American Cruisers

The Omaha Class are the United States’ first Light Cruisers, being built in the mid-1920s. They were the United States’ only Light Cruisers until the Brooklyn Class, which came online in the late-1930s. The United States designed the Cleveland Class as a successor to the Brooklyn Class prior to World War 2, and ramped up production of the warships during the war, ultimately completing 27. During the war, issues were found with the original Cleveland design, so the Fargo Class was developed as a small improvement. After the war was over, the United States developed one more Light Cruiser Class, the Worcester Class, which were the largest Light Cruisers ever built using new Dual-Purpose Main Batteries. They were shortlived however, only serving into the late-1950s.

The Pensacola Class are the United States’ first Heavy Cruisers. They had a few issues, and so a new Class, the Northampton Class, was developed as an improvement over them. The following 2 Classes, the Portland and New Orleans Classes, were incremental improvements over the previous Classes, mainly in terms of armor. All American Heavy Cruisers had a Displacement limit up to this point, and the next ship, Wichita, was the first Heavy Cruiser not compliant to the limit, it was a mix of a Brooklyn Class Hull and a Main Battery similar to the New Orleans Class. Wichita laid the groundwork for the Baltimore Class Cruiser, which were produced throughout the war. Like the Cleveland Class, the Baltimore Class encountered a few minor issues, and the Oregon City Class was developed to fix them. After the war ended, the Des Moines Class was developed, they were the biggest Heavy Cruisers ever built, and featured an autoloading Main Battery. They served throughout the rest of the 20th century, and were the last Heavy Cruisers in the world.

The United States was looking for Destroyer Leaders during the 1930s, and the Atlanta Class was built for that purpose, however, during the war, the Atlanta Class was proven to fulfill the Anti-Aircraft Cruiser role very well, and later was reclassified as such. Like the Cleveland and Baltimore Classes, minor issues were encountered, and the Juneau Class was developed to fix them. They were shortlived however, and all Anti-Aircraft Cruisers were decommissioned before 1960.

The Alaska Class was developed to counter rumors that Japan was building new Battlecruisers, which the United States couldn’t counter. As a result of these rumors, and Japan’s huge Heavy Cruiser fleet, the Alaska Class was built. However once these ships were finally ready for combat, the Japanese Heavy Cruisers were no longer a threat, and the Japanese never built the Battlecruisers that had been the catalyst for the Alaska Class to be built. As a result, these warships were decommissioned fairly quickly and served a limited role in the war.

With the age of Missiles dawning, the United States converted several existing Light and Heavy Cruisers into Guided Missile Cruisers. The Boston, Galveston, Providence, and Albany Classes were converted Cleveland, Baltimore, and Oregon City Class Cruisers. Long Beach was the United States’ first above-water Nuclear-Powered Warship. The Leahy Class was designed ground-up to be Guided Missile Cruisers. The United States developed a Nuclear-Powered variant of it, the Bainbridge. New Guided Missile Cruisers were designed, and the Belknap Class was developed, alongside a Nuclear-Powered variant, Truxtun. Two more Nuclear-Powered Classes were developed, the California and Virginia Class Cruisers. However, with funding being cut, all Nuclear-Powered Cruisers were decommissioned in the 1990s. The Ticonderoga Class Cruisers are built in the 1980s and are the most numerous Class of Guided Missile Cruisers, with some still active today, however, they’re being phased out, and all are expected to be decommissioned by 2027.