USS Saint Paul (CA-73)

History of the USS St. Paul (CA-73)

During the height of World War II (1939-1945), the United States Navy (USN) commissioned the Bethlehem Steel Company of Quincy, Massachusetts to build the St. Paul Aircraft carrier (CA-73). The ship was part of the Baltimore class of heavy ocean cruiser battleships, 14 of which were to be built between 1941 and 1945 (the last year of the war).

All fourteen completed, none of the group was lost in action, and the class was withdrawn without any level of retention.

This class succeeds the one-time heavy cruiser USS Wichita (CA-45) and is replaced by the Oregon class??. Within the Baltimore class are sub-classes in Boston and Albany.

USS St. Paul (CA-73) named for St. Paul, Minnesota, laid on February 3, 1943 (formerly USS Rochester). She was officially launched on September 16, 1944, and commissioned on February 17, 1945just in time for the final stages of the war.

When built, she had a displacement of 14,500 tons, a barrel length of 673.5 feet, a beam of 70.9 feet, and a draft of up to 26.4 feet. Power comes from a unit of 4 Babcock & Wilcox boiler units providing 120,000 hp to 4 steam turbine sets to drive 4 stern shafts. Her conventional engine achieves a sea speed of 32 knots under ideal conditions, and she carries 1,100 officers and men (approximately 61 and 1,085, respectively).

The ship carries four recoverable seaplanes for over-the-horizon (OtH) work, launched from two catapults. Air search and combat direction radars are installed.

Armor protection ranges from 6" on the belt and 2.5" on the deck to 8" on the turret and 6.5" on the conning tower - making the warship well protected.

The heart of this heavy cruiser is her armament, guided by 9 x 8 in (203 mm)/55 caliber main guns spread over three three-armed turrets, two forward and one rear. There are also 12 x 5 in (127 mm)/38 caliber secondary guns in six turrets, twin guns above the superstructure, 48 x 40 mm Bofors anti-aircraft (AA) guns in 12 quad-arm positions and 22 x 20 mm Oerlikon anti-aircraft guns are individually trainable mounts.

When the USS St. Paul left the waters of Boston, Massachusetts in May 1945, she entered the war late and saw only limited action against Imperial Japan in the Pacific. These included strikes in Wu, Kobe and Tokyo before Japan's surrender in August 1945.

In the postwar years, she was stationed in Japanese waters until November 1945, before being transferred to Shanghai until 1946. In the summer of 1950, when the Korean War broke out, the USS St. Paul initially returned to cover retreating Allied forces.

In April 1952, a gunpowder explosion in its front main turret killed 30 people. Before the ship returned to action, the ship underwent repairs in Japan, and its cannons were used against inland enemy targets.

In July 1953, as the North and South reached a loose truce, the warship fired the final round of sea guns of the entire war.

In the 1960s, with the start of the Vietnam War (1955-1975), she was again forced into military service. This is her final fight exposure. On April 30, 1971, she was decommissioned as the Navy's last Baltimore-class all-gun cruiser and was temporarily granted reserved status. Her name was removed from the Naval Register on July 31, 1978, and her dismantled hull was sold for scrap in January 1980, marking the third World War for about 26 years for the sailor under the U.S. Navy flag.

Veteran's official end-of-year total.

Specification

Basic

Year of Service

1945

Origins

United States

Status

stop service

Destroyed, scrapped.

supplement

1,100

staff

SHIPBUILDER

Bethlehem Steel Company - USA

Class information

Class

Baltimore Class

Class Size

14

ships

Class

USS Baltimore (CA-68); USS Boston (CA-69/CAG-1); USS Canberra (CA-70); USS Quincy (CA-71); USS Pittsburgh (CA-72); USS St. Paul (CA-73); USS Columbus (CA-74/CG-12); USS Helena (CA-75); USS Bremerton (CA-130); USS Fall River (CA-131) ); USS Macon (CA-132); USS Toledo (CA-133); USS Los Angeles (CA-135); USS Chicago (CA-136 / CG-11)

Carrier

United States

Characters

Sea Bombing

Maritime bombardment/attack of surface targets/areas primarily through ship-based ballistic weapons.

Land Assault

Littoral attacks against surface targets primarily through ship-based missiles/missile weapons.

Sea Patrol

Active patrolling of critical waterways and sea areas; also serves as a local deterrent against air and maritime threats.

Airspace Denial/Deterrence

Neutralization or deterrence of flying elements by airborne missile weapon ballistics.

Fleet Support

Provide support (fire or materiel) to major surface fleets in blue water environments.

Notable Features

Main Turret

The main armament is mounted in the main turret arrangement providing enhanced protection.

Secondary Turret

Additional secondary firepower is managed by the ship's designed secondary turret arrangement.

Air Defense

Airborne systems warn and protect ships from airborne and low-altitude ballistic and/or missile threats.

On the horizon

The ship is granted over-the-horizon combat capability, usually provided by a launched fixed-wing/rotary-wing aircraft.

Dimensions and Weight

Length

673. 4 feet

205. 25m

Ray

70.9 feet

21.61m

Draft

26.4 feet

8.05m

Shift

14,500 t

Power and Performance

Installed Power:

4 x Babcock & Wilcox boiler units power 4 x steam turbine sets driving 4 x axles.

Surface Velocity

32.0 nodes

(36.8 km/h)

Armament

9 x 8" (203 mm) /55 caliber main guns in three main tri-gun turrets. 12 x 5" (127 mm) /38 caliber secondary guns in six dual gun turret. 48 x 40 mm Bofors anti-aircraft guns (AA) in 12 quad positions. 22 x 20mm Oerlikon AA automatic cannon mounted on a single gun mount.

Aircraft

4 reusable seaplanes.