USS Cleveland (CL-55)

USS Cleveland 1942
Overview
Type	Light cruiser
Shipyard	New York Shipbuilding
Order	1938
Keel laying	July 1, 1940
Launch	November 1, 1941
1. Period of service
Commissioning	June 15, 1942
Decommissioning	February 7, 1947
Removed from ship register	March 1, 1959
Whereabouts	scrapped
Technical specifications
displacement	11,744  ts
length	186.0 m
width	20.2 m
height	23.5 m chimney 34.5 m mast
Draft	7.5 m
crew	1384
drive	4 boilers, 4 steam turbines , 4 shafts , 100,000 hp
speed	32.5  kn
Range	11,000  nautical miles at 15 kn
Armament	1943 12 × 6 "(152 mm) L / 47 in 4 triplet towers 12 × 5 "(127 mm) L / 38 in 6 twin towers 24 × 40 mm L / 56 flak 21 × 20 mm Fla-MK
Aircraft	4 Vought OS2U
Radio call sign	November - India - Charlie - Mike

The USS Cleveland (CL-55) was a light cruiser of the United States Navy and the lead ship of the Cleveland class . She was in the service of the US Navy from 1942 to 1947 and was used in the Mediterranean and the Pacific.

history

Construction, commissioning and first operations

The Cleveland , the second ship of that name, was laid down on July 1, 1940 at New York Shipbuilding in Camden , New Jersey . Baptized by Mrs. H. Burton, the cruiser was launched on November 1, 1940 and entered service on June 15, 1942 under the command of Captain EW Burrough.

On October 10, the Cleveland left Norfolk to join a Bermuda association heading for the Mediterranean. As part of the support forces of the Allied landing in North Africa , the cruiser took French positions at Fedala under fire on November 8th . On November 12th, the course was set again for the US east coast, where the Cleveland entered Norfolk on November 24th.

On December 5, the cruiser set out for the Pacific, and on January 16, 1943, it arrived in Efate , New Hebrides . The first mission was to secure a supply convoy to Guadalcanal together with Task Force 18. On January 29 and 30, the cruiser was attacked by Japanese aircraft during the Battle of Rennell Island .

As part of Task Force 68, the Cleveland sailed on March 6, the "slot", as the New Georgia Sound was called by the US Navy. She attacked Japanese airfields near Vila and was involved in the sinking of two Japanese destroyers in the Gulf of Kula. On June 30, the cruiser was involved in the bombing of the Shortland Islands , on July 12, it secured the landing on Munda . After a brief stay in the shipyard in Sydney , the Cleveland returned to the fleet to take part in preparations for the invasion of the Treasury Islands on October 26th and 27th .

Task Force 68 attacked Buka and Bonis on November 1 in support of troops landing on Bougainville , then ran south to neutralize Japanese positions in the Shortland Islands and caught up with the the following night during the naval battle Kaiserin-Augusta-Bay a Japanese association. A Japanese air raid on the night of November 1st was also repulsed, several aircraft were shot down by the cruiser's anti-aircraft defenses. On December 23, the Cleveland attacked the island of Buka again, then moved it to the sea area between Truk and the Green Islands in order to secure the landing on the Green Islands from February 13 to 18, 1944.

Deployments in 1944 and 1945

After the Cleveland had supported the capture of Emiru from March 17th to 23rd, she ran to Sydney for overhaul and replenishment bunkering. After the return to the Solomon Islands on April 21, preparations began for the reconquest of the Mariana Islands. When the cruiser came under fire from a Japanese coastal battery on May 20, it returned fire and destroyed the position.

The Cleveland 1944

From June 8th to August 12th, the Cleveland took part in the Battle of the Mariana Islands . On July 24th, while landing on Tinian , the Cleveland came to the aid of the destroyer USS Norman Scott , which had been badly hit by a coastal battery. The cruiser maneuvered between the Norman Scott and the battery to prevent further hits and then silenced the position with its heavy artillery. The Cleveland continued to provide support for landing troops and has meanwhile been assigned to Task Force 58 , which inflicted heavy losses on the Japanese forces on June 19 and 20 in the Battle of the Philippine Sea .

From September 12 to 29, the Cleveland was involved in the landing on Palau , on October 5, 1944, it left Manus for the United States, where it underwent a thorough overhaul. On February 9, 1945, she arrived in Subic Bay and took part in the bombing of Corregidors on February 13 and 14 to support the landing there. She was also assigned to support during the Allied landings near Puerto Princesa, the Visayas , Panay and the region around Malabang - Parang .

On June 7, 1945 Cleveland left Subic Bay to secure the landing in Brunei Bay on June 10 as part of the cover fleet. On June 15, the cruiser returned to Subic Bay, from where it drove to Manila to take General Douglas MacArthur and his staff on board to watch the landing on Balikpapan . Upon arrival on June 30, the cruiser began support fire the next morning. After an inspection of the landing zone, MacArthur returned to Manila on July 3rd aboard the Cleveland .

As part of a new cruiser combat group, the Cleveland set out on July 13 for Okinawa , where it arrived on July 16. From there, the association carried out several attacks against Japanese shipping in the East China Sea until August 7.

End of war and decommissioning

On September 9, Cleveland left Okinawa to secure the evacuation of prisoners of war from the Wakayama region as part of the Allied occupation forces . Until it was replaced by the 6th US Army, she remained as an occupying force in Honshu. After a brief stay in Tokyo Bay from October 28 to November 1, the cruiser set course via Pearl Harbor, San Diego and the Panama Canal to Boston, where it arrived on December 5 and was docked for overhaul. After completion of the work, the Cleveland completed numerous training missions from Newport, in June 1946 a training trip took them to Halifax and Québec before they went to Philadelphia to be prepared for decommissioning.

On February 7, 1947, the Cleveland was decommissioned and mothballed. After being removed from the ship's registers on March 1, 1959, it was sold to Boston Metals in Baltimore for scrapping in 1960 and subsequently demolished.

The Cleveland received a Navy Unit Commendation for her service in the Kaiserin Augusta Bay together with the other ships of her association , as well as a total of thirteen Battle Stars for her service during the Second World War.

Web links

Commons : USS Cleveland (CL-55)  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• History of USS Cleveland (CL-55) in the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ USS Cleveland (CL-55) at navsource.org as of December 18, 2009