Calling all Omaha-class (CL-4) fans

[Mac D.]

Thanks Gary,

Familar with her story as I have several books on the Asiatic Fleet and have been to a couple of their reunions in the past. What I'm referring to is the color demarkation line on the hull by the name plate(its not reversed by the way) There seems to be an attempt to 'shorten the hull' by painting out the stern. Similar to a MS 6 or 7 scheme. USS Stewart capsized in a drydock in Java shows a similar painting, but hers is painted out fore and aft, as are the funnels! Just trying to get some feed back on this pic.

Mac

[Sr. Gopher]

Anyone know if the Omahas were around at Omaha Beach???

These ships are one of the most potent escort vessels I've seen. The cats, the battery of 6 inch guns, and the other weapons make this the Cleveland's little cousin. But does anyone know exactly what type of operstions these went through?

[MartinJQuinn]

You can find their histories on the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS) website:

Omaha
Milwaukee
Cincinnati
Raleigh
Detroit
Richmond
Concord
Trenton
Marblehead
Memphis

[Sr. Gopher]

I see... not much of action... I guess that fits for old cruisers. But still, why weren't these used for more purposeful things, like maybe...Scout Ships??? Like they were meant to do? Seriously, they were exceptionally fast - like destroyers. Why not make these the radar pickets? Makes sense, the 6 inchers could knock out aircraft, and the 3 inch guns too. The numerous 20mms and 40mms could make a difference.

[Timmy C]

the 6 inchers could knock out aircraft

Not the ones on the Omahas - low angle (30 degrees for the twins, 20 for the casemates) and no AA ammo, according to Navweaps: http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNUS_6-53_mk12.htm

[Sr. Gopher]

They could, but the Torpedo Bombers, and low flying aircraft...

[GERARD]

this ones for gone asiatict
I have all 3 of the kits of these ships if you want to do a marblehead conversion
the best one would be the NIKO marblehead i took all three kits and laid them out the marblehead was the winner it has all the right shaped deck houses the others are a bit different you will have to do some chopping and such but its way more doable then the other kits
Gerry

[niwell]

They could, but the Torpedo Bombers, and low flying aircraft...

Actually no. The 6" guns on the Omahas were incapable of any form of AA fire. Aside from the elevation issues and lack of 6" fused shells for AA there was no fire control onboard that could hope to hit any aircraft. They didn't even have any fire control worth mentioning for their heavy AA battery (3" guns).

In all honesty, these ships were grossly outdated by the time WWII rolled around, and it was only the war itself that kept them in service. They were fast and well designed for their weight, but that was also their shortcoming. According to Friedman the ships were too light and fast for their own good. They were lightly armoured, very uncomfortable (hot in the tropics, cold in the north), dirty (due to the absence of scuppers), had inadequate facilities for the number of crew aboard and actually leaked.

[GERARD]

Hey guys
I am working on converting the NIKO Marblehead right now
unfortunately I am taking a few liberties because of the lack of good fotos of her in the early war years
my question is does anyone know if she carried 50s and if so where I am assuming she did as most of the ships in the Asiatic fleet added them or had them
just not sure where to put em
thanks Gerry

[scottj]

I've got the Niko Milwaukee and it looks like a real jewel but would rather build as the Richmond. Any major changes I'd have to make? While I have tried comparing photos on Navsource you guys always seem to have amazing information.

Thanks.

[Jeff Sharp]

So, there I was, rummaging through the boxes of pictures at NARA in College Park, MD, when I found a treasure trove of shipyard facility construction pictures (I have a thing for Graving Docks, you see).

One of the pictures of the brand-new drydock at San Juan Naval Air Station in Puerto Rico was documenting a crane-tipping incident at the brand-new dock.

Within the picture is a mighty-fine looking four-piper, which seems to me an Omaha-class CL.



The picture is dated 17 November 1941.

Any guesses who the ship in the background might be? I have my guess, and if I'm right, you're seeing the culmination of a pretty interesting nautical tale of adventure at sea.

Here's a blow-up of the ship in question:



Any correct reply earns the inquisitor a free beer or fruity soft drink...

Any takers?

Taking a look at the above photo, it is a very interesting one indeed. It is without a doubt not Omaha. Notice the ribbing around the fighting top and birdbath. Omaha did not have these ribs. Given this info and the style of windows on the fighting top, the only ship that this could be is Milwaukee. The REALLY interesting thing about this photo given the date is the Paint scheme! Not MS-1 with 5-L on the fighting top, but it definitely looks like the ship was painted in 5-D. What is going on with that fighting top?

Here is a photo of Omaha in '41 for comparison. Notice her 5-L top and no ribs on that top.

[AndrexP]

Not OMAHA?

[Dick J]

In the photo that you are questioning, note the wind baffles beneath the windows of the foretop and above them on the bulwarks for the "birdbath" above the foretop. Three Omaha's are confirmed to have had them in both locations prior to Pearl Harbor; CL-5, CL-6, and CL-13. Therefore, this photo is probably not Omaha, CL-4.

[AndrexP]

In the photo that you are questioning, note the wind baffles beneath the windows of the foretop and above them on the bulwarks for the "birdbath" above the foretop. Three Omaha's are confirmed to have had them in both locations prior to Pearl Harbor; CL-5, CL-6, and CL-13. Therefore, this photo is probably not Omaha, CL-4.

Bummer. I so wanted to tie this photo to tales of smuggling, blockade running, and prize money...

[Jeff Sharp]

Not OMAHA?

No, not Omaha. What you have found here is a very historically significant photograph of USS Milwaukee. Well, maybe "historically significant" is a bit dramatic! But to me it is an awesome photograph that puts another wrinkle in the camouflage puzzle that was happening to the US Navy in 1941.

Congratulations on a cool find!

I do like Guinness Stout!

[Vladi]

Hello everyone,
my friend Martin plans building USS Richmond CL-9 (from the Niko 1/700 USS Marblehead resin kit) from the Battle of the Komandorski Islands time. Unfortunately, we are lacking photo documentation on her setup as what we could find on the web (Navsource, Shipmodels.info etc.) and in Norman Friedman�s US Cruisers book was not really enough. Unfortunately, Steve Wiper�s Warship Pictorial volume on the Omahas is out of print and the cost of a used book + shipping is quite prohibitive. We need to be able to tell the differences between the kit (Marblehead) and Richmond. We are aware of the differences in the funnels area, but any photos of the rear funnels & catapult area showing how it looked like in 1943 would be helpful as well as any additional information.
Thanks!

[Rick E Davis]

Here is a photo of USS RICHMOND (CL-9) taken in about November 1942, which likely shows her configuration in March 1943. Looks like at this point she had ten 6-in guns, eight 3-in guns, three twin 40-mm mounts, and I count at least ten-twelve 20-mm guns. This is the only WWII photo of RICHMOND I have except for a photo dated October 1945, when her armament looks to be the same but the radar suite is different.

[Vladi]

Dear Rick, thank you very much, this is a very nice photo. There is a larger crop of the same shot at http://www.navsource.org/archives/04/009/0400906.jpg which includes the original navy yard caption in the bottom right corner dating this one to September 15, 1943, not November 1942. But it is still a great photo!

[Rick E Davis]

Vladi,

It wouldn't surprise me that the date is wrong. The 80-G "100000" number series of photos is a strange lot. Many without dates provided on the mounting card caption. Also, a high number of photos in this series are censored images made for Public Release during WWII. This view shows no censoring of radars, but they did crop out the MINY labels. Since this is a MINY yard photo available in 19-LCM collection, the September 1943 dates are 99.9% chance of being accurate (I have found a few photos with "typo" date errors). Sorry, I don't know how close this photo or the others in the MINY series are to what RICHMOND looked like in March 1943.

[Vladi]

Hi Rick, thanks, this happens all the time. We can only be grateful to the fact that there usually are dates provided for USN photos. My main domain is IJN and the situation there is far far worse... Anyway, thanks for your help!