Portland-class Heavy Cruiser

A Portland class heavy cruiser was one of two large and fast warships which were built for the US Navy between 1930 and 1932. They were the USS Indianapolis (CA-35) and the USS Portland (CA-33). Both of them would see combat action in the Pacific Theater of Operation of World War II. However, only the second one survived the war, as USS Indianapolis would be sunk by the Japanese submarine I-58 on July 30, 1945, with one torpedo. This class of heavy cruisers had been preceded by the Northampton class, which comprised six warships. Thus, the new vessels were slightly longer (610-ft long compared to the 600 feet of their predecessors). They also had further improvements to the armor protection.

The two Portland class heavy cruisers saw intense naval combat action throughout the war in the Pacific. Having been commissioned on February 23, 1933, USS Portland (CA-33) was assigned to Task Force 17. During her first serious military engagement, she was hit by three air-launched torpedoes, which failed to explode, at the Battle of Santa Cruz Islands in October 1942. However, she would be less fortunate at Guadalcanal, when she was hit by a destroyer-launched torpedo and severely damaged on November 13, 1942. After being repaired, she returned to duty and took part in the Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaigns. After the war, Portland was in reserve for many years until 1959, the year she was scrapped.

The USS Indianapolis had been commissioned in November 1932. When the United States entered the war, she was assigned to Task Force 11 as an escort of carrier USS Saratoga (CV-3). After participating in the Aleutian Islands campaign, she was transferred to the 5th Fleet, becoming the flagship of Vice Admiral Raymond A. Spruance.  In November 1943, she took part of the Gilbert Islands campaign and the invasion of Tarawa. Just before the end of the war, she sailed alone to Tinian, Mariana Islands, on a secret mission, without escort, as she had been assigned to carry critical components of the first atomic bomb that would be dropped on Hiroshima. After successfully completing the mission, USS Indianapolis was attacked and hit by the Japanese submarine I-58 on July 30, 1945. She sank an hour later and most of her crew were eaten by sharks.

Specifications

Type: heavy cruiser

Displacement: 10,258 tons, standard; 12,755 tons, full loaded.

Length: 185.9 m (610 feet)

Beam: 20.1 m (66 feet)

Draft: 6.4 m (21 feet)

Propulsion: four Parsons geared turbines, with four shafts, supplied by eight boilers, generating 107,000 sHP.

Maximum Speed: 32.7 knots (60.6 km/h or 37.6 mph)

Range: 13,000 nautical miles (14,960 miles)

Complement: 900 men (on the day she was sunk)

Armor: 58-mm-thick on belt.

Armament: nine 203-mm (8-inch) naval guns set up in three triplet turrets; eight 127-mm (5-inch) guns.

Above, USS Portland (CA-33) being repaired in drydock in late 1942, after being damaged off the coast of Guadalcanal.

USS Indianapolis (CA-35) in late 1932 after completion.

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Cruiser (warship)

A cruiser is a surface warship used by modern navies for doing battle against light enemy naval forces. One of its main tasks is to escort and defend aircraft carriers and other capital ships. Along with destroyers, the cruiser also protects convoys, supporting marine landing parties. This modern war vessel also provides fire support for the coastal flanks of ground forces, laying minefields, and performing other combat missions.

Cruisers (as a class of warships) had first appeared in Great Britain in the 1860’s, while the Russian Navy introduced its first cruiser in the 1870’s. In Russia, cruisers were subdivided in 1892 into first-rank cruisers (armor-clad and armor-decked) and second-rank cruisers, which were called light cruisers. During World War II (1939–45) the class of cruisers was divided into the sub-classes of heavy and light cruisers. In the navies of certain nations (the United States of America and Great Britain) there was a class of line cruisers (the largest armor-clad ships after battle-ships, with heavy turreted artillery). In the 1960’s missile cruisers, air defense cruisers, anti-submarine cruisers, and other types appeared in the navies of various countries. In the anti-submarine role, this type of warship has partially replaced the destroyer.

The main weapons of present-day cruisers are rifled (102–203 mm) artillery and missile complexes, composed of surface-to-air, anti-ship, and land-attack missiles. In addition, this modern warship is also armed with torpedoes (six to eight tubes), and mines (up to 200–300). Most cruisers have one or two light aircraft, which are launched by catapults, or one or two helicopters, which are used for reconnaissance and adjustment of fire. Today, drones are also used. The basic dimensions of cruisers are as follows: length, up to 200–220 m; width, 20–23 m; draft, up to 8 m. The displacement of light cruisers is 7,000–9,000 tons, and for heavy cruisers it is up to 20,000–30,000 tons. The main engines are steam turbines with a capacity of 44.2–88.4 megawatts (60,000–120,000 horsepower), crew sizes range from 600 to 1,300, and cruising speeds go up to 30–35 knots (55–65 km/hr). The full cruising range is 9,000–12,000 miles (17,000–22,000 km).

Above, a Slava-class cruiser of the Russian Navy sailing in the Black Sea.

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USS Indianapolis (CA-35)

USS Indianapolis (CA-35) was an American warship used by the US Navy during World War II and sunk by a Japanese submarine in 1945. Being a Portland-class heavy cruiser, she was equipped with nine 203-mm (8-inch) and eight 127-mm guns. Like her sister ship of the class, she was a fast and modern vessel that was powered by four Parsons steam geared turbines. She welcomed aboard the US President Franklin D. Roosevelt on three different occasions. However, she would become famous for other reason; when she was torpedoed and sunk, almost a third of her compliment were eaten alive by sharks that roamed the Pacific waters. She had participated in several naval engagements and earned ten battle stars.

The USS Indianapolis (CA-35) was laid down as a cruiser in 1930. However, on July 7, 1931, she would be re-designated as heavy cruiser. Built by the New York Shipbuilding Co at Camden, New Jersey, she was launched on November 7, 1931, and commissioned on November 15, 1932. She was assigned to the Pacific Fleet. When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, she was away from the naval base, sailing off Johnson Island, west of Hawaii. In late 1943, she became the flagship of Raymond Spruance, the commander of the Fifth Fleet. Thus, Indianapolis took part in the US invasion of Tarawa, Saipan, Peleliu, and Okinawa, with her guns pounding the beaches to soften the terrain. In June 1944, she also took part in the Battle of the Philippine Sea.

A month and half before the war ended, USS Indianapolis carried out a secret mission. She transported Little Boy atomic bomb from the United States to Tinian. However, on her way to Leyte, Philippines, she was struck by two torpedoes launched from the Japanese submarine I-58 on July 30, 1945. It took her only fifteen minutes to sink, taking in tons of waters through the torn bow. Most of her crew got killed, drowned or eaten by sharks.

Specifications

Type: Portland-class heavy cruiser

Displacement: 10,258 tons (standard); 12,755 tons (full load)

Length: 185.9 m (610 feet)

Beam: 20.1 m (66 feet)

Draft: 6.4 m (21 feet)

Propulsion: four Parsons geared turbines, with four shafts, and eight White-Forster water-tube boilers, generating 107,000 sHP.

Maximum Speed: 32.7 knots

Range: 10,000 nautical miles, sailing at 15 knots.

Compliment: 1,250 sailors and officers (in 1944)

Armament: nine 203-mm (8-inch) naval guns mounted in three triple turrets (two on bow deck, and one on aft deck) set up at ship center-line; eight 127-mm AA guns.

Above, the USS Indianapolis in May 1945. The circles mark the additions during her last refit.

The heavy cruiser on December 9, 1944, during refit and equipment recalibration.

USS Indianapolis sailing in the Pacific in July 1942.

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Trieste Heavy Cruiser

The Trieste heavy cruiser of the Italian Royal Navy belonged to the Trento class. She was armed with four 203-mm naval guns, which were set up in two fore turrets. She was laid down at Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino shipyard near the port of Trieste. She was launched on October 24, 1926. After two years of sea trials, she was finally commissioned on December 21, 1928.

The Trieste of the Regia Marina (Royal Navy) would be designated flagship of the First Naval Squadron, and, together with her sister-ship Trento, she cruised the Northern Mediterranean Sea for about two years. Later, at the shipyard of La Spezia, she would have her foremast rebuilt, from a tripod to a pentapod structure. In 1937, she joined Benito Mussolini's colonial trip to Libya. When WW2 broke out, she was at port, undergoing light armament modifications and replacement of the funnel cap.

When Italy entered the war in June 1940, Trieste and Trento were part of the Third Division, Second Squadron. Together with Bolzano, they were assigned to patrol the sea waters north of Sicily. During the Battle of Cape Teulada in November 1940, she enganged British warships and came out of it unscathed. The following year, in February 1941, she would participate in the hunt for the British Royal Navy's Force H. However, no contact was made as the British were able to elude the Italian fleet.

In late March 1941, Trieste joined the Italian battleship Vittorio Veneto and engaged four British cruisers. Although she came under attack by Allied bombers, she was not hit. In August 1942, the Third Division of Trieste sailed from the port of Messina to engage the Royal Navy once again. During this naval battle, two Italian cruisers, Bolzano and Attendolo were torpedoed.

On April 10, 1943, while she was anchored in Sardinian harbor of La Maddalena, Trieste was attacked by B-24 bombers. As a result, she was hit and capsized to starboard. In 1946, she was stricken from the Italian naval register.

Specifications

Type: Heavy cruiser

Length: 197 m

Beam: 20.6 m

Draft: 6.8 m

Displacement: 13,300 tons (full-loaded)

Armor: 70-mm on belt, 100-mm on tower, and 50-mm on deck

Power Plant: four steam turbines fed by twelve Yarrow boilers

Maximum Speed: 32 knots

Range: 7,700 km

Crew: 780 sailors and officers

Armament: four 203-mm guns; eight 100-mm guns; four torpedo tubes.

Below, the Trieste moored in a Mediterranean harbor, in 1934.

Her four 203-mm guns.

Side views of the Trieste heavy cruiser in 1940.

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