Editing Baltimore-class cruiser (section)

==History==

===Planning and construction===
[[File:USS Bremerton (CA-130) drydocked.jpg|thumb|left|USS ''Bremerton'' in drydock]]
Immediately after the outbreak of World War II in September 1939, the US Navy initiated studies regarding a new class of heavy cruiser that led to construction of the ''Baltimore'' class. With the start of the war, the limitations instituted by the [[Second London Naval Treaty]], which had completely banned the construction of heavy cruisers, became obsolete. The ''Baltimore'' class was based partly on {{USS|Wichita|CA-45|6}}, a heavy cruiser from 1937, which represented the transition from inter-war to World War II designs. It was also based partly on the {{sclass|Cleveland|cruiser|4}}, a [[light cruiser]] that was then being built. In profile, the ''Baltimore''s looked very much like the ''Cleveland''-class light cruisers, the obvious difference being that the larger ''Baltimore''s carried nine {{convert|8|in|mm|0|adj=on}} guns in three triple turrets, compared to the twelve {{convert|6|in|mm|0|adj=on}} guns in four triple turrets of the ''Cleveland''s.

The construction of the first four ships of the ''Baltimore'' class began on 1 July 1940, and four more were ordered before the year was out. A second order, which consisted of 16 more ships, was approved on 7 August 1942. Despite the heavy losses in cruisers during the first 14 months of the Pacific War, the completion of the ships was delayed because the Navy gave priority to the construction of the lighter ''Cleveland''-class ships, as more of the lighter ships could be completed more quickly for deployment in [[carrier group]]s. With the construction of the first eight ''Baltimore''-class ships moving slowly, the US Navy used the time to review the initial plans and improve them. The new, modified design was itself delayed, so that construction had begun on a further six ships—for a total of 14—using the original design before the revisions were completed. The final three ships ordered were converted to the second design, known as the ''Oregon City'' class. Between 1943 and 1947, 17 ships of the ''Baltimore'' and ''Oregon City'' classes entered service. Construction of the eighteenth ship ({{USS|Northampton|CLC-1|2}}) was suspended, to eventually be completed as a flagship/command ship in 1950. Five more were laid down but cancelled and scrapped before launch, and one was never started before being cancelled.

The largest contractor for the construction of the ''Baltimore''-class ships was [[Bethlehem Steel]], which produced eight ships at the [[Fore River Shipyard]] in [[Quincy, Massachusetts]]. [[New York Shipbuilding]] in [[Camden, New Jersey]], built four and the [[Philadelphia Naval Shipyard]] in [[Philadelphia]] completed two. The ships were named after cities in the United States, the only exception being {{USS|Canberra|CA-70|6}}, which was named in honor of {{HMAS|Canberra|D33|6}} (sunk at the [[battle of Savo Island]]), which had been named after [[Canberra]], the [[Australia]]n capital. The classification "CA" originally stood for "armored cruiser" but was later used for heavy cruisers.

===Service===
[[File:USS Baltimore (CA-68) being reactivated at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, in 1951 (NH 98241).jpg|thumb|right|USS ''Baltimore'' during her reactivation]]
Of the seventeen (including the three ''Oregon City''s) completed ships, twelve were commissioned before the [[Surrender of Japan|Japanese capitulation]] on 2 September 1945, though only seven took part in the battles of the [[Pacific War|Pacific Theater]] and one in the [[European Theater]]. By 1947, nine of the ''Baltimore''s had been decommissioned and placed in the reserve fleet, while seven (''Helena'', ''Toledo'', ''Macon'', ''Columbus'', ''Saint Paul'', ''Rochester'', and ''Albany'') remained in service.   However, at the start of the 1950s, six were reactivated (''Macon'' had been decommissioned for four short months: June–October 1950), making thirteen available for deployment in the [[Korean War]]. Six of these were used for escort missions and coastal bombardment in Korea, while the other seven reinforced fleets in other areas of the globe. Four ships remained out of service: the ''Fall River'' was never reactivated, the ''Boston'' and ''Canberra'' were refitted as ''Boston''-class guided missile cruisers (CGs), and the ''Chicago'' was reactivated after being converted to an ''Albany''-class CG.

After the Korean War ended and due to the high cost of keeping them in service; starting in 1954 with ''Quincy'', some of the ''Baltimore''s were decommissioned for good. By 1969, only six ships were still in commission; five (''Boston'', ''Canberra'', ''Chicago'', ''Columbus'', ''Albany'') as CGs (guided missile cruisers), and only one unmodified ship, the ''Saint Paul'', which remained active to serve in the [[Vietnam War]], providing gunfire support.  ''Saint Paul'' was the only member of the class to serve continuously from commissioning (serving 26 years) and was finally decommissioned in 1971. ''Boston'' and ''Canberra'' retired in 1970, ''Columbus'' (serving 29.5 years) in 1975, and finally ''Chicago'' in 1980. Starting in 1972 all fourteen of the original ''Baltimore''s were sold for scrap after being decommissioned, with ''Chicago'' being the final one broken up in 1991.

====Damage====
[[File:USS Pittsburgh (CA-72) underway after she lost her bow in June 1945 (80-G-325746).jpg|thumb|right|{{USS|Pittsburgh|CA-72|6}} with her bow ripped off]]
In World War II, only the {{USS|Canberra|CA-70|2}} was damaged through enemy fire, when she was struck with an air-dropped [[torpedo]] on 13 October 1944, which killed 23 men in the engine room and left the ship immobilized. The ship was hit amidships and both [[boiler]] rooms were flooded with 3,000 tons of seawater. She was towed away by [[sister ship]] {{USS|Boston|CA-69|2}}, and as a result, both ships missed the crucial [[Battle of Leyte Gulf]]. A year later, repairs were completed at the Boston Naval Shipyard, and ''Canberra'' was assigned to the [[United States Fleet Forces Command|Atlantic Fleet]]. In June 1945, {{USS|Pittsburgh|CA-72|2}} had her entire bow ripped off in a typhoon, but there were no casualties. The ship struggled through {{convert|70|kn|adj=on}} winds to [[Guam]], where provisional repairs were made before sailing to the [[Puget Sound Naval Shipyard]] for a full reconstruction. ''Pittsburgh''{{'}}s detached bow stayed afloat, and it was later towed into Guam and scrapped.

During the Korean War, a fire in a forward [[gun turret]] on 12 April 1952, killed 30 men on ''St. Paul''. Then, in 1953, the same ship was hit by a coastal battery, though without injury to the crew.  ''Helena'' in 1951 and ''Los Angeles'' in 1953 were also struck by coastal batteries without injuries during the war.

In June 1968, ''Boston'', along with its escort, the [[Australia]]n [[destroyer]] {{HMAS|Hobart|D 39|6}}, were victims of [[friendly fire]] when planes of the [[US Air Force]] mistook them for enemy targets and fired on them with [[AIM-7 Sparrow]] missiles. Only ''Hobart'' was seriously damaged; although ''Boston'' was hit, the warhead of the missile failed to detonate.

===Missile conversions===
{{main|Boston-class cruiser|Albany-class cruiser}}

By the latter half of the 1940s, the US Navy was planning and experimenting with warships equipped with guided missiles. In 1946 the [[battleship]] {{USS|Mississippi|BB-41|6}} and in 1948 the [[seaplane tender]] {{USS|Norton Sound|AVM-1|6}} were converted to test this idea. Both were equipped with, among other weapons, [[RIM-2 Terrier]] missiles, which were also used after 1952 on the first series of operational missile cruisers. Two ''Baltimore''-class cruisers were refitted in this first series, {{USS|Boston|CA-69|2}} and {{USS|Canberra|CA-70|2}}. These were the first operational guided missile cruisers in the world. They were designated the ''Boston'' class and returned to service in 1955 and 1956 respectively, reclassified as CAG-1 and CAG-2—"G" for "guided missile" and maintaining the "A" because they retained their heavy guns.

In the following years, six light cruisers of the ''Cleveland'' class were retrofitted to be equipped with guided missiles, and in 1957, the first warship designed from the start to be a missile cruiser was completed ({{USS|Long Beach|CGN-9|2}}). Other ships also continued to be converted, so starting in 1958, two ''Baltimore''-class cruisers, {{USS|Chicago|CA-136|2}} and {{USS|Columbus|CA-74|2}}, along with an {{sclass|Oregon City|cruiser|1}}, (considered a sub-class of the ''Baltimore'' class) {{USS|Albany|CA-123|2}}, were converted to the new ''Albany'' class. These were recommissioned in 1962 and 1964, respectively. Two more ships were planned to be refitted as ''Albany''s, the ''Baltimore'' class {{USS|Bremerton|CA-130|2}} and the ''Oregon City'' class  {{USS|Rochester|CA-124|2}}, but these conversions were cancelled because of cost. As opposed to the ''Boston''-class refit, the ''Albany''-class refit required a total reconstruction. Both entire weapons systems and the superstructure were removed and replaced with new ones; the cost of one refit was $175&nbsp;million. Because no high-caliber guns were retained, the ''Albany'' class ships received the designation ''CG'' rather than ''CAG''.

In addition to the operational conversions, four ''Baltimore''-class ships, {{USS|Helena|CA-75|2}}, {{USS|Los Angeles|CA-135|2}}, {{USS|Macon|CA-132|2}}, and {{USS|Toledo|CA-133|2}}, received modifications to operate the [[SSM-N-8 Regulus]] [[cruise missile]] between 1956 and 1958 on an experimental basis. Regulus was a nuclear-armed weapon that was primarily used by the US Navy in the [[deterrence theory|nuclear deterrent]] role. Although associated primarily with submarines, the four ''Baltimore''-class cruisers fitted to operate the missile undertook operational taskings with it to the Western Pacific during the experimental period.

<gallery mode="nolines">
File:USS Toledo (CA-133) launching Regulus missile c1956.jpg|USS ''Toledo'' launches a Regulus cruise missile
File:USS Boston (CAG-1) underway at sea, circa in early 1957.jpg|USS ''Boston'', the first of two ''Boston''-class conversions
File:USS Chicago (CG-11) underway in the Coral Sea, in October 1979.jpg|USS ''Chicago'' after reconstruction as an ''Albany''-class cruiser 
</gallery>