Class & type: Baltimore-class cruiser
Displacement: 13,600 long tons (13,818 t)
Length: 673 ft 5 in (205.26 m)
Beam: 70 ft 10 in (21.59 m)
Draft: 20 ft 6 in (6.25 m)
Speed: 33 knots (61 km/h; 38 mph)
Complement: 1,142 officers and enlisted
Main Armament:
9 × 8 in (203 mm)/55 cal guns
Secondary Armament:
12 × 5 in (127 mm)/38 cal guns
Tertiary Armament:
48 × Bofors 40 mm guns
22 × Oerlikon 20 mm cannons
Aircraft carried: 4
(From Wikipedia)
World War II, 1944–1945
Pittsburgh trained along the east coast and in the Caribbean until departing Boston on 13 January 1945 for duty in the Pacific. After calling in Panama and final gunnery exercises in the Hawaiians, she joined TF 58 at Ulithi on 13 February, assigned to TG 58.2 formed around the aircraft carrier Lexington (CV-16).
Iwo Jima
The force sortied on 10 February to prepare the way for the assault on Iwo Jima. Carrier air strikes against airfields near Tokyo on 16 and 17 February limited Japanese air response to the initial landings on 19 February. That day planes from Pittsburgh's group began direct support to Marines fighting to overcome fierce Japanese resistance on the island. Final strikes against Tokyo's environs on 25 February and 1 March against the Nansei Shoto completed this operation.
The force sailed from Ulithi on 14 March to pound airfields and other military installations on Kyūshū on 18 March, and again the next day. The Japanese struck back at dawn on the 19th, with an air raid which set the carrier Franklin (CV-13) ablaze, her decks utter chaos and power lost. Pittsburgh dashed to the rescue at 30 knots (56 km/h). After saving 34 men from the water, Pittsburgh, with the light cruiser Santa Fe (CL-60), performed an outstanding feat of seamanship in getting a tow line on board the flaming carrier. Pittsburgh then began the agonizingly slow task of pulling the carrier to safety, as the flattop's crew struggled to restore power. Twice gunning off enemy air attacks attempting to finish Franklin, the cruiser continued her effort until noon, on 20 March when Franklin was able to cast off the tow and proceed, albeit slowly, under her own power. Capt. Gingrich had remained at the conn for 48 hours during the situation.
Okinawa
Between 23 March and 27 April, Pittsburgh guarded the carriers as they first prepared for, then covered and supported, the invasion of Okinawa. Enemy airfields were interdicted, and the troops given direct aid from the carriers. Pittsburgh repelled enemy air attacks and launched her scout planes to rescue downed carrier pilots. After replenishing at Ulithi, the force sortied once more on 8 May to attack the Nansei Shoto and Southern Japan in the continuing fight for Okinawa.
Damaged by a typhoon
On 4 June, Pittsburgh began to fight a typhoon which by early next day had increased to 70-knot (130 km/h) winds and 100-foot (30 m) waves. Shortly after her starboard scout plane had been lifted off its catapult and dashed onto the deck by the wind, Pittsburgh's second deck buckled, her bow structure thrust upward, and then wrenched free. Miraculously, not a man was lost. Now her crew's seamanship saved their own ship. Still fighting the storm, and maneuvering to avoid being rammed by the drifting bow-structure, Pittsburgh was held quarter-on to the seas by engine manipulations while the forward bulkhead was shored. After a seven-hour battle, the storm subsided, and Pittsburgh proceeded at 6 knots (11 km/h) to Guam arriving on 10 June. Her bow, nicknamed "McKeesport" (a suburb of Pittsburgh), was later salvaged by the tug Munsee (ATF-107) and brought into Guam.
With a false bow, Pittsburgh left Guam on 24 June bound for Puget Sound Navy Yard, arriving 16 July. Still under repair at war's end, she was placed in commission in reserve on 12 March 1946 and decommissioned on 7 March 1947. The typhoon damage also earned her the nickname "Longest Ship in the World" as literally thousands of miles separated the bow and stern.
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Revive the dream.
"We've begun work on the ships. Right now we're working on a PT boat and a carrier. The fleet we're working on for 1.05 consists entirely of American ships. Ships from other countries will be something we can work on in the future for use in historical terrains. We have to see how much work is involved in this first set of ships before we can plan that far ahead. The fleet ships we're keeping as simple as we can. While they will be player-controlled, it won't be as a helmsman. That will be done by inputting waypoints for the fleet to sail to. The player with the highest overall ranking will get precedence in positioning the fleet. Players will also be able to man the guns for both anti-aircraft and shore bombardment.
The carrier that we're working on is an Essex class carrier. After that, we'll start working on a Baltimore class cruiser. The 8" guns on the cruiser will be the heavy bombardment weapon of the fleet. If people like that aspect of the game, we'll probably follow up with a battleship. For anti-aircraft, players will be able to control a variety of batteries ranging up to the 5" guns with VT fuzes."
http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php/topic,14707.0.html (Pyro Nov. 3, 2000)
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