With the outbreak of World War II, the number of roles fulfilled by cruisers
significantly increased, and by the middle of the war the U.S. Navy decided they
needed a new generation of cruisers. These were to be the most advanced
heavy cruisers of their time.
The new heavy cruiser project was named after the lead ship of the class Des Moines
Initially, it was planned to construct twelve ships, but plans changed,
and only three cruisers were built. The second one was USS Salem.