USS Des Moines (CA-134)

History of the USS Des Moines (CA-134)

The Navy's last all-gun heavy cruiser was the Des Moines class, built by the Bethlehem Steel Company Fall River in Quincy, Massachusetts. Modeled after the Baltimore-class heavy cruiser, the U.S. Navy made the Main larger and armed with a newly developed 8-inch semi-automatic gun. Clearly, naval planners expected a protracted battle, with plans to build 12 cruisers.

However, only three of the class were completed and the remaining nine were cancelled at the end of World War II. The three are Des Moines CA-134, Salem CA-139 and Newport News CA-148. The designation "CA" stands for heavy cruiser and "CL" for light cruiser.

The ship accommodated 1,500 officers and men who had some of the facilities of a larger warship. Crew lounge, library, retail store, dental and medical area, post office, hair salon, soda machine and laundry. The Des Moines also publishes its own bimonthly magazine and, like all ships, screens nightly movies.

The boat was named "Daisy Mae" in a crew competition to name the paper on board. The name was chosen from the popular 1950s cartoon "Li'l Abner". The busty blond bombshell won the contest, whose name was nicknamed Des Moines.

Daisy Mae developed different operational plans aimed at keeping the Navy ready to meet the defense requirements of "24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, 7 days a week." Her job was to prepare for the next conflict to come, from her home port in Newport and after 1950 from Norfolk as the flagship of the 6th Infantry Division in the North Atlantic, Mediterranean and East Coast waters Various exercises. fleet.

On 18 February 1958, she left Norfolk again for the Mediterranean, this time as flagship of the 6th Fleet until July 1961, when she was decommissioned and entered reserve duty. During her time, she served as a diplomat and hosted many dignitaries, including President Dwight Eisenhower, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth of the United Kingdom, King Paul and Queen Frederica of Greece, Prince Albert of Belgium Ali Kahn, and more.

Her courses were completed too late to serve in World War II, but during her active career she was widely used as a fleet flagship. Des Moines is equipped with two stern catapults to accommodate 4 seaplanes; the catapults are not finished. Instead, she operates a utility helicopter with a pylon and elevator from the stern.

Her armament was enormous, with her 8"/55 caliber main gun mounted in three triple turrets with a muzzle velocity of 2,800 feet per second and a range of 30,100 yards. Each shell weighs 260 pounds, and armor-piercing rounds weigh 335 pounds. Each 451-ton turret had a crew of 45 and the guns fired at a rate of 10 rounds per minute.

Ammo is similar to a 5" projectile in a brass cartridge. Not using silk kraft paper bags as propellant increased firepower and crew safety.

After her retirement in 1961, she was mothballed in the South Boston Naval Annex and finally in Philadelphia until 2006. After unsuccessful attempts to convert her into a museum ship, she was towed to Brownsville, Texas for scrapping. By July 2007, Daisy May had become a razor blade.

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