National Affairs: Paragon Launched

Rain dappled the brownish waters of Wallabout Bay one morning last week. The intricately girded ways of Brooklyn Navy Yard were slickly wet. Four bells (10 o’clock) sounded. A drenched band struck up the national anthem.

Rear Admiral William Woodward Phelps, his gold braid dulled, stood at attention. So did plump Assistant Secretary of the Navy Henry Latrobe Roosevelt, and Mrs. James Roosevelt, the President’s mother, and Ernest Lee Jahncke of New Orleans. Assistant Secretary Roosevelt’s predecessor. High above them rose the knifelike prow of a 10,000-ton cruiser, her anchor ports swathed in damp bunting. The vessel did not budge. Under her steel flanks a workman hurt his ankle, was carried off. The band played “Over There.” The boat still stood still. Then the band played “Anchors Aweigh.” The cruiser began to move. With one arm full of roses, pretty Miss Cora Stanton Jahncke smashed a bottle of Mississippi water across the retreating bow, declaiming: “I christen thee N’yawlins!”

Third U. S. vessel to bear the name, the U. S. S. New Orleans is literally in a class by herself. Under the terms of the London Naval Treaty, the U. S. was allowed to complete 15 new 10,000-ton cruisers before 1936. First two built were the Pensacola and Salt Lake City. They were fast but scantily armored. Next were turned out six ships in the Augusta class (Chester, Augusta, Chicago, Houston, Louisville, Northhampton). These proved to be heavy rollers, and five developed cracked stern castings. Next class, the Portland and Indianapolis, were modified after construction to rectify their sisters’ shortcomings. But even the Indianapolis, on her shakedown cruise three months ago, damaged her light superstructure in gunnery practice. Their construction difficulties adjusted, these ten ships are now second to none in mobile fighting power.

The New Orleans, first of the fourth class of five Treaty cruisers, differs little in length, beam or speed (32 1/2 knots) from her immediate predecessors. But she was built with 10% more electrical welding on her hull than the Indianapolis. Her butt straps (where plates overlap) were welded, thus saving precious weight in rivets. Weight saved was put into armor plate. The Indianapolis is armored only in vital spots. The New Orleans, paragon of her group, can stop an 8-in. shell anywhere. Her after deck will be placed further aft than those of previous Treaty cruisers. permitting the installation of more than the usual eight anti-aircraft guns. Other ordnance: nine 8-in. guns in three turrets; eight 5-in. guns; six torpedo tubes. She also carries four planes.

The New Orleans class includes the Astoria, soon to be launched; the San Francisco, recently floated; the Minneapolis and Tuscaloosa, more than half-finished. The New Orleans will cost, when completed Dec. 1, $822,917 less than the $10,100,000 appropriated for her.