USS Columbus (CG-12)
_off_the_coast_of_Spain,_12_July_1948_(NH_98457).jpg)
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| period of service |
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|---|---|
| Ordered: | September 9, 1940 |
| Keel laying: | June 28, 1943 |
| Launch: | November 30, 1944 |
| Commissioning: | June 8, 1945 |
| Decommissioning: | January 31, 1975 |
| Painted: | August 9, 1976 |
| Fate: | Disassembled |
| Technical specifications | |
| Displacement: | 17,031 - 18,500 ts |
| Length: | 205.3 meters |
| Width: | 21.6 meters |
| Draft: | 7.3 - 8.6 meters |
| Drive: | 4 propellers, driven by 4 steam turbines; 120,000 shaft horsepower |
| Crew: | about 1500 |
The USS Columbus (CA-74 / CG-12) was a heavy cruiser in the United States Navy and belonged to the Baltimore class . Later she became a guided missile cruiser of the Albany-class rebuilt.
history
As CA-74
The Columbus was laid down at the Fore River Shipyard in 1943 and launched around 17 months later. The official commissioning was on June 8, 1945.
The first mission of the Columbus began in early 1946 , when the cruiser reached Qingdao and was doing occupation service there. Later she was involved in the sinking of prey submarines of the Japanese. A second relocation to the region followed in 1947. The ship was then overhauled at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and then assigned to the Atlantic fleet. There she served the Commander-in-Chief, Naval Forces Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean twice and the Supreme Allied Commander, Atlantic once as a flagship .
In 1955 it was relocated to the Pacific, where it continued until 1959, when the conversion to a guided missile cruiser began in the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard.
_underway_off_San_Diego_on_19_February_1965_(NH_82722-KN).jpg)
As CG-12
At the end of 1962 it was returned to service with the new identification CG-12. In 1964 the Columbus made its first mission in the Pacific, followed by a transfer to the Atlantic in 1966. There she was flagship of various COMCRUDESFLOT (Commander Cruiser Destroyer Flotilla) on three trips. The cruiser returned to the US east coast between trips, both for overhauls and training trips.
After the seventh Mediterranean voyage as CG-12, preparations began to deactivate the Columbus , which was finally decommissioned on January 31, 1975. In 1977 the ship was sold to a demolition company and dismantled.
Web links
- History of Columbus in the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (English)