CL/CA Ships (I haz question)

[bloodthirsty_viking]

So I recently saw a picture of a CL/CA ship, Never seen these things before.
http://www.navsource.org/archives/04/032/0403222.jpg
The one thing thats been bothering me since i saw the picture (And those on another forum i go to) is How on earth do the planes take off from such a short runway?

[[R-DEV]Rudd]

what runway?....


USN Ships -- by Hull Number: CL/CA -- Light Cruisers and Heavy Cruisers

CL/CA -- Light Cruisers and Heavy Cruisers.

When the Navy formally implemented its hull number system in July 1920, it redesignated thirteen scout cruisers (three completed in 1908, plus ten new ships which were still under construction) as "Light Cruisers" (CL), numbered in accordance with the previous scout cruiser number series. About a year later, nine older protected cruisers (eight of which had been briefly classified as "Gunboats" during 1920-21) were added to the CL number series. An additional CL series number (CL-14) was intended for a tenth such ship, but it was not formally assigned.

In 1926, construction began on a new group of light cruisers, armed with eight-inch guns instead of the six-inch or smaller weapons carried by the existing CLs. Eight of these were completed between late 1929 and early 1931 as CL-24 through CL-31. At the beginning of July 1931, these eight ships were redesignated as "heavy cruisers" (CA), based on warship classifications established by the previous year's London Naval Treaty, but their hull numbers were not changed.

All subsequent U.S. Navy light and heavy cruisers were numbered in the same series, which ultimately encompassed 160 ships, all but one resulting from building programs of 1945 or earlier. Ten of these were completed for other purposes and construction of another thirty-seven was cancelled. The final number in the series (CLGN-160) was briefly assigned to the new nuclear-powered guided missile cruiser Long Beach during 1956-57, before she was laid down. No further ships have been built in the CL/CA series, and its few surviving members are now in museum status, so the designation can be safely considered extinct.

In addition to the lengthy CL/CA hull number series, the U.S. Navy has maintained several other number series for cruisers. Among these are the twenty-two ship "Cruiser" (frequently shortened to "C-#") series applied to protected cruisers of the late 19th Century era; the first CA series (sometimes rendered as "ACR") for contemporary armored cruisers, which was extended in 1920 to include some of the larger surviving protected cruisers; the six-ship large cruiser (CB) series of 1940; the six-ship battle cruiser (CC) series of 1916-1922; the three command ships (CLC & CC) of the 1950s and 1960s; and the extensive guided-missile cruiser (CAG, CLG & CG) series that began in the 1950s and continues in use to the present day. Links to pages covering these series are provided below.

This page provides the hull numbers of all U.S. Navy cruisers numbered in the CL series, as adopted in 1920 and expanded in 1931 to also include cruisers in the CA series, with links to those ships with photos available in the Online Library.

[DankE_SPB]

Put the plane onto the water using crane -> enjoy unlimited runway.
Either that or a catapult, to give the plane enough initial velocity for it not to fall into the water.

[[R-DEV]Bob_Marley]

Its a catapult, not a runway. It "fires" the aircraft into the air linky

[bloodthirsty_viking]

ah ok. I dont know how I didn't understand it used a catapult -.-
I didn't know that they had catapults for aircraft like that that long ago.

Thank you sirs.

And congrats on 4000 posts danke

[Conman51]

While were on the topic of ships i have a question on the different ship classes.


most of these ship classes stopped being used after ships started losing their guns and getting missiles but whats the difference between

Cruiser
Heavy Cruised
Destroyer
Battleship


Are the differences just in size or is the the role it plays in a battle thats different?

[[R-DEV]Thermis]

Basically it Armament and Task.

I'll speak from a WWII perspective.

A cruiser is a medium gunned ship. They have a decent amount of armor, and probably 8-10 Inch guns, and 25-30 knots max speed.

A heavy cruiser, sacrifices armor and speed for guns. A pocket battleship can be defined as a heavy cruiser, generally they would have battleship sized guns 12-18 inch, but less armor and less displacement than a Battleship.

Battleships are the biggest, the first of which was the HMS Dreadnought. Heavily armored 12-20 inches, and mounting 12-18 Battleships are big enough to have boilers powerful enough to drive them at a decent speed 21-25 knots.

Destroyers were intended to hunt submarines, and are extremely fast, 35-40 knots. 3-5 inch guns, light armor.

[pfhatoa]

Originally Posted by [R-MOD]Thermis

Destroyers were invented to hunt submarines, and are extremely fast, 35-40 knots. 3-5 inch guns, light armor.

No, they where invented to destroy Torpedo Boats. They where further developed though to hunt submarines.

[Ninjam3rc]

It's pretty impressive to watch destroyers charge into groups of Iranian missile boats that get to close to carriers. And the cruisers I've seen were pretty bamf as far as the amount of weapons went, but alot of the systems just looked bolted on well after the ship was launched.

[[R-DEV]Thermis]

Originally Posted by pfhatoa

No, they where invented to destroy Torpedo Boats. They where further developed though to hunt submarines.

You are correct sir, with their original name being torpedo boat destroyer. However, I noted I was speaking from a WWII perspective since it was the last big naval war, and thats what destroyers were used for, and continue to be used for to this day.

Edit, made a typo meant to say intended not invented. Silly spellcheck...