Maya class anti-aircraft cruiser
Initially a controversial idea within the navy, as a dedicated anti-aircraft cruiser was unheard of and unpopular when first proposed, but Fleet Admiral Bradford's ambitions of a carrier fleet persisted him into selling his idea to the rest of the Admiralty. Requirements for the ship included a heavy DP battery, with designs ranging from 3" to 6" guns, with the already existing 5" DP mount being chosen. The class also needed to be capable of keeping up with the projected speed of the current fleet carriers that were due to begin construction around the same time (1935). They also needed to have very long range, resulting in the vessels themselves being very large for their armament, though at the added benefit of being a great seaboat. As they were purpose built carrier escorts, they carried no scout planes unlike other cruisers, which meant they would perform less than ideally when operating independently and as such they were rarely scene performing outside of their given role.
The first vessel of the class was named after Port Maya (simply Maya), with her sistership Westview being laid down alongside her. The thought was to wait and see how Maya and Westview performed after they launched, but the political destabilization in 1936 resulted in the rest of the order being carried out and all vessels were completed by 1938. The first four ships joined the Pacific Fleet, whilst the last were assigned to the Atlantic, however as World War 2 begin, they found themselves being transferred between fleets rather regularly. The Maya's performed excellently as carrier escorts, credited with shooting down 292 aircraft from 1940-1947, the highest kill count of any non-aircraft carrier.
Blank versions
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Displacement - 7400 tonnes standard
Main belt - 127mm
Conning tower - 100mm
Deck - 50mm
Speed - 34 knots
Range - 8200nm at 14 knots
Main battery - 10x2 127mm/50
Torpedoes - 3x2 610mm
Ships in class
Maya - sunk in action, 1943
Westview - scrapped, 1957
Northwood - scuttled, 1943
St Dominique - scrapped, 1960
Crestwood - sunk in atomic bomb testing, 1948
Whitestone - scrapped, 1962
Lamberg - - scrapped, 1954
Davenport - scrapped, 1949