Alaska Class Battlecruiser Summary

This is a 3D printed sculpt of the Alaska class battlescruiser game piece from EBard Models.

An alternative to out of the box Axis and Allies pieces, 3D print opens a new world of customized pieces, where basically any historical ship can be obtained. We use 3D printed game pieces regularly to enhance the realism of our fleet and also to use as equipment upgrade paths during the game.

These 3D designs by EBard offer exceptional detail and combined with our custom painting and decal graphics, make these ships simply the finest 3D printed game pieces available. These are guaranteed to become the most prized pieces in your collection.

The Alaska class was a class of six large cruisers ordered before World War II. They were officially classed as large cruisers (CB), but others have regarded them as battlecruisers. Of the six planned, two were completed, the third's construction was suspended after the war ended, and the last three were cancelled. Alaska and Guam served with the U.S. Navy for the last year of World War II as bombardment ships and fast carrier escorts. They were decommissioned in 1947 after spending only 32 and 29 months in service, respectively.

The idea for a large cruiser class originated in the early 1930s when the U.S. Navy sought to counter Deutschland-class "pocket battleships" being launched by Germany. Planning for ships that eventually evolved into the Alaska class began in the late 1930s after the deployment of Germany's Scharnhorst-class battleships and rumors that Japan was constructing a new battlecruiser class. To serve as "cruiser-killers" capable of seeking out and destroying these post-treaty heavy cruisers, the class was given large guns of a new and expensive design, limited armor protection against 12-inch shells, and machinery capable of speeds of about 31–33 knots. 

There were at least nine different proposed designs. The final design was a scaled-up Baltimore class that had the same machinery as the Essex-class aircraft carriers. This ship combined a main armament of nine 12-inch guns with protection against 10-inch gunfire into a hull that was capable of 33 knots. After funding was approved, their role would also include protecting the carrier groups. 

Early in its development, the class used the US battlecruiser designation CC, which had been planned for the Lexington class. However, the designation was changed to CB to reflect their new status, "large cruiser", and the practice of referring to them as battlecruisers was officially discouraged. The U.S. Navy then named the individual vessels after U.S. territories, rather than states (as was the tradition with battleships) or cities (for which cruisers were traditionally named), to symbolize the belief that these ships were supposed to play an intermediate role between heavy cruisers and fully-fledged battleships.

The Alaska class certainly resembled contemporary US battleships (particularly the North Carolina class, South Dakota class, and Iowa class) in appearance, including the main battery and massive columnar mast. Their displacement was twice that of the newest heavy cruisers (the Baltimore class), being only 5,000 tons less than the Washington Treaty's battleship standard displacement limit of 35,000 long tons (36,000 t). They were also longer than several treaty battleships such as the King George V class and the North Carolina class.

In design and armor the Alaska class are regarded as "large cruisers" rather than battlecruisers. Their design was scaled up from Baltimore class, the latter being a treaty cruiser limited by the Washington, 1930 London and Second London naval treaties. Their armor scheme had sufficient gunfire protection the larger 11″ shells used by Germany's Deutschland-class "pocket battleships" and Scharnhorst. However, they lacked the underwater protection systems found on full-fledged battleships and even intermediate capital ships like the French Dunkerque and German Scharnhorst classes. This left the Alaskas virtually defenseless against torpedoes, as well as vulnerable to shells falling slightly short and continuing underwater to hit the hull.

While other nations created battlecruiser by taking battleship designs and stripping armor and other features to gain speed, the United States started with a cruiser and enlarged it. The Alaskas' percentage of armor tonnage was slightly less than that of fast battleships. The Alaska class carried nine 12"/50 caliber guns that were as good as, if not superior to, the old 14"/50 caliber gun used on the U.S. Navy's pre-treaty battleships. Because of these capable guns, we refer to the class as "Battlecruiser".

The success of the Alaska design is mixed. They successfully fulfilled the role of carrier escort and provided shore bombardment. However, the Alaska class was similarly expensive to build and maintain as contemporary battleships yet far less capable due to armor deficiencies, while able to put up an anti-aircraft defense comparable only to the much cheaper Baltimore cruisers. The've been summarized as having the "size of a battleship but the capabilities of a cruiser". They ultimately had short service lifes because upgrading them to missile cruisers was cost prohibitive.

Ships of Class:

• CB-1 Alaska 
• CB-2 Guam
• CB-3 Hawaii - Never completed
• CB-4 Philippines - Cancelled
• CB-5 Puerto Rico - Cancelled
• CB-6 Samoa - Cancelled

Insignia can be added to each deck decal. Select from your choice of roundel images.

Early War	Mid War	ETO

Customer Reviews

No Reviews Posted Yet - be the first! (write review)