From the age of sail onwards, navies from around the world needed a class of warship to fit that special bill somewhere between battleship and destroyer - the vessel would be built smaller than the former but larger than the latter. In World War 2, the aircraft carrier ascended to become the primary capital ship of the most powerful navies, replacing the battleship in the role. It was then that the "cruiser" arose to provide general protection for the new-look fleet. The heavy cruiser started to fill the gap by having an inherently reduced price tag and the concept of the all-powerful battleship as a capital ship was fading. Today the cruiser has emerged as the largest and most powerful surface combat ship of all the available classes - essentially becoming the "modern day" battleship of today's sea-going fleet.
At the end of World War 2, the US Navy continued to build heavy cruisers of the Baltimore-class. The USS Fall River (CA-131) was one such vessel and was built by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation at the Camden New Jersey shipyards. She was commissioned on July 1st, 1945 and proved a powerful ship but was inducted into service too late for combat operations in Europe or the Pacific. Instead, the Navy used her to help develop cruiser tactics in the post-war "peace" and into the Cold War-era against Soviet Union.
CA-131 was assigned to Joint Task Force 1 operating during "Operation Crossroads". The force was assigned to fleet duty to oversee atomic weapons testing in the Marshall Islands. Fall River sailed to San Pedro, California to receive alterations as needed in order to become the flagship for the upcoming operation. The refit was completed on March 6, 1946 to which then she sailed for Pearl Harbor to accept additional crew including Rear Admiral F. G. Fahrion - commander of the target vessel group for the upcoming tests. Pearl Harbor had long served as a gateway to the Western Pacific and proved extremely vital to Pacific operations of the United States Navy during all of World War 2. Fall River sailed from Pearl and later arrived in the Marshalls by June 14th. During a three week period, a support fleet of 150-plus ships arrived and would provide quarters, nuclear work stations and workshops needed for the 37,000 Navy personnel and 5,000 observers and scientists involved in the atomic program.
Operation Crossroads was to be conducted at the Bikini Atoll in 1946 with the assigned staff on the Fall River, and the supporting USN vessels, investigating the effects of nuclear weapons on naval ships. The series consisted of two detonations each with a yield of 23 kilotons. "Able" was detonated on July 1st, 1946 while "Baker" was detonated underwater on July 25th, 1946. Because of the radioactive contamination delivered by these tests, Bikini Atoll remains uninhabitable to this date though she is regularly visited by sport divers. Participants on Fall River and her task force were thought to be well protected against radiation sickness though testing in the later years revealed crew life expectancy to be reduced by an average of three months.
Fall River returned to Camden, New Jersey in late 1946 for a refit and then, from January 1947 to June 1947, she served a tour of duty in the Far East as flagship of Cruiser Division 1. She received decommissioning orders on October 31st, 1947 and returned to Puget Sound Navy Yard where she was placed in reserve. She was struck from the Naval Register on February 19th, 1971 and sold for scrap on August 28th, 1972. However, some two hundred tons of armor plate from the USS Fall River was removed for use at the Fermi National Accelerator Libratory.
Note: The above text is EXCLUSIVE to the site www.MilitaryFactory.com. It is the product of many hours of research and work made possible with the help of contributors, veterans, insiders, and topic specialists. If you happen upon this text anywhere else on the internet or in print, please let us know at MilitaryFactory AT gmail DOT com so that we may take appropriate action against the offender / offending site and continue to protect this original work.
USS Baltimore (CA-68); USS Boston (CA-69); USS Canberra (CA-70); USS Quincy (CA-71); USS Pittsburgh (CA-72); USS Saint Paul (CA-73); USS Columbus (CA-74); USS Helena (CA-75); USS Bremerton (CA-131); USS Fall River (CA-132); USS Macon (); USS Toledo (CA-133); USS Los Angeles (CA-135); USS Chicago (CA-136) Ships-in-Class
Offshore Bombardment
Offshore bombardment / attack of surface targets / areas primarily through onboard ballistic weaponry.
Land-Attack
Offshore strike of surface targets primarily through onboard missile / rocket weaponry.
Maritime Patrol
Active patroling of vital waterways and maritime areas; can also serve as local deterrence against airborne and seaborne threats.
Airspace Denial / Deterrence
Neutralization or deterrence of airborne elements through onboard ballistic of missile weaponry.
Fleet Support
Serving in support (either firepower or material) of the main surface fleet in Blue Water environments.
674.1 feet (205.47 meters) Length
70.9 feet (21.61 meters) Beam
20.5 feet (6.25 meters) Draught
13,818 tons Displacement
General Electric geared turbines delivering 120,000 shaft horsepower to 4 x screws. Propulsion
9 x 8-inch /55 caliber main guns in three triple-gunned mountings.
12 x 5-inch /38 caliber secondary guns in six double-gunned mountings.
48 x 40mm Bofors cannons in twelve quadruple mountings.
24 x 20mm Oerlikon cannons in single mountings.
None.
Images
1 / 1
Front right side view of the USS Fall River heavy cruiser in still waters
The "Military Factory" name and MilitaryFactory.com logo are registered ® U.S. trademarks protected by all applicable domestic and international intellectual property laws. All written content, illustrations, and photography are unique to this website (unless where indicated) and not for reuse/reproduction in any form. Material presented throughout this website is for historical and entertainment value only and should not to be construed as usable for hardware restoration, maintenance, or general operation. We do not sell any of the items showcased on this site. Please direct all other inquiries to militaryfactory AT gmail.com. No A.I. was used in the generation of this content; site is 100% curated by humans.
