The CL-154 class of 5-inch (127 mm) gun light cruisers was a United States Navy project from the last two years of World War II, with antecedents reaching back to 1938 and earlier.

[2][3] It was slated for installation in the projected Montana-class battleships, and its developer, the Navy's Bureau of Ordnance / BuOrd desired to find additional applications for it.

[9] When the United States entered World War II the 5-inch gun Atlanta class was under construction: eight Atlanta-class ships would ultimately be completed.

The Navy agreed in the waning days of World War II to construct a small number of cruisers for this purpose, including the 5-inch gun CL-154 class.

[13] The General Board killed the proposal two months later largely on logistical grounds (i.e., the difficulties of adding a new ammunition type to the fleets).

BuShips noted that the as-yet unlaunched Juneau class was already overweight despite every effort to reduce it, which meant a larger hull would be required for any follow-on design, and that projected improvements in aircraft would likely make the move to the 5-inch/54 caliber gun necessary.

[15] BuShips presentations of design studies to the General Board in October and then December 1944[16] showed it was extremely difficult to design a cruiser with adequate armor on a hull displacement large enough to accommodate six or eight twin 5-inch/54 caliber gun mounts plus a robust secondary battery, but small enough to obtain a 35-knot (65 km/h; 40 mph) speed on two propellers; more propellers would have meant an even larger and more expensive ship, an unacceptable result.