Work Text:
Background : In an alternate timeline…
The end of WW2 saw the construction of many ships being halted. Some were continued until they reached completion, others were scrapped and the rest were canceled. However, a series of events in the USSR would bring a second breath to some of those ships. First, the restart of the Sovetsky Soyuz-class battleships using lessons learned from German shipbuilders which had either been captured or defected. [1] Whilst they wouldn’t be completed until 1953, just a couple of months before Stalin’s death, other lighter and more numerous ships, like the Sverdlov-class, were also in the works. This pushed the USA to steadily restart the production of heavier units, with 5 additional Des Moines-class cruisers being authorized and laid down between 1948 and 1950. The second event was the rise of Lazar Kaganovich to premiership [2]. Not only wanting a powerful navy capable of defending the Soviet Union’s territorial waters, he wanted it to be capable of projecting their influence and Stalinism Communism across the world. The discovery of the Moskva-class heavy cruisers (Project 66) and the Stalingrad-class battlecruisers (Project 82) effectively led to a second naval scare across Western European countries, with the USA ordering the remaining Des Moines and Alaskas to be built as counters.
But, as ships were ordered, technology marched on and with it, plans needed to be changed. Thus, the four remaining Des Moines were thought of and built as guided missile cruisers, unlike some of their predecessors which were conversions. This led to a drastic change of the weapons suite. If Turret 1 was retained, Turrets 2 and 3 were instead replaced by two Mk-19 GLMS launchers for the RIM-2 Terrier SAM. The secondary battery consisted only of a twin variant of the Mark 42 5"/54 gun of the Charles F. Adams-class with four mounts located amidships and a Mk-13 single arm launcher for the RIM-24 Tartar on port and starboard abaft of the rear mounts. Several 3"/50 guns in twin mounts rounded up the anti-aircraft suite. [3]
USS Auburn CAG-153 was laid down in 1954 at New York Shipbuilding Corporation at Camden, New Jersey under the sponsorship of Mr. August Noble. She was launched the 2nd of April 1955 – just a few hours before her sister ship Sioux Falls CAG-152 . Commissioned in 1957, she went through a relatively quiet career, replacing her sister Des Moines as flagship of the 6th Fleet when she was decommissioned in 1961. [4]
Meanwhile, the Navy had kept an eye on the technological advance of the Soviet Union, and was getting increasingly worried of its new sea skimming missiles. Indeed, the first generation SAMs, Terrier, Talos and Tartar, the "Three Ts", used a combination of beam riding and semi-active radar homing requiring the target to be constantly illuminated during the interception phase. With only two or four radar installations, the number of targets was limited and independent of the rate of fire, thus making the ships vulnerable to saturation attacks. A solution was found in the AN/SPG-59 phased array radar acting both as a search and illumination radar and the RIM-50 Typhon and its single arm variant, the RIM-55.
With the tests aboard USS Norton Sound being successful, mass production was authorized and in 1965, Auburn was sent back to Philadelphia for conversion. Several of the 3 inch mounts were removed and the superstructure was streamlined to make room for the massive radar installation. The ship’s ASW capabilities were improved with a pair of RUR-5 ASROC mounted amidships, replacing two of the 5 inch mounts, and torpedo tubes coupled with the bow sonar SQS-26. Auburn would distinguish herself from her converted sisters by having an usual arrangement of four SPS-43 radars wrapped around the SPG-59’s tower. She would return to active service in 1967. [5]
USS Auburn served during the Vietnam War, providing shore bombardment for US and South Vietnam troops and shot down two North Vietnamese MiGs. She earned a total of five battlestars during her deployments. Following the armistice of 1975, she returned to a more monotone life with various exercises and showing the flag in different ports.
As technology kept marching on, Auburn was considered for AEGIS upgrade with the Standard missile family replacing the Typhon. The biggest difference between the AN/SPG-59 and AEGIS Combat System was the former used a mechanical computer, thus requiring a lot of power to properly work. Maintenance was also very complicated – the technicians often called the radar the “Clocktower” due to its particular shape – and that issue was not solved with the Hughes SCANFAR – which was only deployed on the nuclear vessels USS Long Beach CGN-9 and USS Enterprise CVN-65 . AEGIS solved those issues. However, these plans never came to fruition as they were deemed too costly. A cheaper alternative was found by adapting the Patriot missile radar system, the MPQ-53, to the Navy’s needs. Thus, Auburn and her other three sisters received a final upgrade to evolve in a 1980 combat environment. The remaining 3 inch mounts were removed, with four Phalanx CIWS taking their place, four Armored Box Launchers for the BGM-109 Tomahawk cruise missiles were installed along with a pair of quad launchers for the RGM-84 Harpoon. [6]
Auburn served throughout the 80s, working in tandem with the brand new Ticonderoga -class cruisers which used the AEGIS combat system. With renewed tensions between the Eastern and Western Blocks, she remained in active service until 1997, despite proposals for a VLS conversion and a replacement of the aging 8"/55 Mark 16 by the more recent Mark 71 in a twin mount. She would join several of her sisters and the nuclear cruiser Tuscaloosa [7] at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard and stay in the mothballs until 2007 where she was eventually sold for scrap. Several artifacts, like her bell, helm, an arm launcher with a disarmed Typhon and log book are preserved onboard her sister Salem.
[1] IOTL, the Sovetsky Soyuz-class was canceled. Stalin’s wish to see one completed before his death only delayed the inevitable. Sovetsky Soyuz was completed at 19,5 % and Sovetskaya Rossiya at 0,97 %. Sovetskaya Belorussiya was canceled after it was discovered that over 70,000 rivets in her plating were of inferior quality and Sovetskaya Ukraina (17,95 %) was totalled by the Germans after they partially dismantled her for use in fortification and blew up her supporting blocks, giving her a list of 5 degrees.
[2] Soviet premiership succession crisis, everyone. Lazar Kaganovich, a hardcore Stalinist and architect of the Holodomor, or Lavrentiy Beria, head of the secret police – and serial rapist – whom everyone absolutely hated (and that’s putting it mildly). Pick your poison. No, you can’t choose Khrushchev, he’s buying new shoes. On the bright side, you’re getting big ships.
[3] I took inspiration from the plans to convert the Des Moines into CAGs using the AN/SPG-59 from this secreproject thread ( https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/u-s-navy-typhon-warships.690/page-2#post-581104 ). The Mark 42 twin mount is fictional.
[4] As happened IOTL. Des Moines was decommissioned in 1961. Several plans were proposed to modernize her and her sisters but never came to fruition. The SPG-59 conversion is one of those.
[5] Des Moines ’ SPG-59 conversion plans are a bit blurry because they mention a single Mark 42 mount along with the Mark 12 mounts and two ASROC, but there’s little room to place the latter and I don’t see where the former can go. I decided to replace the Mark 12 mounts with the Mark 42. The ASROC being located amidship is my guess. The other possible location is a superfiring arrangement with the aft Typhon launcher, but that means ditching one ASROC. And no, the Mark 42 can’t be placed there because its magazine would interfere with the Typhon’s own magazine.
[6] This refit is completely made up. It takes inspiration from this 1980 refit proposal of Salem https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/ca-134-des-moines-class-heavy-cruisers-1980s-reactivation-proposals.37651/ and this fictional ship, the “TyBeach” http://www.shipbucket.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=9223&start=10#p187269.
[7] Historically, two ships were named Tuscaloosa. A New Orleans-class heavy cruiser (CA-37) and a Newport-class LST (hull number 1187). In this timeline, LST-1187 bears the name of Tulsa.
Namesake : Auburn is a city in Lee County, Alabama. Inhabited by the Creeks during Antiquity, the first settlers arrived from Harry County in 1832. Their leader, judge John C. Harper, intended the city to be a religious and educational center for the area. The city was incorporated into the then Macon County in 1839. Several Baptist and Methodist churches had been built, along with a school. In the 40s, several separated academies (for the boys and for the girls) were established, leading to an influx of population to the city. By 1858, almost half of the free residents of Auburn were students. Two years earlier, a Methodist college was chartered by the state legislature into the East Alabama Male College. It would later become Auburn University.
With the Civil War between the North and the South breaking out, Auburn emptied and became a hospital for wounded Confederate Texan soldiers. It saw action in the later stages of the war with the raids of Rousseau and Wilson in 1864 and 65.
Following the Civil War, Auburn entered a prolonged period of economic depression that lasted until the end of the century. Public schools did not reopen until the mid 1870s and a series of fires burned most of the downtown area. Eventually, East Alabama Male College was turned to the state in 1872 and with the federal act of Morrill Act was renamed Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical College becoming a land grant college. The Hatch Act of 1887 allowed the college to expand its agricultural facilities.
In 1892, the college began to admit women. This combined with interest in scientific agriculture, allowed the city to expand again and to return in 1920 to its antebellum level. The collapse of the cotton prices and the subsequent Great Depression reversed those fortunes forcing Auburn into a bartender economy.
Money flew into the city again when the USA entered WW2, turning the campus into a training ground for technical specialists for the armed forces. Soldiers flooded the city thanks to the G.I. Bill, leading the city to a period of expansion lasting through the 50s and 60s – the Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical College itself was renamed Auburn University in 1960. The construction of the I-95 connected the city to major cities of the state, increasing the influx of students even more, eventually pushing the city outside of its original boundaries.
Auburn’s growth slowed down in the 70s due an ineffective city council and budget cuts, but the election of Jan Dempsey as mayor in 1980 and the replacement of said city council by a council-manager system solved those issues. Reports from the 80s and 90s ranking Auburn’s public school system among the best in the state convinced thousands to move to the city. Between 1980 and 2003, Auburn’s economy expanded by 1200% and its population increased by 65% and 77% in the 21st century, leading to urban sprawl and infrastructures issues.
Historically, one ship bore the name of Auburn :
USS Auburn ID-3842 , a cargo ship commissioned in January 1919 and decommissioned just one month after. She was broken up in 1934.
Not to be confused with the USS Auburn AGC-10 , a Mount McKinley-class amphibious force command ship which was named after Mount Auburn. Commissioned in 1944, she coordinated landing operations on Iwo Jima, then Okinawa, earning two battlestars. Decommissioned in 1947 and scrapped in 1961.
USS Auburn CA-153 is one of the unnamed Des Moines -class cruisers. My friend Noblesse311 chose this name during a discussion on Discord when I asked them how they would name the remaining Des Moines . The names they came up with are the following : Chattanooga CA-141, Baton Rouge CA-142, Jacksonville CA-143, Olympia CA-149, Jefferson City CA-150, Lincoln CA-151, Sioux Falls CA-152 and Auburn CA-153.
Stats : As a heavy cruiser, Auburn’s health pool is fairly decent (A). Her firepower, consisting only of one single triple 8” turret and two twin 5”, is below average (C). Her speed is good (A) and her anti aircraft and torpedo stats are, however, superb (S).*
(*) The torpedo stat calculates as the missiles, like An Shan and her DDG retrofit.
Personality : Auburn is a cheerful person with a genki girl persona who enjoys video games, anime and manga. She also loves role play and entertains a friendly rivalry with Tuscaloosa.
Acquisition : I’m Auburn, youngest sister of the Des Moines-class. Though given my differences, I’m more considered as my own subclass, like Albany or Boston. Anyway, let’s get along !
Secretary 1 : I have classed the various files, you’ve got anything else for me ?
Secretary 2 : How good is the SPG-59 ? Think AEGIS with a mechanical computer. It was almost considered too advanced for its time when it was being tested. Also doubles as a microwave.
Secretary 3 : Are you gonna stay all day long in your office ? C’mon, let’s swat some flies !
Return from mission : I’m headed for the maintenance bay, the SPG-59 needs to be tended to.
MVP : And that’s what you call a Turkey Shoot !
Low HP : Vampire ! Vampire ! There’s too many of them ! CIWS engage !
Defeated : Damnit ! This won’t do ! Alright, everyone retreat. We’ll get them another time.
Touch : Any work for me ? I’ll be more than happy to lease you a hand.
Special touch : [Grabs your hand] I’ve got eyes on the back, Commander. Don’t try to pull that kind of stuff on me.
Affinity (Disappointed) : How about we switch places ? I sit in your office, while you go to the frontline and get beat up !
Affinity (Stranger) : Some of my sisters or Albany or Galveston tend to complain about their conversion, that it ruined their look. They’re forgetting that technology’s always changing and it’ll leave us behind if we don’t keep up with it.
Affinity (Friendly) : The SPG-59 got many nicknames during its career. Clocktower, Madhouse, Witch hat, … Tell me, Commander, which one do you prefer the most ?
Affinity (Like) : I like to do roleplay sometimes. No, no that kind of roleplay, dummy. You’ve got 4 players and a game master and you must solve a quest. The game master follows a general direction and gradually improvises as the story progresses. Games can sometimes last weeks. Sadly, since we’re at war, I can only afford to play quick games. A bit annoying, but it’s a good exercise to imagine the characters and condensing all the lore in a single session.
Affinity (Love) : I made a wish last night. [Shows her lamp] What wish would that be ? I’ll give you a hint : it involves the two of us going to a certain place for dinner.
Oath : A ring ? You didn’t strike me as a traditionalist, Commander. But it’s important to remember those - they’re part of our history after all. Alright, I accept.
Sortie with Salem : The more I look at your name and callsign, and the more I think it is a missed opportunity…
Sortie with Des Moines (1) : I’ll follow your lead, sis !
Sortie with Des Moines (2) : Quite baffling how quick technology evolved between our commissionings, isn’t it ?
Sortie with Newport News : What happened to the idol outfit ? It fitted you well.
Sortie with Tuscaloosa : The one with the lowest score buys the first round ! (If Tuscaloosa gets the MVP) Don’t get cocky.
Sortie with MIF Jeanne d’Arc (Noblesse311) : How about ‘Brumaire’ and ‘Thermidor’ ?
Sortie with Helena : You can’t always rely on the SG, you need a backup option.
Sortie with Georgia : You really love your guns, don’t you ?
Design : Auburn is a woman depicted in her early twenties. She sports auburn hair reaching down her upper back that is partially tied with a ribbon sporting a red stripe in the center and two more of grey color on the sides. Amber eyes complement her fair features. Her outfit consists of a blue navy uniform and a grey cape sporting her callsign (November, Oscar, Bravo, Lima) and hull number. Stockings with garter belts round up her attire. She carries with her a small oriental oil lamp similar to the one depicted on her seal.
Auburn’s rigging takes the form of her forward part split in two with the bow panels acting like shields. Her two Mk-19 GLMS are located at shoulder level, Turret 1 is on her left side and one ASROC launcher on the right with the secondary batteries located behind the launchers. Her two Mark-16 single launchers flank the main launchers and are protected by two armored panels. A backpack with her smokestack and the mainmast holds both sides of the rigging together. Finally, the AN/SPG-59 panels and top dome hover above her head, like a halo.