Topic: United States Battle/Large cruisers

Stats for two could've-beens and a real thing.

While the big naval powers of France and Germany had their own try with the battlecruiser, America got rather late into that game. so late, in fact, that none of the American battlecruisers that were built in the teens and '20s ever saw service in their intended role. Of the six that were commissioned, two were converted into carriers (Lexington and Saratoga), and the rest were scrapped. For your own what-ifs, here are the projected specs of the United States Battlecruiser at the beginning of design in 1916:

United States Battlecruiser (original projection)

Hits: 28
Speed: 7
Size: Very Large
Mod +2
C&C: 5
CR: 7

Armor-
Belt: 10
Deck: 7
Ends: 7
AA Factor: 0

Guns:
US 14"/50 Mk. 4
ROF: +0 Range: 3/6/10 Damage: 2
ABCD[OO][OOO] CDEF[OO][OOO]

US 5"/51 Mk.8
ROF +2 Range: 2/4/6 Pen: 3/2/1 Damage: 1
AC[O][O][O] C[O][O][O] CE[O][O][O] BD[O][O][O] D[O][O][O] DF[O][O][O]

US 21" torpedo Mk. 8
Range: 8 Damage: 5
[O][O][O][O]

Damage Track:
[OOOOOOO][OOOOOOO][OOOOOOO][OOOOOOO]
Speed: 7 6 4 3

Hit Location track
14" 5" 5" 5" 5" 5" 5" - -

The design was later modified in order to try to outdo the Japanese Kongo-class, which resulted in the design putting on about 10,000 extra tons in the process thanks to upping the primary, secondary, and torpedo armament.

Lexington-class Battlecruiser (final projection)
Hits: 34
Speed: 7
Size: Very Large
Mod +2
C&C: 5
CR: 7

Armor-
Belt: 10
Deck: 7
Ends: 7
AA Factor: 4

Guns:
US 16"/50 Mk.2
ROF +0 Range 6/12/18 Pen: 13/6/4* Damage: 3
ABCD[OO][OO] CDEF[OO][OO]

US 6"/53 Mk.12
ROF +2 Range 3/7/10 Pen: 3/2/1* Damage: 1
AC [O][O][O] C[O][O] CE[O][O][O] BD[O][O][O] D[O][O] DF[O][O]

US 21" torpedoes Mk. 8
Range: 8 Damage: 5
[O][O][O][O][O][O][O][O]

Light Guns:
ROF +3 Range 1/2/3 Damage: 1
[OOOO]

Damage Track
[OOOOOOOOO][OOOOOOOO][OOOOOOOOO][OOOOOOOO]
Speed: 7 6 4 3

Hit location track:
16" 6" 6" 6" 6" LG - - -

The not-so what-if is the Alaska-class. The last iteration of the American "supercruiser" came initially as a response to the "pocket battleships" floated by Germany in World War 2 and rumors of a new class of Japanese large cruiser. the alaska class was also considered for conversion to carrier status after the battle of the Coral Sea. However, due to the tortuous design process, only two managed to see service in the war, where they performed as capable carrier escorts.

Alaska-class Large Cruiser
Hits: 25
Speed: 7
Size: Very Large
Mod: +2
C&C: 5
CR: 7
AA Rating: 84

Armor-
Belt: 10
Deck: 8
Ends: 8

Guns:
US: 12"/50 Mk. 8
ROF: +1 Range: 5/10/15 Pen: 8/4/3* Damage: 3
ABCD[OOO][OOO] CDEF[OOO]

US 5"/38 Mk. 12
ROF: +3 Range: 2/4/7 Pen: 2/1/1* Damage: 2
ABCD[OO] AC[OO] BD[OO] CE[OO] DF[OO] CDEF[OO]

Light guns:
ROF: +3 Range: 1/2/3 Pen: 1/0/0* Damage: 1
[OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO OOO]

Damage track:
[OOOOOOO][OOOOOO][OOOOOO][OOOOOO]
Speed: 7 6 4 3

Hit Locations:
12"/LG 5"/LG 5"/LG 2xLG LG LG LG LG LG