Which ship is this?

[John Lansford]

The text with this photo said the ship was off the Philippines, presumably 1944, and was a US cruiser. Did USN cruisers that late in the war still have their single 5" guns?

[LoBaron]

Great pic!
As for my competence in answering your question...took me about 1 minute to even guess from the hull size this could really be a CA.
Though I am still not sure. [:D]

[John Lansford]

It's had some serious AA upgrades and IMO the superstructure has been rebuilt, but those single 5" mounts still get me.  One of the Portland or Brooklyn class perhaps?  The text didn't say CA or CL, only cruiser.

[Q-Ball]

I think it's a New Orleans-class. Check out this line drawing:

This view could be facing forward, taken from about where the catapults are. Possible photographer position marked in RED

[Q-Ball]

Sorry, THIS has position in RED:

[Dili]

Could be that, but i am seeing a 3 20mm oerlikon instead off 2 in that platform and some more side structures in the bridge.

[d0mbo]

the question remains though: did the sky fall down after the pic was taken or not?
 

[John Lansford]

There's only 2 20mm guns in that platform; the other device is a spotter or aiming device.  My father in law operated one of those on an AKA for a set of 40mm quads, and helped shoot down a kamikaze off of Iwo Jima.

[Q-Ball]

It's pretty close though, and I couldn't find anything else even close. It could be that this cruiser had a slightly different AA config than the 1945 line drawing of San Francisco.

The outline of the gun tubs, placement of 5in-ers, placement of smokestack and other details are all consistent with the line drawing

Anyone else have a guess?

[Local Yokel]

It's the Belgrano! [;)]

[Shark7]

Actually, those are 3 Oerlikon's in the picture. The picture was probably snapped from the 2 Oerlikon position right against the aft stack, looking forward to the position with 3 Oerlikons between the stacks. I agree, definately New Orleans.

[John Lansford]

I bet those 20mm gun crews were hating life if those 5" fired while trained and elevated in that direction...

[usersatch]

Whatever the ship, that's a "boat-load" of guns!!!

I had the pleasure of being about 30 feet in front of a 105mm when it fired, unexpectedly to me (Sicily DZ, middle of the night, 82nd Arty was firing off the drop zone). The overpressure ruptured an ear drum and knocked me senseless for a good 5 minutes. I can't even imagine a 5-incher firing that close to my head. Ugh.

[Dixie]

ORIGINAL: Local Yokel

It's the Belgrano! [;)]

They should've been looking down then...

[Chickenboy]

ORIGINAL: Dixie

ORIGINAL: Local Yokel

It's the Belgrano! [;)]

They should've been looking down then...

Ba-dump-bump. [rimshot][:D]

[redcoat]

ORIGINAL: Local Yokel

It's the Belgrano! [;)]

In December 1944 ...

[RevRick]

Which means it the USS Phoenix.. It had to be a Brooklyn because the 5"25 mt enclosure extends out past the gunwale... I don't think the heavies did that.

[1918a2]

Here's a 1945 photo of the New Orleans. The 5" mounts overhang the deck edge like the original photo. The postions of the 20mm's, the quad 40mm and the searchlight platform say New Orleans class to me.

[crsutton]

Well, whatever ship, there is something up in the air that has gotten just about everybody's attention. Nice photo.

[Akos Gergely]

This is the USS Phoenix. (copy past the link)

http://www.navsource.org/archives/04/046/0404606.jpg

"USS Phoenix (CL 46) - Crewmen at port side midships 5"/25, 20mm and 40mm anti-aircraft guns strain to identify a plane flying overhead, during the Mindoro invasion, 18 December 1944. This was a time of intense Kamikaze attacks, as the expressions on men's faces indicate. Note whaleboat in the lower left, anti-flash clothing, and floater net enclosed in a bag at right. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives #80-G-47471"