Key Points and Summary – The Alaska-class battlecruisers were conceived as “cruiser killers” to hunt German and Japanese heavy cruisers, splitting the difference between battleships and cruisers.
-Two ships, USS Alaska and USS Guam, finally entered service in 1944–45 with nine 12-inch guns, heavy armor, and 33-knot speed.
Aerial view of warships at the base piers of Norfolk Naval Base, Virginia (USA), circa August 1944. Among them are: the battleship USS Missouri (BB-63), the largest ship; the battlecruiser USS Alaska (CB-1), on the other side of the pier. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
-But by then, carrier air power and submarines had already sunk most enemy surface fleets.
-The Alaskas ended up doing shore bombardment and anti-air escort work that standard cruisers could handle for far less cost.
-With no clear mission in the postwar Navy, both ships were decommissioned by 1947 and scrapped by the early 1960s.
Why Did the Alaska-Class Battlecruisers Fail?
Alaska, not Texas, is the biggest of the United States of America’s 50 states in terms of landmass and square mileage, which puts a wee bit of a damper on the latter state’s boast that “Everything Is Bigger In Texas.”
However, the “Lone Star State gets the last laugh on “The Last Frontier” state when it comes to eponymous battleship/battlecruiser bragging rights. The dreadnought battleship USS Texas (BB-35) served faithfully in the U.S. Navy for 34 years—seeing combat action in World War II’s North Africa and D-Day campaigns along the way—and is now preserved for posterity as a floating museum. By contrast, the Alaska-class battlecruisers of WWII turned out to be (to paraphrase Shakespeare) “Much Ado About Very Little.” So then, that begs the question: Why did the Alaska-class warships fail so miserably?
Battleship vs. Battlecruiser Clarified
Before we go on, a bit of semantic clarification is in order regarding the difference between a battleship and a battlecruiser.
In a nutshell, as per Tayyaba Rehman and Fiza Rafique of AskDifference, “Battlecruisers are fast, lightly armored ships with heavy armaments, designed for speed and range, whereas battleships are heavily armored with powerful guns, prioritizing strength and firepower over speed.”
Alaska-Class U.S. Navy Cruiser. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
In other words, it splits the difference between a full-sized battleship and a heavy cruiser. That said…
Alaska-Class Battlecruisers: What Might’ve Been (Initial History and Inspiration)
These warships were envisioned as “cruiser-killers,” i.e., to hunt down the heavy cruisers and battlecruisers of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) and Nazi Germany’s Kriegsmarine.
In particular, the German battlecruiser Scharnhorst (which packed 11-inch guns) was reportedly an impetus for the Alaska’s creation.
A total of six Alaska-class ships were ordered, but only two were actually commissioned, both built by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation:
-USS Alaska (CB-1), laid down on December 17, 1941, launched on August 15, 1943, and commissioned on June 17, 1944
-USS Guam (CB-2), laid down on February 2, 1942, launched on November 12, 1943, and commissioned on September 17, 1944
USS Hawaii (CB-3) was laid down on December 20, 1943, and launched on November 3, 1945 (i.e., two months after Imperial Japan’s surrender ended WWII), but was never actually commissioned, eventually getting scrapped in 1960.
Meanwhile, USS Philippines (CB-4), USS Puerto Rico (CB-5), and USS Samoa (CB-6) were planned but then got cancelled in June 1943 and thus ended up, in the immortal words of Moe Howard of the Three Stooges, “getting nowhere fast.”
Alaska-Class Tech Specs and Vital Stats
-Displacement: 34,253 long tons fully laden
-Hull Length: 808 feet
-Beam Width: 91 feet 9.375 inches
-Draft: 31 feet 9.25 inches
-Maximum Speed: 33 knots (61 km/h; 38 mph)
-Crew Complement: Up to 2,251 commissioned officers and enlisted seamen
-Armament:
9 × 12-inch (305 mm)/50 caliber Mark 8 main guns (two triple-turrets fore, one such turret aft)
12 × 5-inch (127mm)/38 caliber dual-purpose guns
56 × 40mm (1.57-inch) Bofors antiaircraft guns
34 × 20mm (0.79-inch) Oerlikon guns
To give readers a sense of perspective, America’s Iowa-class battleships employed nine 16-inch/50 caliber main guns, whilst the Baltimore-class heavy cruisers wielded nine 8-inch/55 caliber main guns. Also, whilst battleships (BBs) were named after states and heavy cruisers (CAs) and light cruisers (CLs) alike after cities, the Alaska-class battlecruisers (CBs) were named after US territories
So, What Went Wrong? (Operational History)
In fairness, the Alaskas weren’t total failures. USS Alaska and USS Guam did provide shore bombardment operations, and their secondary and tertiary armament provided excellent anti-aircraft (“ack-ack”) screening for the aircraft carriers (especially against kamikazes). CB-1 was awarded three battle stars for her WWII service, and CB-2 received two battle stars.
However, when it came to fulfilling their originally intended role, i.e., duking it out with Axis cruisers, the Alaska class simply arrived too late to the party. By the time CB-1 and CB-2 arrived on-scene in February and March 1945, respectively, most of the IJN warships had already been sent to “Davy Jones’s Locker,” mostly by USN dive bombers, torpedo bombers, and submarines (though America surface warships got in a few licks as well, such as when USS Iowa [BB-61] sank the light cruiser Katori). Meanwhile, Nazi Germany capitulated that April (four months before Japan did).
Thus, the Alaska-class battlecruisers were left as answers in search of a question by the time WWII ended. USS Alaska and Guam were both decommissioned on February 17, 1947.
Where Are They Now?
As a final insult, neither Alaska nor Guam was preserved for posterity.
They both lingered in a New Jersey shipyard as members of the “mothball fleet” until they were both sold for scrap, with CB-1 consigned to her fate on June 1, 1960, and CB-2 following suit on May 24, 1961.
As far as this writer can ascertain, no artifacts of these ships were saved, not even the ship’s bell or the anchor. Such a pity.
About the Author: Christian D. Orr, Defense Expert
Christian D. Orr is a Senior Defense Editor. He is a former Air Force Security Forces officer, Federal law enforcement officer, and private military contractor (with assignments worked in Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kosovo, Japan, Germany, and the Pentagon). Chris holds a B.A. in International Relations from the University of Southern California (USC) and an M.A. in Intelligence Studies (concentration in Terrorism Studies) from American Military University (AMU). He is also the author of the newly published book “Five Decades of a Fabulous Firearm: Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Beretta 92 Pistol Series.”
