Alaska-class cruiser

Alaska during her shakedown cruise in August 1944
Class overview
Name	Alaska class
Builders	New York Shipbuilding Corporation
Operators	United States Navy
Built	17 December 1941 – 11 September 1944
In commission	17 June 1944 – 17 February 1947
General characteristics
Type	Large cruiser
Displacement	29,771 long tons (30,249 t) (standard) 34,253 long tons (34,803 t) (full load)[1]
Length	808 ft 6 in (246.43 m) overall[1] 791 ft 6 in (241.25 m) waterline
Beam	91 ft 9.375 in (28.0 m)[1]
Draft	27 ft 1 in (8.26 m) (mean)[8] 31 ft 9.25 in (9.68 m) (maximum)[1]
Propulsion	4-shaft General Electric steam turbines, double-reduction gearing,[2] 8 Babcock & Wilcox boilers[3] 150,000 shp (110,000 kW)[1]
Speed	33 knots (61 km/h; 38 mph)[9][3][10][6]
Range	12,000 nautical miles (22,000 km; 14,000 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)[1]
Complement	1,517[3][6]–1,799[7]–2,251[8][9][B]
Armament	9 × 12-inch (305 mm)/50 caliber Mark 8 guns[1] (3 × 3) 12 × 5-inch (127 mm)/38 caliber dual-purpose[2] guns[1] (6 × 2)[2] 56 × 40 mm (1.57 in)[1] Bofors (14 × 4)[2] 34 × 20mm Oerlikon (34 × 1)[1][2]
Armor	Main side belt: 9 in (230 mm) gradually thinning to 5 in (130 mm), sloped at 10 degrees[3] Armor deck: 3.8–4 in (97–102 mm)[3] Weather (main) deck: 1.4 in (36 mm)[1][3] Splinter (third) deck: 0.625 in (15.9 mm)[3] Barbettes: 11–13 in (280–330 mm)[3] Turrets: 12.8 in (330 mm) face, 5 in (130 mm) roof, 5.25–6 in (133–152 mm) side and 5.25 in (133 mm) rear.[3] Conning tower: 10.6 in (270 mm) with 5 in (130 mm) roof[3][6]
Aircraft carried	4 × OS2U Kingfisher or SC Seahawk[5][A]
Aviation facilities	Enclosed hangar located amidships[3][4]

The Alaska-class were six very large cruisers ordered before World War II for the United States Navy, of which only two were completed and saw service late in the war. The US Navy designation for the ships of this class was 'large cruiser' (CB), a designation unique to the Alaska-class, and the majority of leading reference works consider them as such. However, various other works have alternately described these ships as battlecruisers despite the US Navy having never classified them as such and having actively discouraged the use of the term in describing the class. The Alaskas were all named after territories or insular areas of the United States, signifying their intermediate status between larger battleships (which were mostly named after states) and smaller heavy and light cruisers (which were named after cities).^[C]

The idea for a large cruiser class originated in the early 1930s when the U.S. Navy sought to counter the Deutschland-class "pocket battleships" being launched by Germany. Planning for ships that eventually evolved into the Alaska-class began in the late 1930s after the deployment of Germany's Scharnhorst-class battleships and rumors that Japan was constructing a new large cruiser class, the B-65 "super cruiser."^[10][D] To serve as "cruiser-killers" capable of seeking out and destroying these post-treaty heavy cruisers, the class was given large guns of a new and expensive design, limited armor protection against 12-inch shells, and machinery capable of speeds of about 31–33 knots (57–61 km/h; 36–38 mph).

Of the six planned, Alaska and Guam were the only two to be completed; a third, Hawaii, was still building at the war's end and had its construction suspended on 16 April 1947, while the remaining three were cancelled. Alaska and Guam served with the U.S. Navy for the last year of World War II as bombardment ships and fast carrier escorts. They were decommissioned in 1947 after spending only 32 and 29 months in service, respectively.

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