USS Houston (CA-30)

USS Houston (CA-30), off San Diego, California, in October 1935, with President Franklin D. Roosevelt on board. She is flying an admiral's four-star flag at her foremast peak, and the Presidential flag at her mainmast peak.
History
United States
NameHouston
NamesakeCity of Houston, Texas
Ordered18 December 1924
Awarded13 June 1927
BuilderNewport News Shipbuilding, Newport News, Virginia
Cost$10,567,000 (contract price)
Laid down1 May 1928
Launched7 September 1929
Sponsored byMiss Elizabeth Holcombe
Commissioned17 June 1930
ReclassifiedCA-30, 1 July 1931
Identification
Nickname(s)"Galloping Ghost of the Java Coast"[1]
Honors and
awards
FateSunk in the Battle of Sunda Strait, 1 March 1942
General characteristics (as built)[2][3]
Class and typeNorthampton-class cruiser
Displacement9,050 long tons (9,195 t) (standard)
Length
  • 600 ft 3 in (182.96 m) oa
  • 569 ft (173 m) pp
Beam66 ft 1 in (20.14 m)
Draft
  • 16 ft 4 in (4.98 m) (mean)
  • 23 ft (7.0 m) (max)
Installed power
Propulsion
Speed32.7 kn (37.6 mph; 60.6 km/h)
Range10,000 nmi (12,000 mi; 19,000 km) at 15 kn (17 mph; 28 km/h)
Capacity1,500 short tons (1,400 t) fuel oil
Complement109 officers 676 enlisted
Armament
Armor
  • Belt: 3–3+34 in (76–95 mm)
  • Deck: 1–2 in (25–51 mm)
  • Barbettes: 1+12 in (38 mm)
  • Turrets: 342+12 in (19–64 mm)
  • Conning Tower: 1+14 in (32 mm)
Aircraft carried4 × SOC Seagull scout-observation floatplanes
Aviation facilities2 × Amidship catapults
General characteristics (1942)[4]
Armament

USS Houston (CL/CA-30), was a Northampton-class cruiser of the United States Navy. She was the second Navy ship to bear the name "Houston".

She was launched by Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company, Newport News, Virginia, on 7 September 1929, sponsored by Elizabeth Holcombe (daughter of Oscar Holcombe, then-mayor of Houston, Texas), and commissioned on 17 June 1930.[5]

The ship was originally classified as a light cruiser (hull number CL-30) because of her thin armor. Houston was redesignated a heavy cruiser (CA-30) on 1 July 1931, as the provisions of the 1930 London Naval Treaty considered ships with 8-inch (20.3 cm) main guns to be heavy cruisers.

  1. ^ "Ship Nicknames". zuzuray.com. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
  2. ^ "Ships' Data, U. S. Naval Vessels". US Naval Department. 1 July 1935. pp. 16–23. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
  3. ^ "US Cruisers List: Light/Heavy/Antiaircraft Cruisers, Part 1". Hazegray.org. 22 January 2000. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
  4. ^ Terzibashitsch, Stefan (1984). Cruisers of the US Navy 1922–1962. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-974-X.
  5. ^ "Houston II (CA-30)". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Naval History and Heritage Command. 20 July 2015. Retrieved 14 November 2015.

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