Rick is correct about the
Manchester conversion from 40mm to 3"/50 happening in mid 1953. A dead giveaway is the gun tubs outboard of the forward superfiring 6"/47 barbette. The 3"/50 gun tubs hang over the edge of the hull and cast a shadow that is pretty easy to see. No shadows, no 3"/50s.
However, there are more significant changes between the original round bridge ships (CL-55 through CL-63) and the later square bridge version (CL-64 through CL-103). Both the forward and aft superstructures were significantly different. The change from round bridge to square bridge is pretty evident in the photos. However, the change in the aft superstructure is not as evident where the 5"/38 mounts 54 and 55 were moved aft from frame 88 to frame 92 (12 feet), along with some changes in the 20 mm guns in this area.
The
Cleveland CL-55 model kits are particularly unsuited for modeling any of the later ships of the class. There were many differences, especially in the 40 mm gun locations. There are many smaller changes, some that are very visible. And
Birmingham was a round bridge ship also. By the time Manchester was built there were many modifications from the original ships, but for the most part the CL-8x were very similar to the CL-9x ships. There were significant differences between ships from different shipyards (they were built in four yards).
I could never find the square bridge blueprints in the National Archives. They don't list them for the microfilm collection, but there may be paper blueprints hiding there somewhere. If anyone finds them I will gladly pay for reproductions!
The USS
Miami CL-89 Booklet of General Plans is the best readily available square bridge reference that I have found, and it isn't detailed enough for a really detailed large scale model.But it is certainly good enough for a 1:350 model. The Booklets of General Plans were often produced before the ships were built, showing the general intended design. But there often were modifications added during construction.
For the square bridge ships Brent Jones' collection of "Mighty 90" photos from the USS
Astoria CL-90 are
far and away the most detailed photos you will find. He has a great collection of photos of every day life on the ship.
Manchester was fitted out originally very similar to the
Astoria, and the trash burner smoke pipe is in the same location (it was in a different position on some of the Clevelands and this is very noticeable in photos).
https://mighty90.com/Finally, six Clevelands survived after Korea, converted to guided missile ships. A few others were resurrected and converted for weapons tests. If you want to know more about the Clevelands go to:
https://www.okieboat.com/Cleveland%20Cl ... story.htmlPhil