The FReeper Foxhole Studies USS Alaska CB-1

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[alfa6]

Lord,

Keep our Troops forever in Your care

Give them victory over the enemy...

Grant them a safe and swift return...

Bless those who mourn the lost.
.

FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer
for all those serving their country at this time.


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The USS Alaska CB-1



The six Alaska class "large cruisers" were ordered in September 1940 under the massive 70% Expansion ("Two Ocean Navy") building program. The Navy had been considering since 1938 building ships of this entirely new type, intermediate in size between battleships and heavy cruisers. The new ships were to carry out what were then the two primary missions of heavy cruisers: protecting carrier strike groups against enemy cruisers and aircraft and operating independenly against enemy surface forces. Their extra size and larger guns would enhance their value in both these missions and would also provide insurance against reports that Japan was building "super cruisers" more powerful than U.S. heavy cruisers. In fact, Japan developed plans for two such ships in 1941--partly as a response to the Alaskas--but never placed orders for their construction.

As built, the Alaskas were much closer to cruisers in design than to battleships or battlecruisers. They lacked the multiple layers of compartmentation and special armor along the sides below the waterline that protected battleships against torpedos and underwater hits by gunfire. Other typical cruiser features in their design were the provision of aircraft hangars and the single large rudder. Unlike other U.S. cruisers of the day, the hangars and catapults were located amidships, and the single rudder made them difficult to maneuver. On the other hand, the Alaskas' side armor covered more of the hull than was standard in contemporary U.S. cruisers.

Wartime conditions ultimately reduced the Alaska class to two ships. Construction of CB-3 through CB-6--along with the five Montana (BB-67) class battleships--was suspended in May 1942 to free up steel and other resources for more urgently needed escorts and landing craft. A year later, CB-4 through CB-6 were definitively cancelled. Hawaii (CB-3), however, was restored to the building program. Launched and partially fitted out, her construction was suspended and she was considered for conversion to a missile ship or command ship, but she was scrapped, still incomplete, in 1959.



After more normal construction periods, Alaska (CB-1) and Guam (CB-2) both arrived in the Pacific theater ready for action in early 1945. There they carried out both of their designed missions--carrier protection and surface strike--although their chances of encountering their primary intended opponents, Japanese heavy cruisers, had long since disappeared. Both returned to the U.S. soon after the war's end and, not finding a place in the postwar active fleet, remained in reserve until scrapped in 1960-61.

Design Specifications for the Alaska Class Cruisers displacement. 27,000tons; length. 806'6"; beam. 91'1"; draft. 27'1" (mean)
speed. 31.4 Kts; complement. 2,251;
Armor: 9" belt, 12 4/5" turrets, 1 2/5" + 4" + 5/8" decks
armament. 9 12", 12 5", 56 40 mm, 34 20 mm; aircraft. 4
Machinery: 150,000 SHP; G.E. geared turbines, 4 screws.

The Alaska class consisted of six ships, of which three were never begun:

# Alaska (CB-1), built at Camden, New Jersey. Keel laid in December 1941; launched in August 1943; commissioned in June 1944. # Guam (CB-2), built at Camden, New Jersey. Keel laid in February 1942; launched in November 1943; commissioned in September 1944. # Hawaii (CB-3), built at Camden, New Jersey. Construction suspended between May 1942 and May 1943. Keel laid in December 1943; launched in November 1945; never completed. # Philippines (CB-4), ordered at Camden, New Jersey. Never begun, suspended in May 1942 and cancelled in June 1943. # Puerto Rico (CB-5), ordered at Camden, New Jersey. Never begun, suspended in May 1942 and cancelled in June 1943. # Samoa (CB-6), ordered at Camden, New Jersey. Never begun, suspended in May 1942 and cancelled in June 1943.



The Navy's third Alaska (CB-1 )-the first of a class of "large cruisers" designed as a compromise to achieve a fast cruiser with a heavy main battery was laid down on 17 December 1941 at Camden, N.J., by the New York Shipbuilding Corp., Launched on 15 August 1943; sponsored by Mrs. Ernest Gruening, wife of the Honorable Ernest Gruening, Governor of Alaska, and commissioned at the Philadelphia Navy Yard on 17 June 1944, Capt. Peter K. Fischler in command.

Following post-commissioning fitting out at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Alaska stood down the Delaware River on 6 August 1944, bound for Hampton Roads, escorted by Simpson (DD-221) and Broome (DD-210). She then conducted an intensive shakedown, first in Chesapeake Bay and then in the Gulf of Paria, off Trinidad, British West Indies, escorted by Bainbridge (DD-246) and Decatur (DD-341). Steaming via Annapolis, Md., and Norfolk, Alaska returned to the Philadelphia Navy Yard, where the large cruiser underwent changes and alterations to her fire control suite: the fitting of four Mk. 57 directors for her five-inch battery.

Alaska departed Philadelphia on 12 November 1944 for the Caribbean, in company with Thomas E. Fraser (DM-24), and after two weeks of standardization trials out of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, sailed for the Pacific on 2 December. She completed her transit of the Panama Canal on 4 December, and reached San Diego on the 12th. Thereafter, the new large cruiser trained m shore bombardment and anti-aircraft firing off San Diego before an availability at Hunter's Point, near San Francisco.



On 8 January 1945, Alaska sailed for Hawaii, and reached Pearl Harbor on the 13th, where, on the 27th, Capt. Kenneth M. Noble relieved Capt. Fischler, who had achieved flag rank. Over the ensuing days, Alaska conducted further training before getting underway as a unit of Task Group (TG) 12.2, weighing anchor for the western Pacific on 29 January. She reached Uhthi, the fleet anchorage in the Caroline Islands on 6 February, and there joined TG 58.5, a task group in the famed Task Force (TF) 58, the fast carrier task force.

Alaska sailed for the Japanese home islands as part uf TG 58.5 on 10 February 1945, assigned the mission of screening the aircraft carriers Saratoga (CV-3) and Enterprise (CV-6) as they carried out night air strikes against Tokyo and its airfields. During the voyage, all hands on board Alaska speculated about what lay ahead almost three-quarters of the men had never seen action before and sought out the veterans in their midst "for counsel and advice."

Sensing the air of expectation on board his ship Capt. Noble spoke to the crew over the public address system and reassured them of his confidence in them. In doing so, he used an analogy familiar to most Americans: "We are a member of a large task force which is going to pitch directly over the home plate of the enemy, " he said, "It is our particular job to back up the pitchers."

Backing up the "pitchers" proved comparatively easy. TF 58 cloaked by bad weather, approached the Japanese homeland from east of the Marianas. Using radio deception and deploying submarines, lona-range patrol aircraft from Fleet Air Wing 1 and Army Air Force Boeing B-29 "Superfortresses" as scouts ahead of the advancing task force, the Americans neared their objective undetected. The first major carrier strike against the heart of the Japanese Empire, a year after the successful raids on Truk, covered the developing Iwo Jima landings and proved good practice for future operations against Okinawa. The low ceiling prevented Japanese retaliation, thus giving Alaska no opportunity to put into practice her rigorous antiaircraft training as she guarded the carriers. Assigned to TG 58.4 soon thereafter, Alaska supported the Iwo Jima operations, and, as before, no enemy aircraft came near the carrier formation to which the large cruiser was attached. For nineteen days she screened the carriers before retiring to Ulithi to take on stores and carry out minor repairs.



With the decision reached to occupy Okinawa, in the Nansei Shoto chain, in early April of 1945, invasion planners proceeded on the assumption that the Japanese would resist with maximum available naval and air strength. To destroy as many planes as possible—and thus diminish the possibility of American naval forces coming under air attack from Japanese planes—the fast carrier task force was hurled against the enemy's homeland again: to strike airfields on Kyushu, Shikoku, and western Honshu.

Alaska, still with TG 58.4—formed around the fleet carriers Yorktoum (CV-10), Intrepid (CV-11), Independence (CVL-22) and Langley (CVL-27 - again drew the duty of protecting the valuable flattops. Her principal mission then, as it had been before, was defense of the task group against enemy air or surface attacks.

Its battle plan outlined in detail, TF 58 cruised northwesterly from the Carolines, following the departure from Ulithi on 14 March. Refueling at sea on the 16th, this mighty force reached a point southeast of Kyushu early on the 18th. On that day, the planes from TG 58.4 swept over Japenese airfields at Usa, Oita and Saeki, joining those from three other task groups, TG 58.1 TG 58.2, and TG 58.3 in claiming 107 enemy aircraft destroyed on the ground and a further 77 (of 142) engaged over the target area.



Alaska tasted action for the first time as the Japanese retaliated with air strikes of their own. Task Force 58's radars provided "Iittle if any warning" of the approach of enemy planes, due to the weather conditions encountered. All too often, the first indication of the enemy's presence was a visual sighting. Alaska spotted a "Frances" at 0810 and commenced fire. She registered hits almost immediately but the suicider maintained its course— toward the stern of the nearby Intrepid. Less than a half-mile from his quarry, however, the "Frances" exploded into fragments with a direct hit from Alaska's guns.

Soon thereafter, Alaska received word of the proximity of "friendlies" in the vicinity. At 0822 a single-engined plane approached the large cruiser "in a threatening fashion" from ahead m a shallow dive. Alaska opened fire promptly and scored hits. Unfortunately, almost simultaneously her fire eontrolmen were receiving word that the plane was, indeed, a friendly F6F"Hellcat." Fortunately, the pilot was uninjured and ditched his crippled plane, another ship in the disposition picked him up.

For the balance of the day, the suicide attacks continued. The vigilant combat air patrol (CAP), however, downed a dozen planes over the task force while strips' gunfire accounted for almost two dozen more. Alaska added a second enemy bomber to her "bag" when she splashed a "Judy" at about 1315.

[Peanut Gallery]

Oh yes, and Welcome Home!

[Humal]

Snippy!

Good to hear from you. I thought you were going to North Carolina? So you took the plunge and came south. Georgia is a wonderful state, full of God and country loving people. If you are commuting to Tallahassee everyday, you must be in SOUTH Georgia -- home of the tall pines. Again, beautiful.

Welcome back and hope you stay a while. :-)

[bkwells]

Glad to hear from you Snippy!! Good to hear you and Sam are doing fine!

[PAR35]

Did I miss the original ping to the thread, or did alfa leave me off?

Good to see a new thread, and glad to hear that everyone is settled in South Georgia.

[alfa6]

Top of the mornin' to you PAR35, I checked the ping list that I have and you are on it. I wanted to make sure that you were there and yep you are:-)

Regards

alfa6 ;>}

[alfa6]

Tuesday Morning Bump for the Freeper Foxhole.

From the KC Airshow last weekend

Regards

alfa6 ;>}

[The Mayor]

September 20, 2006

Turning Pain Into Praise

LISTEN TO ODB RADIO: Real | MP3 | WMA

READ: 2 Corinthians 1:7-11

As you are partakers of the sufferings, so also you will partake of the consolation. —2 Corinthians 1:7

After years of a remarkable and  fruitful ministry in India, Amy Carmichael became a bedridden sufferer. As the courageous founder and dynamic heart of the Dohnavur Fellowship, she had been instrumental in rescuing hundreds of girls and boys from a terrible life of sexual servitude.

While she carried on her rescue operation of bringing young people into spiritual freedom through faith in Jesus Christ, she wrote books and poems that are still blessing readers around the world.

Then arthritis made Amy a pain-wracked invalid. Did she bemoan her affliction or question God? No. Amy was still the guiding inspiration of Dohnavur, and she still kept on writing. Her meditations, letters, and poems are filled with praise to God and encouragement to her fellow pilgrims.

When affliction strikes us, how do we react? Are we embittered, or do we trustfully appropriate God’s sustaining grace? (2 Cor. 12:9). And do we prayerfully encourage those around us by our Spirit-enabled cheerfulness, our courage, and our confidence in God?

When we rely on the Lord, He will help us turn pain into praise. —Vernon C Grounds

Can God trust you with sorrow,
With anguish, and with pain,
Or would your faith soon falter
And faint beneath the strain?  —Nicholson

Praise is the song of a soul set free.

Bible in One Year: Bible in One Year;   Ecclesiastes 4-6; 2 Corinthians 12

[CholeraJoe]

SNIPPY!!!!!!

Missed you guys! Glad all is well.

[Soaring Feather]

Saw this in a cyber show one time. Loved it!
Good morning, FOXHOLE!;)

[PAR35]

Thanks for checking. I must have just missed it when it came through.

Good to read a new foxhole thread.

[colorado tanker]

Congrats on the new home, Snip!

Dial up??? I get cranky anymore when I can't get wireless!

[snippy_about_it]

LOL. We've always had cable and we've always networked them. We've really gone down hill now! I have a wireless laptop, two of them in fact, one belongs to my employer but I can't get any signals out here!

[snippy_about_it]

Thanks CJ. What's new in your life?

[snippy_about_it]

You must stop by next time you're down here or over here. :-)

In the Thomasville paper the powers that be are concerned that the city doesn't have the services for the some 3600 new housing permits, it's growing. Folks flocking from the high cost of Tallahassee, high insurance rates, too.

I know you know this area and I'll just say I'm glad to be north of Tallahasse and Thomasville! Dang this dial-up though!

[snippy_about_it]

Thanks Brian. Your group photo was one of the first ones to go up in my new computer room! Looking for land, look at Georgia.

[snippy_about_it]

We stayed in NC for about 4 months and I was offered a position in Tallahassee, couldn't afford to pay for two places so yep, we're in the deep south as they say. Got an acre of tall pines! Down here folks aren't afraid to talk about God on the radio or anywhere, it's quite refreshing.

[snippy_about_it]

radu says she has satellite internet, it's a little pricey but maybe we will have to. They don't promise DSL or cable anytime soon out here. :-(

[Humal]

"Got an acre of tall pines! Down here folks aren't afraid to talk about God on the radio or anywhere, it's quite refreshing."

Lucky you having the tall pines. Be careful of pine beetles, though. We lost 47 trees to hurricanes in 2004, and 48 trees to pine beetles. We see dead trees all around us too.

Yes, you are in the Bible belt where you are. It's a wonderful place to be. It can be frustrating, though, if you are used to doing business on Sundays. If it's a small town, most/all businesses close up shop then.

[alfa6]

It's a Thursday Bump for the Freeper Foxhole

A Boeing F4B-3 in front, and two F4B-4s used in training pilots suring WW-II

Regards

alfa6 ;>}

[The Mayor]

September 21, 2006

The Good And The Bad

LISTEN TO ODB RADIO: Real | MP3 | WMA

READ: Nahum 1:1-8

The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble. —Nahum 1:7

Nineveh was in trouble with God.  Big trouble! Despite the good work of the reluctant prophet Jonah, Nineveh had returned to its evil ways. The Ninevites had oppressed other countries, worshiped idols, and performed acts of cruelty.

God saw this evil, and through the words of Nahum He spoke of Nineveh’s coming destruction, using words such as wrath and vengeance. Nineveh was about to face judgment.

Why would God’s prophet tell the people of Judah about this? How could Nahum’s frightening words help those who lived in the Promised Land?

There is help for answering those questions in Nahum 1:7-8. His prophecy of the destruction of those who reject God stands in sharp contrast to God’s promise to those “who trust in Him.” The godly, rather than facing judgment, would be cared for. They would have a refuge in Him.

God is not one-sided. He provides refuge, help, and comfort for those who trust Him, and He also sends judgment against those who disobey His standards.

The message for us is the same as it was for Judah. Through trust and obedience, we can enjoy the comfort of God’s refuge—even in times of trouble. —Dave Branon

How oft in the conflict, when pressed by the foe,
I have fled to my Refuge and breathed out my woe;
How often, when trials like sea billows roll,
Have I hidden in Thee, O Thou Rock of my soul.  —Cushing

Everyone must face God as Savior or as Judge.

Bible in One Year: Bible in One Year;   Ecclesiastes 7-9; 2 Corinthians 13