Commissioned in 1949, Newport News belonged to the Des Moines class and carried automatic-loading eight-inch guns on a hull of roughly 17,000 tons. A large cruiser designed to resist eight-inch fire could not simply add a fourth main turret without giving up protection elsewhere. The same tradeoff applies to an unrealized British 22,000-ton, twelve-gun 9.2-inch design and its possible postwar conversion. The watch point compares headline gun count with armor, internal volume, and later adaptability.
Chapter · 3:00:04-3:01:58
Newport News and the peak gun cruiser
USS Newport News represents the heavily armed and protected endpoint of the American all-gun heavy cruiser.