USSTechnically, "USS" should not be in this article's title since this ship was never commissioned; however, it has been included here to adhere to the naming conventions of Wikipedia. Hawaii (CB-3), the first United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 ship to be named after the Territory of Hawaii

Territory of Hawaii

The Territory of Hawaii or Hawaii Territory was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 7, 1898, until August 21, 1959, when its territory, with the exception of Johnston Atoll, was admitted to the Union as the fiftieth U.S. state, the State of Hawaii.The U.S...

,Hawaii was not yet a state at this time; instead, it was an insular area

Insular area

An insular area is a United States territory, that is neither a part of one of the fifty U.S. states nor the District of Columbia, the federal district of the United States...

. It joined the Union as the fiftieth state in 1959. was originally intended to be the third member of the large cruisers. Delayed by higher-priority ships such as aircraft carrier

Aircraft carrier

An aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...

s, her keel

Keel

In boats and ships, keel can refer to either of two parts: a structural element, or a hydrodynamic element. These parts overlap. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in construction of a ship, in British and American shipbuilding traditions the construction is dated from this event...

 was not laid until December 1943, about two years after her sister ship

Sister ship

A sister ship is a ship of the same class as, or of virtually identical design to, another ship. Such vessels share a near-identical hull and superstructure layout, similar displacement, and roughly comparable features and equipment...

 .

After her launch on 3 November 1945, Hawaii began fitting out, but post-war cutbacks necessitated the cancellation of the ship on 17 February 1947. For a time it was planned that she would be converted to be the U.S.' first guided missile cruiser, but this did not come to fruition. A conversion to a large command ship

Command ship

Command ships serve as the flagships of the Commander of a fleet. They provide communications, office space, and accommodations for a fleet commander and his staff, and serve to coordinate fleet activities....

 was later contemplated; planning went far enough that money was allocated in the 1952 budget for this purpose, but with one complete and a second already chosen, no work was started upon Hawaii. Having been laid up for twelve years, the ship was towed to the breakers to be scrapped on 20 June 1959.

Design

The initial impetus for the design of the Alaska-class came from the commerce-raiding abilities of German and Japanese ships; the three cruisers, also known as "pocket battleships", the two battleships, and Japan's large force of both heavy and light cruisers. With the beginning of the Second World War

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, the General Board

General Board of the United States Navy

The General Board of the United States Navy was an advisory body of the United States Navy, effectively a naval general staff. The General Board was established by general order 544, issued on March 13, 1900 by John Davis Long. The order was officially recognized by Congress in 1916...

 began preparations for a new naval building program which would comprise all types of warships. The cruisers proposed as part of this ranged from the relatively light 6000 LT (6,096.3 t; 6,720 ST) meant for anti-aircraft duty all the way up to an extremely large 38000 LT (38,609.9 t; 42,560.1 ST) ship carrying a main battery

Main battery

Generally used only in the terms of naval warfare, the main battery is the primary weapon around which a ship was designed. "Battery" is in itself a common term in the military science of artillery. For example, the United States Navy battleship USS Washington had a main battery of nine guns...

 of twelve 12 inches (304.8 mm) and a secondary battery of sixteen 5 inches (127 mm) guns.

Ten designs were drawn up through late 1939 and June 1940, most focusing on ships bigger than 24000 LT (24,385.2 t; 26,880.1 ST) and all utilizing 12-inch/50 and 5-inch/38 caliber guns. The first ten made it apparent to the General Board that a ship with balance of speed, firepower, armor and underwater protection would certainly be far over the 25000 LT (25,401.3 t; 28,000.1 ST) limit they wanted. To bring down the weight, great compromises were made in the latter area, leading to a 30 July 1940 design with a ship with a standard displacement of 25900 LT (26,315.7 t; 29,008.1 ST) and carrying eight 12-inch (triple), twelve 5-inch (dual) and sixteen 1.1 inches (27.9 mm) (quadruple). The final design kept many aspects of this plan, although there were still major revisions: the hull was lengthened 18.5 feet (5.6 m) and widened by about 5 feet (1.5 m), the number of 12-inch guns was increased to nine, and to anti-aircraft battery was replaced and greatly increased, to 56 Bofors 40 mm and 34 Oerlikon 20 mm

Oerlikon 20 mm cannon

The Oerlikon 20 mm cannon is a series of autocannons, based on an original design by Reinhold Becker of Germany, very early in World War I, and widely produced by Oerlikon Contraves and others...

.

Six ships of this design were authorized in September 1940 along with a plethora of other ships as a part of the 70% Expansion Two-Ocean Navy Act

Two-Ocean Navy Act

The Two-Ocean Navy Act, was an American Act of Congress passed on July 19, 1940, to increase the size of the United States Navy by 70%, making it the largest naval procurement bill in U.S...

.Along with the Alaska ships, there were 210 other ships ordered at the same time: two s, five s, twelve s, four s, 19 s, four s, 52 s, twelve s and 73 s. Their role had been altered slightly; in addition to their surface-to-surface role in combating commerce raiders, they were planned to protect carrier groups. It was thought that the class' bigger guns, greater size and higher speed would give them a marked advantage in this role over heavy cruisers, and they would also provide insurance against reports that Japan was building "super cruisers" more powerful than American cruisers limited by the London Naval Treaty

London Naval Treaty

The London Naval Treaty was an agreement between the United Kingdom, the Empire of Japan, France, Italy and the United States, signed on April 22, 1930, which regulated submarine warfare and limited naval shipbuilding. Ratifications were exchanged in London on October 27, 1930, and the treaty went...

.Japan actually developed plans for two of the "super cruisers" in 1941—the Design B-65 cruisers—mostly in response to the new Alaska ships. They were never ordered due to the greater need for carriers.

Construction, conversion proposals and eventual fate

Along with the five s and the final three Alaska-class cruisers, the construction of Hawaii was suspended in May 1942 before work began. This freed materials and facilities so that they could be used to build additional ships which could be completed faster and were needed in the war zones, like anti-submarine

Anti-submarine warfare

Anti-submarine warfare is a branch of naval warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, or other submarines to find, track and deter, damage or destroy enemy submarines....

 escorts. Over 4000 LT (4,064.2 t; 4,480 ST) of steel plates and shapes which had been destined for Hawaii was redirected to other ships in July 1942. However, Hawaii was added back onto the construction queue on 25 May 1943, unlike CB-4 through CB-6, which were canceled on 24 June 1943. Her keel was laid on 20 December 1943, and she was finally launched on 3 November 1945, about two years after Guam.Garzke and Dulin, Battleships, 184 give a launching date of 11 March 1945, but an official U.S. Navy photograph, along with Hawaiis DANFS entry and Gardiner and Cheasneau, Conway's, 122, appear to directly disprove this. The ship was sponsored

Ship Sponsor

A ship sponsor, by tradition, is a female civilian who is invited to "sponsor" a vessel, presumably to bestow good luck and divine protection over the seagoing vessel and all that sail aboard...

 by Mary P. Farrington

Elizabeth P. Farrington

Mary Elizabeth Pruett Farrington , usually called Elizabeth P. Farrington, was publisher of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin and an American statesman who served as delegate to the United States Congress for the Territory of Hawai'i. She was the wife to Joseph Rider Farrington, whom she had succeeded in...

, the wife of the delegate

Delegate (United States Congress)

A delegate to Congress is a non-voting member of the United States House of Representatives who is elected from a U.S. territory and from Washington, D.C. to a two-year term. While unable to vote in the full House, a non-voting delegate may vote in a House committee of which the delegate is a member...

 from the Territory of Hawaii to the United States House of Representatives

United States House of Representatives

The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

, Joseph Farrington

Joseph Rider Farrington

Joseph Rider Farrington was an American newspaper editor and statesman who served in the United States Congress as delegate for the Territory of Hawai'i.-Education and military career:...

. After her launch, little, if any, work was done before construction was halted in either February or April 1947"USS Hawaii (CB-3); 1940 program – never completed" gives 17 February; Garzke and Dulin, Battleships, 184 gives 16 April. due to the reduction in defense expenditures after World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

; the ship was 82.4% complete when work was halted. The turrets for the main battery had been fitted and the superstructure was mostly finished, although the former were removed when the ship was moved into the reserve fleet at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard

Philadelphia Naval Shipyard

The Philadelphia Naval Business Center, formerly known as the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard and Philadelphia Navy Yard, was the first naval shipyard of the United States. The U.S. Navy reduced its activities there in the 1990s, and ended most of them on September 30, 1995...

.

Guided-missile cruiser designs

Similar to the incomplete battleship ,This similar proposal planned to take Kentucky, an incomplete Iowa-class battleship whose construction had also been halted, and convert her into the first guided missile battleship (BBG). However, this conversion never materialized, and Kentucky was scrapped in 1958. Hawaii was considered for a conversion to be a test platform for the development of guided missiles in September 1946. Designated CB(SW), the cruisers' gun armament would have consisted of sixteen 3-inch/70 caliber guns in eight dual mounts. Most missiles would have been mounted toward the bow, while two "missile launching pits" would be located near the stern. For this task, no armor would have been needed, and previously installed armor was to be taken off the ship when required. These plans never came to fruition, so Hawaii remained in the Reserve Fleet, still incomplete.

Two years later, in 1948, a similar conversion plan was put forth. This plan, designated Project SCB 26A, proposed that Hawaii be converted into a Ballistic Guided Missile Ship. This plan called for Hawaii to be completed with 12 vertical launchers for U.S.-made V-2

V-2 rocket

The V-2 rocket , technical name Aggregat-4 , was a ballistic missile that was developed at the beginning of the Second World War in Germany, specifically targeted at London and later Antwerp. The liquid-propellant rocket was the world's first long-range combat-ballistic missile and first known...

 short-range ballistic missile

Short-range ballistic missile

A short-range ballistic missile is a ballistic missile with a range of about 1,000 km or less. They are usually capable of carrying nuclear weapons. In potential regional conflicts, these missiles would be used because of the short distances between some countries and their relative low cost...

s and 6 launchers for the SSM-N-2 Triton surface-to-surface cruise missile

Cruise missile

A cruise missile is a guided missile that carries an explosive payload and is propelled, usually by a jet engine, towards a land-based or sea-based target. Cruise missiles are designed to deliver a large warhead over long distances with high accuracy...

. Triton was an attempt to give the Navy a reliable cruise missile that it could launch off of its ships. The design process began with an approval from the U.S. Navy in September 1946. After "formulating performance objectives and possible design baselines", the designers settled on attempting to fit a 36000 pounds (16,329.3 kg) ramjet-powered cruiser missile onto solid-fuel rocket boosters that could throw the missile 2000 nmi (2,301.6 mi; 3,704 km) at Mach

Mach number

Mach number is the speed of an object moving through air, or any other fluid substance, divided by the speed of sound as it is in that substance for its particular physical conditions, including those of temperature and pressure...

 1.6–2.5 in 1950. After lowering the ambitious goals to more manageable levels in 1955, a fully operational version was expected by 1965, but with tests for the SSM-N-9/RGM-15 Regulus II

SSM-N-8 Regulus

The SSM-N-8A Regulus was a ship and submarine launched, nuclear armed cruise missile deployed by the United States Navy from 1955 to 1964.-Design and development:...

 planned for that year and the up-and-coming UGM-27 Polaris

UGM-27 Polaris

The Polaris missile was a two-stage solid-fuel nuclear-armed submarine-launched ballistic missile built during the Cold War by Lockheed Corporation of California for the United States Navy....

 submarine-launched cruise missile

SLCM

Submarine-Launched Cruise Missile or SLCMs are cruise missiles that deliver conventional and/or nuclear payloads and are launched from ships or submarines. Current versions are typically standoff weapons which are used to attack predetermined land targets.Four US Navy ballistic missile submarines ...

, the project was terminated in 1957.

Hawaii would have also been able to launch the JB-2 "Loon"

Republic-Ford JB-2

The Republic-Ford JB-2 Loon was a United States copy of the German V-1 flying bomb. Developed in 1944, and planned to be used in the United States invasion of Japan , the JB-2 was never used in combat. It was the most successful of the United States Army Air Forces Jet Bomb projects during...

 cruise missile from a hydraulic catapult installed on her forward flight deck; lastly, an aircraft crane and twin aircraft catapults were to be added on the stern of the ship. Interestingly the conversion, as envisioned, would have looked similar to a completed . The conversion was authorized in the same year (1948) and was scheduled to be completed in 1950; the ship's classification

Hull classification symbol

The United States Navy, United States Coast Guard, and United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration use hull classification symbols to identify their ship types and each individual ship within each type...

 was changed to CBG-3 to reflect the planned overhaul. However, the conversion was canceled in 1949, along with any other plans for surface ships equipped with ballistic missiles, due to the volatility of the rocket fuels and the shortcomings with guidance systems that were available.

Large command ship

Yet another conversion of Hawaii, this time to a "large command ship

Command ship

Command ships serve as the flagships of the Commander of a fleet. They provide communications, office space, and accommodations for a fleet commander and his staff, and serve to coordinate fleet activities....

", was contemplated from August 1951. In this role, she would have been similar to , but larger. This conversion would have would have boasted expansive flag facilities and fully capable radar and communication systems for commanding carrier task forces, though there would have been no facilities for amphibious operations. Armament would have consisted of sixteen 5"/54 caliber guns in single mounts; this gun size was specified because 3"/50 caliber guns were believed to be too light. Two radar

Radar

Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...

s would have been mounted: an AN/SPS-2 on top of a forward tower, and an AN/SPS-8 on the aft superstructure. In addition, an SC-2 was to be mounted on top of a short tower aft of the stack (though forward of the SPS-8); this would have been used for "troposphere scatter communications".

Two Mk37/25 fire-control director

Fire-control system

A fire-control system is a number of components working together, usually a gun data computer, a director, and radar, which is designed to assist a weapon system in hitting its target. It performs the same task as a human gunner firing a weapon, but attempts to do so faster and more...

s were planned, both fore and aft of the superstructure. The conversion plans were authorized, and her classification was changed to CBC-1 to reflect this on 26 February 1952. Money to begin the project was included in the 1952 budget, but the only work done on the ship was the removal of the 12" turrets, as it was intended that experience from Northampton should be analyzed before a full conversion. However, when it was seen that a smaller and cheaper ship—like the light carrier —could do the same duty, the Hawaii project was canceled in 1953. She reverted to her original designation of CB-3 on 9 September 1954.The Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships notates this date as 9 October 1954.

In February 1957, a study entitled "Polaris Study–CB-3" was published, proposing that Hawaii be stripped of all her guns in favor of twenty Polaris missiles, mounted in the hull vertically in roughly the same location as the third main turret would have been located, two Talos

RIM-8 Talos

The Bendix RIM-8 Talos was a long-range naval surface-to-air missile, and was among the earliest surface-to-air missiles to equip United States Navy ships. The Talos used radar beam riding for guidance to the vicinity of its target, and semiactive radar homing for terminal guidance...

 surface-to-air missile

Surface-to-air missile

A surface-to-air missile or ground-to-air missile is a missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft or other missiles...

 (SAM) launchers, one each fore and aft, two Tartar

RIM-24 Tartar

The General Dynamics RIM-24 Tartar was a medium-range naval surface-to-air missile , and was among the earliest surface-to-air missiles to equip United States Navy ships...

 SAMs mounted on either side of the superstructure, and a single ASROC anti-submarine weapon

Anti-submarine weapon

An anti-submarine weapon is any one of a range of devices that are intended to act against a submarine, and its crew, to destroy the vessel or to destroy or reduce its capability as a weapon of war...

 would be mounted where the first and second main turrets would have been placed. Nothing further was done with the study. On 9 June 1958, Hawaii was struck from the Naval Vessel Register

Naval Vessel Register

The Naval Vessel Register is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from the time a vessel is authorized through its life cycle and...

. Hawaii was sold to the Boston Metals Company of Baltimore on 15 April 1959. The still-incomplete Hawaii was towed to Baltimore, arriving there on 6 January 1960, and was subsequently broken up

Ship breaking

Ship breaking or ship demolition is a type of ship disposal involving the breaking up of ships for scrap recycling. Most ships have a lifespan of a few decades before there is so much wear that refitting and repair becomes uneconomical. Ship breaking allows materials from the ship, especially...

for scrap.

External links

• Navy photographs of Hawaii (CB-3)