The Worcester class light cruisers where the largest light cruisers ever constructed and, with their Des Moines class heavy cruiser counterparts, the last all-gun cruisers built for the United States Navy. Taking into account all the lessons learned during World War II, the Worcester class featured a enhanced anti-aircraft armament, and improved armor protection.The key feature of the Worcester class is their 12 6 inch automatic loading guns mounted in six twin turrets. In theory, the guns would allow a Worcester class cruiser to fire nearly twice the amount of rounds per minute as the preceding cruiser designs. There where also designed for high elevation allowing them to fire on aircraft, making them a highly effective dual purpose battery and eliminating the need for a secondary battery. Sadly however the guns had mechanical faults and could not achieve the desired rate of fire which led the US Navy to label the cruisers as failures despite them being a noticeable improvement over the previous cruiser classes. The 2 ships built, Worcester and Roanoke, where decommissioned in 1958 and scrapped in 1970, finally closing the chapter on United States light cruiser development.

This model represents USS Worcester, circa 1948-1949.