Cruisers: Des Moines Class
Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2019 4:00 pm
The largest gun cruisers ever finished, these carried the newly developed automatic 8" in triple turrets. They were longer than many battleships and heavier than some! While they never really got to "prove" their worth in combat, they were a powerful presence.
"These were the first USN 8" (20.3 cm) guns to use separate rather than bag ammunition. With automatic shell handling and loading, a fire rate three times greater than that of previous 8" (20.3 cm) guns and coupled together with the use of "super-heavy" AP projectiles, these weapons made the Des Moines (CA-134) class the most powerful heavy cruisers ever built. One of the few large-caliber automatic gun designs that proved reliable in actual service use, these weapons were still giving good performance during the Vietnam War, some twenty-five years after they first entered service. Unfortunately, all this performance came at a steep price in weight, with the turrets mountings for these guns weighing 50% more than those in the previous Baltimore class."
They could range out to:
".41.0 degrees 30,050 yards (27,480 m) 1,296 fps (395 mps) 54.7"
My parents and I toured the DES MOINES in @ Nov, 1956 in lovely Hoboken, New Jersey....if you have been there...
At any rate the big 8" and even the twin 5" 38s made a lasting impression (JOIN the USMC!) while on deck and then inside the ship.
She was impressive looking to a 5th grader. We went by a galley and I must admit, it did smell GOOD! I later learned while TAD to NWC China Lake, how good Navy chow could be compared to out generally mediocore MARINE CORPS chow.... 
However, the DES MOINES was, IIRC, very squared away and impressive looking with all her weapons, radars, single BIG funnel etc. Now long gone, but we have the transformational po$ LC$ to guard our shores....... 
DFO
"These were the first USN 8" (20.3 cm) guns to use separate rather than bag ammunition. With automatic shell handling and loading, a fire rate three times greater than that of previous 8" (20.3 cm) guns and coupled together with the use of "super-heavy" AP projectiles, these weapons made the Des Moines (CA-134) class the most powerful heavy cruisers ever built. One of the few large-caliber automatic gun designs that proved reliable in actual service use, these weapons were still giving good performance during the Vietnam War, some twenty-five years after they first entered service. Unfortunately, all this performance came at a steep price in weight, with the turrets mountings for these guns weighing 50% more than those in the previous Baltimore class."
They could range out to:
".41.0 degrees 30,050 yards (27,480 m) 1,296 fps (395 mps) 54.7"
My parents and I toured the DES MOINES in @ Nov, 1956 in lovely Hoboken, New Jersey....if you have been there...
At any rate the big 8" and even the twin 5" 38s made a lasting impression (JOIN the USMC!) while on deck and then inside the ship.
She was impressive looking to a 5th grader. We went by a galley and I must admit, it did smell GOOD! I later learned while TAD to NWC China Lake, how good Navy chow could be compared to out generally mediocore MARINE CORPS chow.... However, the DES MOINES was, IIRC, very squared away and impressive looking with all her weapons, radars, single BIG funnel etc. Now long gone, but we have the transformational po$ LC$ to guard our shores....... DFO
Of course, the USN has long since shed any real pretense of NGFS for we lowly