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War History online proudly presents this Guest Piece from Chris Knupp

Determining what would have been the greatest heavy cruiser would be a challenging task. Very successful designs were put to sea by a variety of nations. However, there was one cruiser that was born from all cruisers before it. This class of warship took the lessons from World War 2 and was designed around them. The vessel I speak of is the Des Moines class cruiser. A little-known cruiser due to its late introduction, the Des Moines found itself overshadowed by the emergence of ship-launched missiles. Despite serving for almost 25 years, their capabilities are largely unknown. What makes these ships the greatest heavy cruiser designs and how were they developed as such?

The Design

USS Newport News (Des Moines class) alongside USS Boston (Baltimore class). The Larger size of the Des Moines class is evident, especially her larger turrets.

The second USS Atlanta was a protected cruiser and one of the first steel warships of the “New Navy” of the 1880s. In some references she is combined with Boston as the Atlanta class, in others as the Boston class.

Atlanta was laid down on 8 November 1883 at Chester, Pennsylvania by John Roach & Sons; launched on 9 October 1884; sponsored by Miss Jessie Lincoln, the daughter of Secretary of War Robert Todd Lincoln and granddaughter of President Abraham Lincoln; and commissioned at the New York Navy Yard on 19 July 1886, Captain Francis M. Bunce in command
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Atlanta_(1884)

The SS Bear was a dual steam-powered and sailing ship built with six inch (15.2 cm) thick sides which had a long life in various cold-water and ice-filled environs. She was a forerunner of modern icebreakers and had an exceptionally diverse service life. According to the United States Coast Guard official website, Bear is described as “probably the most famous ship in the history of the Coast Guard.”[3]
Built in Scotland in 1874 as a steamer for sealing, she was owned and operated out of Newfoundland for ten years. In the mid-1880s, she took part in the search for the Greely Expedition.[4] Captained by Michael Healy of the United States Revenue Cutter Service (later part of the U.S. Coast Guard), she worked the 20,000 mile coastline of Alaska. She later assisted with relief efforts after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.
Her services also included the second expedition of Admiral Richard E. Byrd to Antarctica, and again to the southernmost continent in 1941 to evacuate Americans at the beginning of World War II. She later served in patrol duty off the coast of Greenland for the United States Navy. Between some of these missions, she was a museum ship in Oakland, California and starred in the 1930 film version of Jack London’s The Sea-Wolf.
After World War II, Bear was returned to use again as a sealing vessel. Finally, in 1963, 89 years after she had been built, while being towed to a stationary assignment as a floating restaurant in Philadelphia, Bear foundered and sank in the North Atlantic Ocean about 100 miles (160 km) east of Cape Sable Island, Nova Scotia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Bear_(1874)

Construction and commissioning

Timbalier was built at the Lake Washington Shipyard, at Houghton, Washington, with her keel laid down on 9 November 1942. She was launched on 18 April 1943, sponsored by Mrs. S. B. Dunlap.^[1] Timbalier, and her sister USS Valcour (AVP-55), were initially ordered in February 1944 to be completed at the Puget Sound Navy Yard, but were transferred back to the Lake Washington Shipyard in June 1945.^[2] The resulting delay meant that she was not commissioned until 24 May 1946.^[2]

US Navy career

Timbalier departed from Seattle, Washington on 20 June 1946, arriving at San Francisco, California, two days later on 22 June 1946.^[3] She transferred to Alameda, California, where she loaded stores and airplane spare parts before sailing for San Diego, California, on 26 June 1946. She underwent a period of sea trials off the United States West Coast, completing them on 27 July 1946. She then departed bound for Panama,^[2] transiting the Panama Canal on 3 August 1946. Timbalier then proceeded to the shipyards at New York City.^[2][3]

Timbalier was at the New York Naval Shipyard at Brooklyn, New York, until 8 November 1946, when she departed for Norfolk, Virginia, which she reached on 9 November 1946. She spent the rest of November 1946 in the vicinity of Hampton Roads, Virginia.^[3]

Timbalier departed Hampton Roads on 3 December 1946, bound for San Juan, Puerto Rico. She arrived there on 7 December 1946, beginning service with Fleet Air Wing 11 (FAW-11).^[2] She was based at Trinidad, and carried out operations in the Caribbean and off the United States East Coast. She served with FAW-11 as a tender for their Martin PBM Mariner flying boats for the rest of her naval career.^[3] With the increase in the Soviet submarine threat by 1951, the PBM Mariner squadrons deployed to carry out reconnaissance off the U.S. East Coast, and plansd called for them to concentrate on convoy defense and antisubmarine warfare in the event of conflict with the Soviet Union, supported by Timbalier, her sister ship USS Duxbury Bay (AVP-38), and the seaplane tender USS Currituck (AV-7).^[4]

In 1952 Timbalier supported flying boat operations during Operation Mainbrace, a large-scale exercise of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization‘s navies, off the Scandinavian and Icelandic coasts. During Mainbrace, Timbalier tended flying boats operating from Lerwick in the Shetland Islands.^[4]

Decommissioning, reserve, and disposal

Timbalier was decommissioned on 15 November 1954 and placed in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet.^[1] She was struck from the Navy List on 1 May 1960, and was sold on 20 December 1960 to Panagiotis Kokkinos, of Piraeus, Greece.^[2]

Commercial service

After her sale, Timbalier became the Greek cruise ship MV Ródos.^[2] She was scrapped at Eleusis, Greece, in 1989.^[