![]() USS Columbus on 12 July 1948 | |
History | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Name | Columbus |
Namesake | City of Columbus, Ohio |
Ordered | 9 September 1940 |
Laid down | 28 June 1943 |
Launched | 30 November 1944 |
Sponsored by | Mrs. E. G. Meyers |
Commissioned | 8 June 1945 |
Decommissioned | 31 January 1975 |
Reclassified | CG-12, 30 September 1959 |
Stricken | 9 August 1976 |
Identification |
|
Motto | Ad Frontes Mundi |
Nickname(s) | The Tall Lady |
Honors and awards | See Awards |
Fate | Scrapped, 3 October 1977 |
Badge | ![]() |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Baltimore-class cruiser |
Displacement | 13,600 tons |
Length | 674 ft 11 in (205.71 m) |
Beam | 70 ft 10 in (21.59 m) |
Draft | 26 ft 5 in (8.05 m) |
Speed | 32.6 kn (60.4 km/h; 37.5 mph) |
Complement | 1,906 officers and enlisted |
Armament |
|
The third USS Columbus (CA-74/CG-12), a Baltimore-class heavy cruiser, was the first ship of the United States Navy named for Columbus, Ohio. She was launched on 30 November 1944 by Bethlehem Steel Co., Quincy, Massachusetts; she was sponsored by Mrs. E. G. Meyers; and commissioned on 8 June 1945.
Joining the Pacific Fleet, Columbus reached Tsingtao, China, on 13 January 1946 for occupation duty. On 1 April, she helped to sink 24 Japanese submarines, prizes of war, and next day sailed for San Pedro, California. For the remainder of the year, she operated in west coast waters, then made a second Far Eastern cruise from 15 January to 12 June 1947.
After west coast operations and an overhaul at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Columbus cleared Bremerton on 12 April 1948 to join the Atlantic Fleet, arriving at Norfolk, Va., on 19 May. Columbus made two cruises as flagship of Commander-in-Chief, Naval Forces Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean, from 13 September 1948 to 15 December 1949 and from 12 June 1950 to 5 October 1951, and one as flagship of Supreme Allied Commander, Atlantic, during parts of NATO Operation Mainbrace from 25 August to 29 September 1952. She cruised in the Mediterranean from October 1952 through January 1953, serving part of that time as flagship of the 6th Fleet. Now flagship of Cruiser Division 6, she returned to the Mediterranean from September 1954 to January 1955. Between deployments, Columbus received necessary overhauls and carried out training operations along the east coast and in the Caribbean.
Reassigned to the Pacific Fleet, Columbus cleared Boston, Massachusetts, on 8 November 1955 for Long Beach, California, where she arrived on 2 December. Just a month later, on 5 January 1956, she sailed for Yokosuka, Japan, and operated with the 7th Fleet until she returned to Long Beach on 8 July. Columbus made two more cruises to the Far East in 1957 and 1958. During the late summer of 1958, her presence was a reminder of American strength and interest as she patrolled the Taiwan Straits during the crisis brought on by the renewed shelling of the offshore islands by the Chinese communists. In late 1958 she was selected to be converted to carry guided missiles and on 8 May 1959, Columbus entered the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard to begin her conversion to an Albany-class guided missile cruiser.
On 30 September 1959, Columbus was retrofitted as an Albany-class guided missile cruiser, joining USS Albany (CG-10) and USS Chicago (CG-11) as the only three ships of this line, and reclassified CG-12. USS Columbus (CG-12) was subsequently recommissioned on 1 December 1962 (following a much shorter conversion period than either Chicago or Albany), though a year and half long work-up and testing of her new weapons system delayed her first deployment to the western Pacific until August 1964.
The 1959 Albany-class refit of USS Columbus left CG-12 with the following armaments:
After visiting San Francisco, Puget Sound, and Hawaii as flagship of the 1965 Pacific Midshipman Training Squadron, [1]
Parts of the ships are on display in Columbus. [2]
Columbus served as Flagship COMCRUDESFLOT throughout 1966, after assignment to the Atlantic Fleet at the start of that year. From 1966 until 1974, Columbus deployed to the Mediterranean seven times.
Unlike the Albany and Chicago, both of which received further upgrades, Columbus did not receive the digital missile fire-control and radar modernizations in 1970 due to cutbacks in the defense budget. The ship did however, receive a 5-month overhaul of her machinery, and heavy maintenance to her electrical and hull structures to keep her operational for another five years. Upon return from her final Mediterranean deployment on 31 May 1974, she entered port and began preparations for deactivation and decommissioning. After serving for 29.5 years, Columbus was decommissioned on 31 January 1975, stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 9 August 1976 and sold for scrapping on 3 October 1977, to Union Minerals & Alloys Corp., and scrapped in Port Newark, NJ.
USS Texas (DLGN/CGN-39) was the United States Navy's second Virginia-class nuclear guided missile cruiser. She was the third ship of the Navy to be named in honor of the State of Texas. Her keel was laid down on 18 August 1973, at Newport News, Virginia, by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company.
USS Virginia (CGN-38) was a nuclear-powered guided missile cruiser, the lead ship of her class, and the eighth ship of the United States Navy to be named for the Commonwealth of Virginia. She was commissioned in 1976 and decommissioned in 1994.
The fifth USS Truxtun (DLGN-35/CGN-35) was a nuclear powered cruiser in the U.S. Navy. She was launched as a destroyer leader and later reclassified as a cruiser. She was named after Commodore Thomas Truxtun (1755–1822). She was in service from May 1967 to September 1995.
USS Topeka (CL-67), a Cleveland-class light cruiser in service with the United States Navy from 1944 to 1949. From 1957 to 1960, she was converted to a Providence-class guided missile cruiser and redesignated CLG-8. The cruiser served again from 1960 to 1969 and was finally scrapped in 1975.
USS Long Beach (CLGN-160/CGN-160/CGN-9) was a nuclear-powered guided missile cruiser in the United States Navy and the world's first nuclear-powered surface combatant. She was the third Navy ship named after the city of Long Beach, California.
USS Dale (DLG-19/CG-19) was a Leahy-class cruiser in service with the United States Navy from 1963 to 1994. She was sunk as a target in 2000 off the East Coast of the United States near Maryland.
USS Galveston (CL-93/CLG-3) was a Cleveland-class light cruiser of the United States Navy that was later converted to a Galveston-class guided missile cruiser. She was launched by William Cramp & Sons Shipbuilding Company, Philadelphia 22 April 1945, sponsored by Mrs. Clark Wallace Thompson. The cruiser's construction was suspended when nearly complete on 24 June 1946; and the hull assigned to the Philadelphia Group of the Atlantic Reserve Fleet. She was reclassified CLG-93 on 4 February 1956; then reclassified to CLG-3 on 23 May 1957; and commissioned at Philadelphia 28 May 1958.
USS Leahy (DLG/CG-16) was the lead ship of a new class of destroyer leaders in the United States Navy. Named for Fleet Admiral William D. Leahy, she was commissioned on 4 August 1962 as DLG-16, a guided missile frigate, and reclassified as CG-16, a guided missile cruiser, on 30 June 1975.
USS Little Rock (CL-92/CLG-4/CG-4) is a Cleveland-class light cruiser and one of 27 completed for the United States Navy during or shortly after World War II. She is one of six to be converted to guided missile cruisers and the first US Navy ship to be named for Little Rock, Arkansas. Commissioned in mid-1945, she was completed too late to see combat duty during World War II and was retired post-war, becoming part of the Atlantic Reserve Fleet in 1949.
USS Oklahoma City (CL-91/CLG-5/CG-5) was one of 27 United States Navy Cleveland-class light cruisers completed during or shortly after World War II, and one of six to be converted to guided missile cruisers. She was the first US Navy ship to be named for Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Commissioned in late 1944, she participated in the latter part of the Pacific War in anti-aircraft screening and shore bombardment roles, for which she earned two battle stars. She then served a brief stint with the occupation force. Like all but one of her sister ships, she was retired in the post-war defense cutbacks, becoming part of the Pacific Reserve Fleet in 1947.
The third USS Rochester (CA-124), an Oregon City-class heavy cruiser, was laid down 29 May 1944 by Bethlehem Steel Co., Quincy, Massachusetts; launched 28 August 1945; sponsored by Mrs. M. Herbert Eisenhart, wife of the president of Bausch & Lomb Optical Co., Rochester, New York; and commissioned 20 December 1946 at the Boston Navy Yard.
USS South Carolina (CGN-37) was the second ship of the California class of nuclear-powered guided missile cruisers in the United States Navy.
USS Harry E. Yarnell (DLG/CG-17) was a Leahy-class guided missile cruiser of the United States Navy. Named in honor of Admiral Harry E. Yarnell,, she was originally classified as a "destroyer leader" or frigate, in 1975 she was redesignated a cruiser in the Navy's ship reclassification. She was the second of the "double-end" Leahy-class guided missile frigates to join the fleet.
USS California (CGN-36), the lead ship of the California-class of nuclear-powered guided missile cruisers, was the sixth warship of the United States Navy to be named for the state of California. She was the last active nuclear-powered cruiser for the United States.
Bendix RIM-8 Talos was a long-range naval surface-to-air missile (SAM), among the earliest SAMs to equip United States Navy ships. The Talos used radar beam riding for guidance to the vicinity of its target, and semi-active radar homing (SARH) for terminal guidance. The four antennas surrounding the nose were SARH receivers, which functioned as a continuous wave interferometer. A solid rocket booster provided initial thrust for launch; a Bendix ramjet provided for flight to the target, with the warhead serving as the ramjet's compressor.
USS Richmond K. Turner was a Leahy-class cruiser destroyer leader in the United States Navy. The ship was named for Admiral Richmond K. Turner, who served during World War II.
The Albany-class guided-missile cruisers were converted Baltimore and Oregon City-class heavy cruisers of the United States Navy. All original superstructure and weapons were removed and replaced under project SCB 172. The converted ships had new very high superstructures and relied heavily on aluminium to save weight.