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The USS Albany CG-10, along with her two sister ships, USS Chicago CG-11 and USS Columbus CG-12, represent the bridge between the massive conventional fleet of the USN at the end of World War Two and the modern fleet today. They totally epitomize the relegation of the big gun to airpower. They lost all of their guns, except for two 5 inch open mounts and acquired guided missile SAM positions with their associated acquisition and illumination radar assets. The ships started as heavy cruisers, Chicago CA-136 and Columbus CA-74 as part of the Baltimore class and Albany CA-123 as part of the Oregon City class. All three saw very limited service at the end of WWII or shortly thereafter and were quickly mothballed. Their limited active service was the reason for their selection for conversion to guided missile cruisers, as their machinery could be expected to last longer.
In the 50s the USN had experimented with the fusion of the gunpower of heavy and light cruisers with guided missile SAM capabilities. The result was a number of unusual and interesting designs. Boston, CA-69, became CAG-1 and Canberra, CA-70, became CAG-2. The aft half of the ships was reworked to add two Terrier missile positions. Five years later, six Cleveland class cruisers were converted to missile cruisers. They comprised the Galveston class of two ships, Galveston CLG-3 & Topeka CLG-8, and the Little Rock class of four ships, Little Rock CLG-4, Oklahoma City CLG-5, Providence CLG-6 & Springfield CLG-7. In each class, half received the Talos missile system and the other half received the Terrier II system. As with the Boston class, these ships retained significant gun positions and a great portion of their original superstructure.
 VITAL STATISTICS LAID DOWN: March 6, 1944 : LAUNCHED: June 30, 1945 COMPLETED: June 11, 1946 RECOMMISSIONED : November 3, 1963 DECOMMISSIONED : August 29, 1980 DISPLACEMENT: 13,700 tons standard; 18,950 tons full load LENGTH: 674 ft oa BEAM: 71 ft extreme DRAUGHT:33.5 ft max "Macks" rise 104'5" above waterline ARMAMENT: two TALOS Mk 12 launchers; two TERRIER II launchers; one ASROC 8 launcher; two 5 inch/ 38 cal guns; six Mk 32 torpedoes in two launchers MACHINERY: 120,000 hp; 32.5 knots COMPLEMENT: 1,262 (75 officers & 1,187 enlisted) |
Albany was different. All guns and superstructure
were removed, leaving only the hull. The new superstructure ran two-thirds the length of
the ship. She was equipped with two Talos systems and two Tartar systems. When she
returned in 1962 after conversion, she was the most powerful guided missile ship in the
fleet. To allow each acquisition and guidance radar to be unobstructed, they were placed
in a cascading design, one behind the other. The bridge superstructure, made of light
metal alloys, had to be made very tall to allow control personnel forward observation.
This soaring superstructure along with the two tall macks (masts/stacks) created the
unique and imposing silhouette of the class.
Originally Albany would not have had any surface to surface capability but President
Kennedy insisted that ships of this size should have this capability. As a result the
class was fitted with two 5 inch/38 cal open mounts. During one deployment to the Tonkin
Gulf, an air controller aboard Chicago used the ship radars to control CAP interceptors
and was credited with twelve kills. In 1972 Chicago stopped a MiG attack, when she
splashed a MiG at forty-eight miles. Columbus was with the fleet until 1975 when she was
decommissioned. Albany and Chicago were retained until 1980.
REFERENCES Two references were used in the build of the JAG Albany. CRUISERS OF THE US NAVY 1922-1962 by Stefan Terzibaschitsch (11 pages on the class with 15 photos) and U.S. CRUISERS AN ILLUSTRATED DESIGN HISTORY by Norman Friedman. Both contain excellent information on Albany and her sisters and also contain profile and plan drawings. These were necessary since the instructions do not contain a profile or plan. Most of the history of Albany found above is from the Friedman book. WARSHIP INTERNATIONAL No 2, 1977 is also said to be a very good reference but I did not have a copy. (Editor's Note: It's the best reference by far. 32 pages of remarkable photos - many of which are full page - as well as foldout profile drawings and highly informative text.) |
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The parts on the resin wafer were easily removed with a hobby
scissors. All the parts had a perfect fit. Of the smaller resin parts, only three had a
problem. Both 5 inch guns had a very slight warp but this was easily corrected and they
were still usable. However, one part was unusable and had to be replaced. The kit comes
with two SPS-30 radars (part 27). One was perfectly formed but the other was warped into a
lopsided oval. The defect was beyond my means to correct. I called JAG
and talked to Tom Gardner. He mentioned that all parts to JAG
kits are hand inspected before shipment. It is probable that the radar as well as the two
5 inch guns were warped while in shipment. Resin parts are susceptible to heat. The kit
was shipped in July so it is likely that the shipping container was subjected to some
summer heat. In any event JAG stands behind every component
of their kits. I received replacement parts within three days. I found JAG’s customer service to be outstanding. The resin compound
used by JAG seems to be harder than that used by other
companies.
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JAG gives you a finely done and rather large fret of brass for the
ship specific items. I think that it is an elegantly executed fret design. The fret made
complex forms simple. The large three piece SPS-43 radar atop the aft mack is a perfect
example of this elegance. It could have been a chore to put together but with the JAG design it was simple and fun. All of the PE parts were easy to
fold and retained their correct shape after the folding process. Some of my greatest
enjoyment in building this model came in attaching the PE parts. Albany is loaded with
unusual shapes, which are beautifully modeled by the fret. The aft lattice mast, the boat
davit positions, framework on the crane kingposts and the octagon SPW-2B platforms all add
greatly to final model and were easy to assemble. JAG’s concern
for the customer was further demonstrated in the PE. In my build, one SPW-2B platform was
a tight fit on to the hull. JAG had already found the same
minor problem and revised the fret to correct this. When I received my replacement resin
parts, which included one that I had lost, they also sent the replacement PE platform.
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The
instructions contain a complete resin and brass parts lists as well as a numbered drawing
of all small resin parts. They also included drawings of the assembly of the PE parts and
assembly notes on construction of the kit. Note 13 states that boat booms are at each
corner of the lattice mast but their position is not shown on the instructions. Photos
indicate that their bases are at the sides of the rear SPW-2B pylon. The instructions do
not show the location of the two hose reels (parts 48 in the parts list and parts 49 in
the runner diagram). One is on the small platform forward of the second mack and the other
is on the bow, centered and to the rear of the capstans. There is no assembly diagram for
PE part K. That is the two piece SPS-10 radar. I found that it was unclear how it went
together. The SPW-2B radars, part 7, come in two shapes. The two that are with bases go on
the pylons; the two without bases go on the deck positions. The kit comes with a nice
decal sheet that includes helicopter landing deck markings, bow and stern numbers and
names for all three ships, flags, and exhaust vents for the macks. I should have used a
decal setting solution when I placed the decals. I did not and almost all of the decals
came off when I was weathering the model. Use a setting solution so you won’t have
this problem. All of my criticisms found above amount to nit picking.
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