13 ships, 1954-1973 The Dealey class were the first attempt to build dedicated ASW vessel after WW2 by the US Navy. The primary goal was to replace the PC type submarine chasers of WW2, and to provide a ship that could be built en masse in case of war. A large, seaworthy, fast, well equipped … Read more
1949-2011 USS Waller DDE-466 underway c1961 (AI colored) After covering all WW1, WW2 and cold war US destroyers up to the Arleigh Burke and Zumwalt what was left for consideration ? The forgotten stopgaps on the 1950s: The Fletcher, Sumner and Gearing conversions, a solution mirroring the GUPPY conversions for submarines. The USN (and the … Read more
US Navy 1945-80 USS Oregon City, Albany, Rochester (CA-122, 123, 124) The need to improve stability and AA firepower, notably the fire arc of light AA and secondary guns led BuShips (Bureau of Ships) to design in 1942 an improvement of the design, leading to the creation of the Oregon City class, of which only … Read more
US Navy 1945-70 USS Fargo*, Huntington*, Newark, New Haven, Buffalo, Wilmington, Vallejo, Helena, Roanoke, unnamed, Tallahassee, Cheyenne, Chattanooga (CL-106 – CL-118) The Fargo class cruiser were a sub-class of the famous Clevelands of WW2 fame, completed on a completely reworked design. USS Fargo and Huntington were the only one not cancelled in this 13 cruiser … Read more
US Navy 1946-55 USS Juneau (ii) CL-119, Spokane CL-120, Fresno CL-121 The topic of last US conventional cruisers is a bit forgotten today, as they were designed during WW2 to improve existing ships ended as subclasses commissioned postwar, missing WW2 entirely yet having a relatively active career still, taking part in the Korean, and for … Read more
Guided Missiles Destroyers 74 ships (90 planned) DD 963-DD 997 1988-2030 Flight I, II, IIa, III What else to close this year than the current Arleigh Burke class destroyers. Designed in the early 1980s they were a product of the cold war, designed to marry AEGIS capabilities of a Ticonderoga class cruiser with more rounded … Read more
Nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines (1976-97), 18 in service, 24 planned (SSBN-726-743). The Ohio-class SSBN (Ship Submersible Ballistic Nuclear) submarines became the largest US submarines ever built. They were and are still the backbone of the United States’ strategic nuclear deterrent force, carrying a substantial portion of the country’s nuclear deterrent capability under sea. The primary … Read more
Nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines (1962-66), service 1965-1999: (SSBN-616-659). The Benjamin Franklin is considered a sub-class of the larger Lafayette class, an evolution of the previous Ethan Allen class, based on the Goerges Washington class made as a stretched and modified version of the Skipjack class SSNs. With the sub-class James Madison, and Benjamin Franklin made … Read more
The Only Nuclear-Powered Cruise Missile US Sub Nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine (1957-60), service 1960-1976 as SSGN-587 USS Halibut (SSGN-587) was the one and unique nuclear-powered guided missile submarine of the US Navy, sing the Regulus system. A forerunner to later SSBNs she became later a special operations platform, and then the attack submarine SSN-587 in … Read more
Nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines (built 1963-64), service 1964-1994: James Madison, Tecumseh, Daniel Boone, John C. Calhoun, Ulysses S. Grant, Von Steuben, Casimir Pulaski, Stonewall Jackson, Sam Rayburn, Nathanael Greene (SSBN-627 -636). The James Madison class SSBN were a near-repeat of the Lafayette class which themselves evolved from the Ethan Allen class. The Lafayette, James Madison, … Read more
