Worcester-class cruiser

The Worcester class was a class of light cruisers used by the United States Navy, laid down in 1945 and commissioned in 1948-49. They and their contemporaries the Des Moines-class cruiser heavy cruisers were the last all-gun cruisers built for the US Navy. Ten ships were planned for this class, but only two (USS Worcester (CL-144) and USS Roanoke (CL-145)) were completed.

Although technically light cruisers because they carried 6 in guns, they were in fact among the largest cruisers ever built, being longer and displacing more than the Baltimore-class cruiser heavy cruisers of World War II. Their main battery layout was quite distinctive in that they carried twin rather than triple turrets, unlike the previous Cleveland-class cruiser, St. Louis-class cruiser, and Brooklyn-class cruiser light cruisers. Aside from the fact that the Worcesters main battery consisted of 6 in rather than 5 in guns, the layout was identical to the much smaller Juneau-class cruiser light cruisers, carrying 12 guns in six turrets, three forward and three aft, with only turrets 3 and 4 superfiring. The 6"/47 Mk 16 gun was an autoloading, high-angle dual purpose gun with a high rate of fire, and the Worcesters were thus designed to serve as AA cruisers like the Juneaus but with much more potent guns, as well as conventional light cruisers.

Both ships were decommissioned in 1958, the last conventional light cruisers to serve in the fleet, and scrapped in the early 1970s.

Ships in class

 * USS Worcester (CL-144)
 * USS Roanoke (CL-145)
 * USS Vallejo (CL-146) (cancelled, scrapped soon after construction began)
 * USS Gary (CL-147) (cancelled before being laid down)