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UNITED STATES NAVY DEPARTMENT
BUREAU OF CONSTRUCTION AND REPAIR / BUREAU OF SHIPS
"SPRING STYLES," 1939-1944

Photo # S-511-6: Preliminary design plan for 'CA-2D', a 38,700 ton cruiser with twelve 12-inch guns, 18 January 1940

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Bureau of Ships' "Spring Styles" Book # 3 (1939-1944) -- (Naval Historical Center Lot # S-511) --
Cruiser Preliminary Design Drawings

Nearly half (37 of 75) of the preliminary design drawings belonging the 1939-1944 "Spring Styles" Book are related to cruisers. These plans involve a wide variety of design studies, ranging from large cruisers with twelve-inch guns to anti-aircraft cruisers with main batteries of five-inch guns, plus hybrid "flight deck cruisers" and schemes for converting cruisers to aircraft carriers. The quantity of cruiser concepts, and the large number of drawings involved with them, indicates a very strong interest in that type of ship during the late 1930s and early 1940s, an emphasis extended by World War II era projects to develop guns capable of countering higher-performance aircraft.

Chronologically, the cruiser drawings begin in October-December 1939 with studies of what became the Cleveland (CL-55) class light cruisers, the Baltimore (CA-68) class heavy cruisers, a small (7500-ton) light cruiser with dual-purpose five-inch guns, and a final attempt to design a flight deck cruiser ("CF"). Some of these studies extended into 1940. That year and 1941 also saw an extensive effort to develop what became the Alaska (CB-1) class large cruiser, plus studies of larger ships with six and eight inch main batteries.

Between mid-1941 and late 1944 a large number of preliminary design plans were prepared for ships to carry guns then under development. Most of these concerned a light cruiser with six-inch dual-purpose guns, which eventually begat the two ships of the Worcester (CL-144) class. There were ongoing, but ultimately fruitless, efforts to produce a smaller cruiser with higher-velocity five-inch guns as a successor to the Atlanta (CL-51) class. Finally, two drawings (#s 64 and 65) are included for what became the Des Moines (CA-134) class heavy cruisers, with automatic eight-inch guns.

This page features those 1939-1944 Bureau of Ships "Spring Styles" plans that concern cruisers.

For general information on this album, see:


On the picture data sheets referenced from this page, click on the thumbnail image (small photograph) to prompt a larger view of the same image.


The Cruiser drawings included in this album are:

-- Six drawings representing studies made during the development of the Alaska (CB-1) class large cruisers:

-- Five plans, representing three different eight-inch gun cruiser (CA) concepts:

-- Four drawings, representing two different six-inch gun cruiser (CL) concepts:

-- Four drawings, representing three different five-inch gun cruiser (CL) concepts:

-- Eleven plans prepared during studies of light cruisers (CL) armed with rapid-fire 6"47 dual-purpose guns. This work ultimately produced the Worcester (CL-144) class:

-- Three proposed designs for a Flight Deck Cruiser ("CF"), an abortive ship type that would have combined aircraft carrier and cruiser features in a single hull:

-- Four plans of proposed conversions of cruiser types to aircraft carriers, the first two and last of which ultimately led (after many changes) to the small aircraft carriers of the Independence (CVL-22) and Saipan (CVL-48) classes



For general information on this album, see:


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Page made 31 March 2005