USS Salt Lake City (CA-25)
_during_the_early_1930s.jpg) USS Salt Lake City (CA-25) in the 1930s |
|
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Keel laying | June 9, 1927 |
| Launch | January 23, 1929 |
| 1. Period of service |
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| Commissioning | December 11, 1929 |
| Decommissioning | August 29, 1946 |
| Removed from ship register | June 18, 1948 |
| Whereabouts | sunk as a target ship |
| Technical specifications | |
| displacement | |
| length |
178.51 m (over all) |
| width |
19.89 m |
| Draft |
5.9 - 6.0 m |
| crew |
631 men (750 in the war) |
| drive |
|
| speed |
32.5 kn |
| Range |
13,000 nm at 15 kn |
| Bunker quantity |
2,116 ts of heating oil |
| Armament |
|
| Armor |
|
The USS Salt Lake City (CA-25) was a heavy cruiser of the United States Navy and the second ship of the two-units Pensacola class . The cruiser was laid down on June 9, 1927 at the New York Shipbuilding Corporation shipyard in Camden, New Jersey , and launched on January 23, 1929. The commissioning took place on December 11, 1929. The ship was named after the city of Salt Lake City in the US state of Utah .
Conversions and modifications
In the course of service, the USS Salt Lake City experienced constant reinforcement of the air defense , especially after the outbreak of World War II . While only four individual 12.7 cm anti-aircraft guns were housed on board during commissioning - these stood on both sides of the aft funnel - in 1939 four additional 12.7 cm guns were installed individually to the left and right of the bridge superstructures. In addition, the light and medium flak were continuously strengthened: In November 1941, the cruiser received eight 28 mm Flak L / 75 in two quadruple mounts; From the spring of 1942, two more such Flakvierlinge were added as well as eight individually positioned 20 mm cannons. In 1943 the 28-mm cannons were finally replaced by 16 40-mm anti-aircraft guns in four quadruple mounts and the number of 20-mm cannons was continuously increased. Towards the end of the war the USS Salt Lake City carried a total of 16 40-mm anti-aircraft guns and 21 20-mm anti-aircraft guns.
From the start of service, the USS Salt Lake City temporarily carried six 53.3 cm torpedo tubes with it, which were set up in rotating triple tube sets on the upper deck - approximately at the level of the rear funnel. However, the torpedo armament was dismissed again in 1936 after the Admiralty had come to the conclusion that a cruiser would not need torpedo armament. Torpedo attacks should be the task of the destroyer forces.
Since its commissioning, the cruiser had also had two catapults and carried four Vought O3U “Corsair” seaplanes , which were replaced by two modern Curtiss SOC “Seagulls” from 1942/43. From 1945 amphibious aircraft of the Curtiss SC "Seahawk" series were also temporarily in use on board the USS Salt Lake City .
Structural features and seaworthiness
The main heavy artillery of the USS Salt Lake City consisted of ten 8-inch anti-tank guns in four turrets, two triple and two twin turrets. A twin and a triple tower were installed in front of and behind the superstructure. The peculiarity, however, was that the triple tower was in the elevated position above the twin tower, which was rather unusual because of the higher weight - a triple tower weighed about 254 tons, a twin tower only 190 tons - and thus the increase in the center of gravity was rather unusual.
However, this arrangement of the towers was a concession to the shape of the hull of the ship. Since the triple tower required a larger barbette than the twin tower, the forecastle should have been made wider. The aim, however, was to keep the forecastle as sleek and narrow as possible in order to achieve a higher speed and a lower resistance value of the hull. In fact, it turned out that this concept ultimately worked. The cruiser turned out to be relatively fast and had good sea characteristics. The forecastle of this class was considered to be less affected by sea hammer than that of some other ships.
Pre-war period
After the commissioning, the service life of the USS Salt Lake City was initially relatively uneventful. The ship shuttled back and forth between the west and east coasts of the United States and served with various squadrons. From October 1933 to January 1934 the cruiser underwent a major overhaul in Bremerton and took part in extensive maneuvers off the California coast in 1936 as part of the 4th Cruiser Squadron; the operating team of the torpedo armament of the USS Salt Lake City achieved the best torpedo shooting result ever achieved by an American cruiser crew . In 1939 the ship made a long voyage through the Caribbean and visited Trinidad, Cuba and Haiti, among others.
Immediately before the outbreak of war in 1939 the ship moved again into the Pacific and visited in 1940, as part of the US Pacific Fleet , Wake and Guam . In August 1941, about three and a half months before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the cruiser also made a trip to Brisbane in Australia. Then the USS Salt Lake City belonged to Task Force 8 and took over from autumn 1941, as part of the security of the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise , supply trips to Wake Island, with aircraft, spare parts, ammunition and supplies being transported in particular.
Second World War
At the time of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the USS Salt Lake City was returning from a transport mission to Wake; The cruiser ran into the smoke-shrouded and partly burning port of Pearl Harbor on December 8 and took fuel from the unscathed oil depots that the Japanese had not attacked. After that, the ship moved into a guard position in front of O'ahu .
Until December 31, 1941, the cruiser remained in the waters around Hawaii and took over security tasks, since one expected further Japanese attacks at times; following this, the USS Salt Lake City took over a supply trip to Midway and Samoa in January 1942 . From there, the cruiser took part in the incoming US offensive against the Marshall and Gilbert Islands from January 25, 1942 .
The attack on Wotje
_bombarding_a_Japanese-held_island_in_February_1942_(NH_50946).jpg)
While US carrier aircraft from Task Force 8 and Task Force 17 - the two aircraft carriers USS Enterprise and USS Yorktown as well as five cruisers and nine destroyers - bombed the Japanese facilities on the atolls of Wotje , Maloelap and Kwajalein , the USS Salt went into action Lake City (as part of Task Group 8.1 of Rear Admiral Raymond A. Spruance ), together with the heavy cruiser USS Northampton and the destroyer USS Dunlap , came close to the coast of Wotje and shot at the Japanese coastal positions with their 8 inch Guns. The shells from the USS Salt Lake City were the first US artillery shells to fall on Japanese-controlled territory during World War II.
The Japanese defensive fire was initially very low, but on the way back from the bombardment mission, Task Group 8.1 was attacked by Japanese bombers. Two bombs narrowly missed the USS Salt Lake City . In return, however, the cruiser's flak was able to shoot down at least one attacking aircraft.
The attack on the Marshall and Gilbert Islands caused the Japanese only minor material damage - only seven auxiliary or transport ships were more or less damaged, and the damage on land was quickly repaired - but this first US offensive strengthened the Japanese Pacific American morale significantly.
The Doolittle Raid
Main article: Doolittle Raid
After the attack on the Marshall and Gilbert Islands, the USS Salt Lake City initially moved back to Pearl Harbor. On April 8, 1942, the cruiser left port again and covered from April 13 - as part of the newly established Task Force 16 - the attack of the B-25 army bombers commanded by Lieutenant Colonel James H. Doolittle , which fell from the deck of the carrier USS Hornet had risen to destinations in the Japanese Mother Islands. The USS Salt Lake City was the first ship of the association to sight Japanese outpost boats and informed the combat group that the Japanese had spotted them prematurely. This meant that the bombers had to take off earlier than planned.
After the bombers took off, the cruiser - like the rest of the US squadron - had to retreat from the rapidly approaching and far superior Japanese carrier fleet and on April 25th reached the port of Pearl Harbor unharmed.
Operation "Watchtower": The offensive against the Solomon Islands
After the defeat of the Japanese carrier fleet at Midway in the summer of 1942, the Japanese began to build airfields on the offshore islands of the southwest Pacific that they had conquered in order to compensate for the loss of the four aircraft carriers at Midway. This development led the US Admiralty to launch a large-scale counter-offensive against Japanese facilities in the area. At the same time, the sea route to Australia was supposed to be secured by retaking the Solomon Islands and protected from Japanese air raids. The Americans initially targeted the Solomon Islands of Tulagi and Guadalcanal , around which the longest battle of the Pacific War would develop later. The code name for this operation was " Watchtower ".
As part of Task Force 18 (Rear Admiral Leigh Noyes ) and as backup of the aircraft carrier USS Wasp , the USS Salt Lake City took part in the operation from August 7, 1942; it remained until the sinking of the USS Wasp by a Japanese submarine on September 15, 1942 at a position southeast of Guadalcanal. At the end of September 1942, the cruiser was finally moved to the immediate combat area in front of Guadalcanal in order to fight the Japanese naval forces, which operated at night and shot at the US marines on the island almost every night .
The night battle at Cape Esperance
Main article: Battle of Cape Esperance
When in the second week of October the American air reconnaissance reported the approach of a new Japanese bombardment unit - it consisted of the three heavy cruisers Furutaka , Kinugasa and Aoba as well as two destroyers and was under the command of Rear Admiral Goto Aritomo - the Americans dispatched the hastily assembled one Task Force 64 (Rear Admiral Norman C. Scott ), which, in addition to the USS Salt Lake City, also included the heavy cruiser USS San Francisco , the light cruisers USS Boise and USS Helena and five destroyers, to intercept the Japanese.
On the night of 11./12. In October 1942, the Americans, guided by radar, placed the Japanese combat group north of Cape Esperance. The Japanese were taken by surprise and suffered heavy losses: the cruiser Furutaka and the destroyer Fubuki sank in the artillery fire of the US unit, the other two cruisers suffered severe damage. Only one destroyer was lost to the Americans, but several other ships were more or less severely damaged.
In the course of the battle, which lasted just under 40 minutes and ended with a clear victory for the Americans and the retreat of the Japanese, the USS Salt Lake City fired 150 8-inch shells, some at a distance of less than 2,000 meters. The sometimes very short combat range meant that an estimated 30 percent of all grenades fired hit. Presumably four shells of the cruiser erroneously hit the destroyer USS Duncan , which was lost in the darkness and in the chaos of the battle between the battle lines. The USS Salt Lake City itself received three 8-inch hits from the Japanese ships, killing four crew members and wounding 21.
After the battle, the damaged cruiser went to Hawaii for repairs and a four-month major overhaul. The 28 mm flak were also replaced by 40 mm flak. The USS Salt Lake City then moved to Task Force 8 in the North Pacific to take part in the ongoing US campaign against the Aleutians .
The naval battle of the Komandorski Islands
Main article: Naval battle of the Komandorski Islands
As early as mid-March 1943, American radio surveillance discovered that the Japanese wanted to send a heavily secured supply convoy to the Aleutians after a single transporter had been sunk by the US Navy. The Americans then brought together the so-called Task Group "Mike" (actually Task Group 16.6) under the command of Rear Admiral Charles H. McMorris to intercept the Japanese. The task group "Mike" consisted of the USS Salt Lake City - the flagship of Rear Admiral McMorris -, the light cruiser USS Richmond and four destroyers.
The US association was able to capture the Japanese convoy with the radar in the morning hours of March 27, 1943, around 7:30 a.m. The Americans discovered that the Japanese convoy security was stronger than expected: In addition to the two heavy cruisers Nachi and Maya , the two light cruisers Tama and Abukuma and five destroyers covered the convoy consisting of three freighters. Despite the superior strength of the enemy, Rear Admiral McMorris decided to attack the convoy.
At around 8:40 a.m., both sides opened fire on each other almost simultaneously, but before that the Japanese had turned off their three transport ships with a weak escort. The USS Salt Lake City initially concentrated its fire on the heavy cruiser Nachi and forked it in with its second salvo - at a distance of almost 20 kilometers. At 8:50 a.m., a 20.3 cm shell from the cruiser hit the bridge structure of the Nachi and caused severe personnel losses. By 8:52 a.m., the USS Salt Lake City scored two more hits on the Nachi , which collapsed its electrical system and disrupted the fire control. The Japanese cruiser left the formation, fell back and was initially out of action - until around 9:30 a.m.
_in_action_during_the_Battle_of_the_Komandorski_Islands_on_26_March_1943_(80-G-73827).jpg)
After that, however, the Japanese concentrated their fire on Salt Lake City and scored several hits: at 9:10 a.m., an 8-inch shell from the cruiser Maya hit the starboard catapult, set the aircraft there on fire, killing two crew members and wounding them five. Ten minutes later another 8-inch shell struck amidships, killing two other sailors and tearing a hole in the ship's side at waterline level; this caused some water ingress, which lowered the maximum speed to about 26 knots. After that, both sides stopped fighting for about a quarter of an hour because the distance had become too great.
At about 9.30 a.m. the battle continued, but both units did not score any hits because of the still very large distance; nevertheless, both squadrons continued to exchange broadsides. Shortly after 10 a.m., however, the steering gear on the USS Salt Lake City temporarily failed, as a result of the numerous close-up impacts and the vibrations caused by its own volleys. As a result, the cruiser could no longer maintain its course and quickly became a target for the Japanese. In this precarious position, the USS Salt Lake City received four more 8 "hits - including a dud - which caused severe water ingress and a list of around five degrees. A smoke curtain laid by the US destroyers saved the cruiser from serious damage.
In the period that followed, however, a serious incident occurred on the USS Salt Lake City : When trying to level the list by flooding from opposite chambers, seawater got into the oil bunker. This choked the flames in the boilers and the cruiser lost speed rapidly. At 11:54 a.m., the USS Salt Lake City was finally immobilized in the water. In this extremely critical situation - the USS Richmond was already approaching in order to be able to take over the crew if necessary - Rear Admiral McMorris ordered his destroyers to carry out a torpedo attack for relief. This forced the Japanese to turn away and gave the USS Salt Lake City the much-needed respite; at 12 noon the ship was able to move again at a top speed of about 8 knots after the heating crews had feverishly activated the burner fire again.
In this situation, which was still hopeless for the Americans - both US cruisers had fired around 85 percent of their ammunition, and the USS Salt Lake City was also badly hit - the outnumbered Japanese suddenly stopped, started fire at 12:04 p.m. and ran at high speed from the battlefield. What the Americans did not know: the Japanese, who could have given the "Mike" task group the fatal blow, had also already used most of their ammunition and were also expecting American air forces to appear.
_at_Dutch_Harbor_on_29_March_1943_(80-G-299022).jpg)
Although the battle ended in a draw, the task group "Mike" was able to achieve a strategic success because the Japanese broke off their supply trip to the Aleutian Islands. Overall, the USS Salt Lake City had fired 806 20.3 cm shells and 95 12.7 cm shells in the battle, which lasted more than three hours, mostly at distances between 17 and 23 kilometers. She herself received a total of six hits, killing four crew members and wounding 15. The cruiser later moved to California to repair the damage and was repaired at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard until early May 1943 .
Operations from 1943 to 1945
After the damage sustained at the Komandorski Islands had been repaired, the USS Salt Lake City was detached again in the North Pacific and, from May 14, 1943, supported the reconquest of the Aleutian island of Attu from the Japanese and repeatedly bombarded the neighboring island of Kiska (which was finally in the July 1943 was secretly evacuated by the Japanese).
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Subsequently, the USS Salt Lake City was assigned to Task Group 50.3 (Rear Admiral Alfred E. Montgomery ) and took part in the US offensive against the Gilbert Islands in November 1943. The cruiser fired at the hard-fought Tarawa Atoll and the main island Betio there several times from November 13th . The USS Salt Lake City fired a total of 711 8 inch shells. During the battle, the cruiser's flak also shot down at least three Japanese planes.
In the winter of 1943/44, the ship was also used against the Marshall Islands and undertook a total of ten bombardment missions; Wotje alone was attacked six times by the USS Salt Lake City from February 2 to 17, 1944, with 713 20.3 cm Grenades were fired. After that, the cruiser secured several carrier attacks against Ulithi Atoll , Yap and Palau . After a major overhaul at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard from May 7 to June 22, 1944, the USS Salt Lake City took part in a bombardment operation against Wake in August 1944, as part of Task Group 12.5 (Rear Admiral AE Smith). Although the island was ultimately held by the Japanese until the end of the war, the facilities were largely due to the bombardment - the USS Salt Lake City alone fired 311 8 "grenades and 156 12.7 cm grenades on the island destroyed. The Japanese base had become virtually meaningless, even if it was not captured.
_off_the_Mare_Island_Naval_Shipyard_on_21_June_1944_(19-N-67713).jpg)
After that, the cruiser secured several carrier operations again, including during the raid against Formosa and the sea and air battle in the Gulf of Leyte in October 1944. From November 8, 1944, the USS Salt Lake City was preparing and supporting the US Invasion of Iwo Jima involved: Between November 11, 1944 and March 13, 1945 (the Americans landed on Iwo Jima on February 19, 1945) the cruiser shelled the island with a total of 3,322 8-inch shells and 3,969 12.7 cm shells. In addition, a Japanese plane was destroyed. During the campaign against Iwo Jima, however, one of the aircraft on board the USS Salt Lake City and its two-man crew was shot down.
Also at the last major battle of the Pacific War - the Battle of Okinawa - took the USS Salt Lake City part. In preparation for the invasion and later during the fighting, which lasted from April 1 to June 30, 1945, the cruiser detached to Task Group 95.3 during this phase fired a total of 9,070 20.3 cm shells and 14,225 12.7 cm shells and 5,770 40 mm bullets. The flak was also able to shoot down two Japanese kamikaze . After the conquest of Okinawa, the cruiser moved to Leyte and underwent a major overhaul.
In August and September 1945, after the surrender of Japan, the USS Salt Lake City took part in the occupation of Japanese ports, including the landings of American troops at Ōminato and Aomori in northern Honshu . In October 1945, the ship was also used as part of Operation “Magic Carpet” - the return transport of American soldiers from all theaters of war to the USA.
Operation "Crossroads": The end in the atomic firestorm
On November 14, 1945, the order was issued that the cruiser, together with numerous other ships, should be used as a test ship in the planned nuclear weapons tests on the Bikini Atoll ( Operation Crossroads ). With only one hull crew, the USS Salt Lake City therefore moved first to Pearl Harbor and then to Bikini Atoll in March 1946. There the ship was badly damaged on the superstructure on July 1, 1946 during the ABLE nuclear test, around 820 meters from the explosion center. In the second test, the underwater explosion BAKER, which took place on July 25, 1946, the cruiser was also heavily contaminated with radioactivity, although the damage was also less. The still floating USS Salt Lake City initially remained in the lagoon, but was officially decommissioned on August 29, 1946.
Sinking as a target ship
Since the ship was heavily contaminated with radioactive substances and scrapping seemed hardly possible, it was towed off the coast of southern California in May 1948 and used there as a target ship by a combat group consisting of 15 cruisers and destroyers . In addition, naval aircraft dropped more than 100 smaller bombs (50-100 kilograms) on the ship and shot it with numerous 127 mm HVA missiles. On May 25, 1948, the USS Salt Lake City capsized after numerous artillery and torpedo hits about 150 miles from the coast of California and sank. On June 18, 1948, the cruiser was removed from the fleet list.
literature
- Mike J. Whitley: Cruiser in World War II. Classes, types, construction dates . Stuttgart 1997, pp. 267-271.
- Stefan Terzibaschitsch : Cruisers of the US Navy 1922 - 1962 . Naval Institute Press 1988.
- Helmut Pemsel: Command of the Sea. A maritime world history from steam navigation to the present . Volume 2. Augsburg 1995.
Web links
- navsource.com (English)
- History of the USS Salt Lake City (English)
- The Early Carrier Raids: February and March, 1942. microworks.net (English)
- navweaps.com (English)
- Naval Historical Center (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ navweaps.com
- ↑ Mike J. Whitley: Cruisers in World War II. Classes, types, construction dates . Stuttgart 1997, p. 268
- ↑ a b c d e ussslcca25.com # top
- ↑ wlb-stuttgart.de
- ↑ microworks.net
- ↑ Helmut Pemsel: Sea rule. A maritime world history from steam navigation to the present . Volume 2. Augsburg 1995, p. 560
- ↑ a b c d microworks.net
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