rounds, 68 Type 3 Sanshikidan, 22 Type 0 high-explosive, and 27 Type 1 APC. One of the AP rounds explodes against South Dakota's No. 3 barbette; other hits are claimed against the armor belt, but the shells are Type 3 and do not leave much of a mark against the US ship's formidable armor if they actually struck home. At least five 6” rounds from Kirishima's secondary battery strike home against South Dakota. The US battleship is severely damaged in her superstructure and her internal communications and fire control are a shambles, but will escape the battle.

 

Lookouts aboard Takao shout out a warning that there is a second enemy battleship. The message will not reach Kirishima in time. Washington, undetected, has approached to 5,800 yards of Kirishima. At midnight she opens fire. The first salvo is a straddle. The second never touches the water. This salvo devastates Kirishima, disabling the forward turrets, one shell detonating high in the forward superstructure, and others punching into the secondary battery area and near the waterline amidships. 5” shells from Washington fall on Kirishima like rain, starting numerous fires. More 16” shells knock out the after turret hydraulic system, jamming them in train, and one passes through the steering compartment before detonating in the water on the other side of the ship. Numerous “shorts” from Washington strike below or near the waterline and are interpreted by the Japanese as torpedo hits. By 0012 Kirishima's main battery is disabled, she has multiple fires burning aft and amidships as well as one inside Turret No. 2, she is taking on water from numerous hits below the waterline to starboard, and she is almost unable to steer with a shell having passed through her steering compartment and another having actually hit her rudder and detonated near it.

 

Washington, having taken twelve minutes to destroy Kirishima as a warship and inflict damage that will almost certainly be fatal, ceases fire and disappears into the night again. The Japanese estimate of hits in Kirishima's detailed action report is 9 major-caliber and forty 5”. Postwar accounts by Kirishima's assistant gunnery officer and research by historian Robert Lundgren will place the number of 16” at twenty, and seventeen smaller. (Check out his study of the battle here.)

 

Rudders jammed 10 degrees to starboard, Kirishima tries to escape. Her forward magazines are flooded to prevent explosion, and she is listing to starboard. Several efforts are made to steer with engines, but it doesn't work. Nagara tries to tow the battleship, but the light cruiser doesn't have the engine power. By 0249 the steering compartment is flooded, most of the fires are out, but Kirishima is listing more. Counterflooding of the port engine rooms is ordered as a last effort to correct the list, but this just causes Kirishima to list the other way and out of control. Abandon Ship is ordered and destroyers Asagumo, Teruzuki, and Samidare take off the crew and stand by.

 

Kirishima sinks at 0325 on November 15 1942, capsizing to port seven and a half miles northwest of Savo Island. 212 crew share the ship's fate; another 1,098 survive including her captain. As a minor consolation, the traditional Emperor's portrait is saved from Kirishima where it was not from Hiei. Kirishima's story is not yet over, however. Fifty years later in August of 1992, her wreck is discovered by Robert Ballard, lying upside down with its bow amputated by a magazine explosion that must have occurred after she sank.

[Capcon]

Cool video. Autogyros look decidedly weird to me. Sure they work and all but as a pilot the shaft for the helicopter blades sticking up right in the line of sight had to be a real headache.

[Flagship_Amagi]

thanks for the info! +1

[Spartanpanzer07]

Ariecho, on 15 November 2013 - 05:20 PM, said:

General:
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November 15 was another busy date in WWI and WW2 history.  What follows are the other events that we didn't cover, but that (in our eyes) were worth writing about.  As SirDerpofCamelot did yesterday, if you feel like covering any of them in this thread, please go ahead.  

1902 - IJN Niitaka was launched
1906 - IJN Satsuma was launched
1916 - SMS Karlsruhe was commissioned
1933 - FS Montcalm was laid down
1937 - FS Georges Leygue, Gloire, and Montcalm were commissioned
1944 - IJN Akitsu Maru was sunk

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Statistics: On a November 15, between 1917 and 1945

.

Allies:

43 surface ships were laid down

25 surface ships were launched

43 surface ships were commissioned

6 surface ships were lost

.

Germany:

1 surface ship was commissioned

.

Japan:

2 surface ships were launched

1 surface ship was commissioned

2 surface ships were sunk

.

Italy:

1 surface ship was commissioned

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1933

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On November 15, 1933, not 1 but 2 New Orleans-class ships had an important event:  USS Quincy (CA 39) was laid down, while her older sister, USS Tuscaloosa (CA37), was launched on that very same day.
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If you ever wondered where the name Quincy came from, here is a hint.  The shipyard who built USS Quincy was Bethlehem Steel Corporation Shipbuilding Division, headquartered in … Quincy, Massachusetts.  USS Tuscaloosa, for her part, was built by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation (see my article about them in Navygaming), and named after the city of Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
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New Orleans-class
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The New Orleans-class was composed of 7 heavy cruisers.  Heavy cruisers, according to the London conference of 1930, meant that they could displace up to 10,000 tons, and could be armed with 8-inch guns, as opposed to light cruisers, who could only be armed with 6-inch guns.  Here is an interesting thing about heavy cruisers’ denomination.  Under the conference’s terms, a cruiser would be referred to with the letter “C”.  Cruisers would be separated into 2 classes: (A) heavy and (B) light.  So, it makes perfect sense that heavy cruisers were since then preceded with CA.  Now, why do we have CL for light cruisers, and not CB?  Is it because it is reserved for the battlecruisers (CB) when it would make more sense to call them BC.  But I digress…
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The New Orleans-class should have actually been named the Astoria-class, as the Astoria was the first ship of the class to be laid down.  As a matter of fact, they were, until USS Astoria was sunk during the battle of Savo Island, at which point, the other ships were reclassified as New Orleans-class heavy cruisers.
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Predecessors:
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Treaty heavy cruisers

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Jracule wrote a splendid article on US Heavy cruisers, which you can find here.  I will only speak briefly about all these classes, but you should know that before the United States Navy developed the New Orleans class, several other classes of “Treaty Cruisers” were built.  The first ones were the Pensacola-class, followed by the Northampton-class, then the Portland-class, and eventually the New Orleans-class.
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The Pensacola-class only had 2 cruisers: USS Pensacola (CA 24) and USS Salt Lake City (CA 25).  Pensacola cruisers’ trademark was their 10 8-inch guns in 2 triple batteries mounted over 2 twin batteries.
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The Northampton-class was an improvement over the Pensacola-class.  Instead of the Pensacola-class odd guns’ disposition, the Northampton-class had 9 8-inch guns divided into 3 turrets of 3.  The Northampton-class counted 6 ships: USS Northampton (CA 26), Chester (CA 27), Louisville (CA 28), Chicago (Ca 29), Houston (CA 30)and Augusta (CA 31).  All were laid down in 1928.
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The Portland-class followed the Northampton-class.  5 ships were supposed to be built, but in the end, only 2 were commissioned: USS Portland (CA 33)and USS Indianapolis (CA 35).  Like their predecessors, these “heavy” cruisers still had a very light armor, typical of all Treaty cruisers.  This said, with an average 5-inch, they were still better protected than their predecessor, as the Northampton-class’ armor was only 3-inch.  Armament remained the same (203mm/55 Mark 14), with 9 guns in 3 triple turrets.
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New Orleans-class
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With “only” 588 feet in length, the New Orleans cruisers were shorter than two of their predecessors, who were either 600 feet long, or longer.  Only the Pensacola cruisers, with 570 feet, were shorter than them.  To achieve the reduction in length, engineers sacrificed the extra space in the machinery rooms, shortening them by  4 feet each.  They compensated that with a thick armor, and a higher displacement that, after war was declared on the United States, eventually exceeded any treaty agreement.
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Armor
New Orleans-class cruisers’ armor was this still generally light and similar to the Portland’s belt, but better protection was provided on the turrets.  Their speed, listed as 33 knots (other sources might disagree) was also comparable to other heavy cruisers, give or take.  Their advantage though, was in their endurance, which was far greater than most European heavy cruisers.
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Armament
The New Orleans’ main armament was originally the same as what could be found on the Portland.  The 8-inch (203mm)/55 Mark 14, model 0 or model 1.  New Orleans received the Mark 14 model 0, Minneapolis received the Mark 14 model 1, and Astoria, Tuscaloosa, San Francisco, Quincy, and Vincennes received the Mark 12, which resulted in different turrets.  Theoretical values for the guns indicated a range of 31,700 yards (18 miles), with an armor penetration of 5-inch at 10,000 yards.
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Turrets' difference

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New Orleans’ secondary armament was the 5-inch dual-purpose gun, and the ships eventually also received adequate antiaircraft guns when their original 1.1-inch was replaced by 40mm Bofors.
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Operational fate
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Each of this ships deserves more than a few paragraphs to describe what they (and the men who served on them) went through.  I’ll try to give them justice.
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USS New Orleans (CA 32)was one of the 2 heavy cruisers present in Pearl Harbor, in 1941.  In 1942, she was present at the battle of the Coral Sea then at Midway, where she was tasked with escorting USS Saratoga, after she was hit.  She then served during the Guadalcanal campaign, and was part of the battle of Tassafaronga, on November 30. During the fight, she was hit by a torpedo that totally destroyed her bow, annihilating anything in front of turret #2.
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She only returned into action late 1943, when she participated in the battles of Wake Island and Gilbert Islands.  In 1944, she was one of the two ships (the other one being her sister Minneapolis) who intercepted and sank IJN Katori.  She also participated in Saipan, Truk, and the battle of the Philippine Sea, and was present at Leyte Gulf.
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There, as part of TF 34, she was part of the sinking of CV Chiyoda and DD Hatsutskuki.  Her last influential campaign was Okinawa.  She survived the war, to be scrapped in 1959.
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Damage occurred during battle of Tassafaronga (November 30/December 1, 1942)

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Astoria (CA 34)missed the Pearl Harbor attack, as she was on her way to Midway.  She was then attached to USS Yorktown’s escort, then to the ANZAC force, alongside USS Chicago and HMAS Australia.  Astoria was present at both the battles of Coral Sea and Midway, and then was deployed to Guadalcanal.
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On August 9, she was sunk during a surprise attack by 7 Japanese cruisers.  After avoiding 4 salvoes, Astoria was struck by the 5th one, which set her turret #1 ablaze, giving the Japanese ships a perfect target.
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USS Astoria, early 1942

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Minneapolis (CA 36) received her first operational deployment as escort to USS Lexington’s group (TF 11), then to the ANZAC force.  Minneapolis participated in both Coral Sea and Midway campaigns, then joined the Guadalcanal campaign.  On November 30, 1942, she was also present in Tassafaronga, when she was hit by torpedoes launched by Japanese destroyers.  Although heavily damaged, she managed to sail back to the United States, where she stayed until September 1943.  She was active in many campaigns afterwards, including Leyte Gulf, Bataan, Corregidor, and Okinawa.  Her last war mission led her to Korea where she accepted the Japanese surrender.  She was decommissioned in 1947, and scrapped in 1959.
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Minneapolis' damage after Tassafaronga

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Tuscaloosa (CA 37) started her pre-war career in the Atlantic, in what was then called the “neutrality patrols”.  She then did some convoy escort duties in 1942, until she was called back home.  She was present during Operation Torch (I mentioned her in our article on Casablanca), then she was assigned to USS Ranger’s escort.  After serving at Utah Beach during D day and Operation Dragoon (southern France invasion), she left for the Pacific and was present during both the Iwo Jima and Okinawa campaigns.  She survived the war, and was scrapped in 1959.
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USS Tuscaloosa (March 1942)

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San Francisco (CA 38)was present in Pearl Harbor when the Japanese attacked, but she was not damaged.  She was assigned to USS Saratoga’s group in support of Wake Island operations, then to USS Lexington’s group, in the same area.  She was present in the Guadalcanal campaign (as you could read from our November 14 edition),  and in October 1942, she received an “assist” award on the sinking of Japanese destroyer Fubuki.  The actions between November 12 and November 15 didn’t start well for her, as she was hit on the 12th by a Japanese aircraft.  The 13th didn’t provide any relief, as mentioned earlier, and she barely escaped the action, with a dead Admiral and Captain onboard.  After repairs, she was present again in several actions in the Pacific, where she didn’t receive any substantial damage.  She survived the war and was scrapped in 1959.
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USS San Francisco and DM Gwin, October 1944

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Quincy (CA 39), like Tuscaloosa, started her career in the Atlantic then in the Mediterranean.  She then traded assignments between the Atlantic and the Pacific until 1942, when she received her final assignment in the Pacific.
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During the Guadalcanal campaign, she was patrolling off the coast of Savo Island, north of Guadalcanal, between November 8 and November 9, when she was ambushed, alongside USS AstoriaandVincennes.  3 Japanese cruisers (Aoba, Furutaka, and Tenryū) focused on her, the latter one hitting her with 2 torpedoes.  The attacks continued with the Japanese using everything in range against her, until another torpedo from Aoba gave her a fatal blow.  She sank within 12 minutes.
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USS Quincy under Japanese search lights

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Vincennes (CA 44)also participated in the “neutrality patrols” and was also assigned to receive some of the French gold that had been transferred to Morocco, and bring it to the United States.  USS Vincennes was present during the Doolittle raid and the battle of Midway, where she helped defend USS Yorktown.  She participated in the Guadalcanal campaign and helped with shore bombardment and antiaircraft duties.
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During the night between November 8 and November 9, she was part of the cruiser group involving USS Astoria and Quincy.  Like her sisters, she was caught by surprise by Admiral Mikawa’s raid, and received full attention from half of the Japanese cruisers (the other ones were targeting Quincy), who hit her several times.  Being pummeled by gun shells, she altered her course just to launch herself in the wake of two Long Lance (type 93) torpedoes, stopping dead in the water within minutes.  Three New Orleans-class cruisers had been sunk during the same night.
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USS Vincennes on her way to Guadalcanal

well I didn't read the whole thing but I'll still give you a +1 for the topic, the statistics are interesting.

[carvine1]

Love these posts. Now lets put a kirishima... as i always do.

[Robert9670]

Don't forget, I did a thread about USS Vincennes (CA-44), one of the ships in the New Orleans-class.

[ang000]

Nice post, good info

[Wolcott]

Hard to believe that over a thousand men, including the captain, from the Kirishima survived despite the intense beating Washington gave her. How many casualties did South Dakota suffer in the engagement?

[SirDerpOfCamelot]

Yet another great article, keep up the good work guys!  :honoring:

[NGTM_1R]

Wolcott, on 16 November 2013 - 05:16 AM, said:

Hard to believe that over a thousand men, including the captain, from the Kirishima survived despite the intense beating Washington gave her. How many casualties did South Dakota suffer in the engagement?

Also relatively few. These ships took serious poundings but their ordeals were not prolonged enough to result in serious crew casualties. Equally important to the low figure is the fact that Kirishima's wounded didn't have to go over the side, but were taken off in an organized fashion by her escorts.

[Wolcott]

NGTM_1R, on 16 November 2013 - 01:52 PM, said:

Also relatively few. These ships took serious poundings but their ordeals were not prolonged enough to result in serious crew casualties. Equally important to the low figure is the fact that Kirishima's wounded didn't have to go over the side, but were taken off in an organized fashion by her escorts.

Seeing how close Kirishima was to Guadalcanal, it's a wonder why no Allied planes were sent to finish her off and the destroyer escorts (not even from Henderson Field), just in case she didn't sink. The ship's burning hull should've highlighted its position in the darkness.