NECPA
15 JANUARY 1961
NECPA
The demands of WWII by August 1942 led Congress to authorize eight heavy cruisers of the Oregon City-class. But the long construction timetable for heavy warships prevented any from being launched prior to the end of the war, and the latter planned sisters CAMBRIDGE, BRIDGEPORT, KANSAS CITY, and TULSA (CA-126-129) were canceled on 11 August 1945. USS OREGON CITY (CA-122), ALBANY (CA-123), and ROCHESTER (CA-124) were so nearly complete however, that the three were finished and commissioned in 1946. That left USS NORTHAMPTON (CA-125) on the ways at 54% completion. Planners debated her fate.
At a length of 667 feet and driven to 33 knots by her four-shaft steam turbines, some suggested that NORTHAMPTON had the size and speed necessary to serve as a command ship. On 1 July 1948 construction resumed with modifications. An entire additional deck was added to accommodate embarked staff. Her 8″ gun mounts were sacrificed to provide platforms for sophisticated radar systems ranging 300 miles in all directions. Two enclosed tower masts housed an array of communication antennas. There was only room on deck for six 5-inch/54 caliber twin mounts and four twin 3-inch/70 caliber guns. On 27 January 1951 the warship was commissioned as CLC-1, identifying her as a Light Cruiser, Command. She operated for a few years as the 2nd Fleet flagship during air warfare exercises and European public affairs cruises. But by 1957, downsizing determined the command cruiser to be a luxury the Navy couldn’t afford. Plans to similarly convert the heavy cruiser HAWAII (CB-3) were scrapped, and NORTHAMPTON was reassigned to training duties at the Academy.
But when 1961 brought the Kennedy administration to the White House, the threat of Soviet nuclear attack spurred interest in a mobile Presidential command platform. Under the National Emergency Command Post Afloat (NECPA) program, on this day new life was breathed into NORTHAMPTON as she was redesignated CC-1. She underwent a 2-year upgrade of her communications, radar, and berthing to allow her to serve as an emergency refuge and command post for the President. In these days before Air Force One, two additional Navy ships, the light carriers SAIPAN and WRIGHT (CVL-48-49), were tagged for conversion to CC-3 and CC-2, respectively.
Events never required NORTHAMPTON to fulfill her role as the emergency Presidential haven, though she did embark Presidents Kennedy and Johnson for VIP events. Advances in Soviet submarines and anti-ship missiles by the end of the 1960s obviated NECPA, and NORTHAMPTON was decommissioned on 1 April 1970. Today of course, the US Air Force provides the emergency Presidential command post.
Watch for more “Today in Naval History” 19-20 JAN 24
CAPT James Bloom, Ret.
Baker, A.D. “Historic Fleets.” Naval History, Vol 19 (5), October 2005, pp. 12-13.
Department of the Navy, Naval History Division. Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Vol 5 “N-Q”. Washington, DC: GPO, 1979, p. 112.
ADDITIONAL NOTES: The difference between a light and heavy cruiser has nothing to do with size or displacement. Heavy cruisers carry guns of 8-inch bore or larger, and light cruisers mount 6-inch guns or smaller.
Like most 20th century US Navy cruisers, NORTHAMPTON was named for a prominent city, in this case Northampton, Massachusetts. She was the third ship so named in our Navy. The first was a wooden motorboat purchased by the Navy for patrols in WWI, and the second, (CA-26), was lost at the WWII battle of Tassafaronga in November 1942.
