This class was the direct ancestor for all subsequent USN gun cruisers. Design #2: Tuscaloosa and San Francisco.Design #1: New Orleans, Astoria, and Minneapolis.The New Orleans-class design was a test bed for innovations in cruiser design, which is why there were three distinct designs within this class. The four surviving ships were laid up immediately after the end of the war, and sold for scrap in 1959. Collectively, ships of the class earned 64 battle stars.
Only Tuscaloosa, which spent most of the war in the Atlantic, got through the war without being damaged. Astoria, Quincy, and Vincennes were all sunk in the Battle of Savo Island, and three others were heavily damaged in subsequent battles in the Guadalcanal campaign. These ships participated in the heaviest surface battles of the Pacific War.
The New Orleans-class cruisers were a class of seven heavy cruisers built for the United States Navy (USN) in the 1930s.
