USS Cleveland (CL-55)

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For other ships with the same name, see USS Cleveland.
USS Cleveland (CL-55), underway at sea in late 1942.
History
United States
NameCleveland
NamesakeCity of
Cleveland, Ohio
Ordered17 May 1938
BuilderNew York Shipbuilding Corporation, Camden, New Jersey
Laid down1 July 1940
Launched1 November 1941
Commissioned15 June 1942
Decommissioned7 February 1947
Stricken1 March 1959
FateSold for scrap 18 February 1960
General characteristics
Class and typeCleveland-class light cruiser
Displacement
Length610 ft 1 in (185.95 m)
Beam66 ft 4 in (20.22 m)
Draft24 ft 6 in (7.47 m)
Installed power
  • 4 ×
    Babcock & Wilcox boilers
  • 100,000 shp (75,000 kW)
Propulsion
Speed32.5 knots (60.2 km/h; 37.4 mph)
Range11,000 nmi (20,000 km; 13,000 mi) at 15 kn (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Complement1,285 officers and enlisted
Armament
Armor
Aircraft carried4 × floatplanes
Aviation facilities2 × stern catapults

USS Cleveland (CL-55) was the

5 in (127 mm) dual-purpose guns. They had a top speed of 32.5 knots
(60.2 km/h; 37.4 mph).

Cleveland was commissioned in June 1942, and saw extensive service in the war, briefly in the Atlantic, and then in the Pacific theater. Like almost all of her sister ships, she was decommissioned shortly after the end of the war, and never saw active service again. Cleveland was scrapped in the early 1960s.

Design

Main article: Cleveland-class cruiser
Depiction of the Cleveland class, showing the plan and profile

The Cleveland-class

US Navy quickly followed. Though still neutral, the United States recognized that war was likely and the urgent need for additional ships ruled out an entirely new design, so the Clevelands were a close development of the earlier Brooklyn-class cruisers, the chief difference being the substitution of a two-gun 5 in (127 mm) dual-purpose gun mount for one of the main battery 6 in (152 mm) gun turrets.[1]

Cleveland was 610 feet 1 inch (186 m)

kW), the turbines were intended to give a top speed of 32.5 knots (60.2 km/h; 37.4 mph). Her crew numbered 1285 officers and enlisted men.[2]

The ship was armed with a main battery of twelve

Bofors 40 mm (1.6 in) guns in two quadruple mounts and thirteen Oerlikon 20 mm (0.79 in) guns in single mounts.[2]

The ship's

amidships where it protected the ammunition magazines and propulsion machinery spaces. Her deck armor was 2 in (51 mm) thick. The main battery turrets were protected with 6.5 in (170 mm) faces and 3 in (76 mm) sides and tops, and they were supported by barbettes 6 inches thick. Cleveland's conning tower had 5-inch sides.[2]

Service history

On 1 November 1941, Hull No. 423 was launched and christened Cleveland. Built by

French Morocco on 8 November, and she remained on patrol until 12 November, returning to Norfolk on 24 November.[3]

Cleveland sailed for the Pacific on 5 December 1942, and arrived at

Efate Island on 16 January. Her first mission in the consolidation of the Solomon Islands was with Task Force 18 (TF 18) to guard a troop convoy to Guadalcanal from 27 to 31 January, Cleveland fired on the enemy as she came under heavy air attack in the Battle of Rennell Island on 29–30 January.[3]

Joining TF 68, Cleveland steamed up "the Slot" on 6 March 1943 to bombard Japanese airfields at Vila on Kolombangara, then joined in the night action which sank[3] the destroyers Minegumo and Murasame in the battle of Blackett Strait.[citation needed]

Command of Cleveland passed to Captain Andrew G. Shepard in June. Still with TF 68, "Merrill's Marauders", Cleveland fired in the bombardment of the

Green Island, Papua New Guinea from 13 to 18 February 1944 while American forces captured the latter.[3]

After supporting the

Marianas operation. One practice bombardment on 20 May brought return fire unexpectedly which straddled the ship, but unharmed, she quickly silenced the shore batteries.[3]

From 8 June to 12 August, Cleveland participated in the Marianas operation. On 24 July, during the invasion of Tinian, Cleveland came to the aid of the destroyer Norman Scott. Norman Scott was hit six times within a few seconds by shore batteries. Cleveland maneuvered between Norman Scott and the shore batteries, preventing her from taking any more hits. She conducted softening-up bombardments and then gave fire support for invading troops until she joined TF 58 for the Battle of the Philippine Sea on 19–20 June. Although few enemy aircraft penetrated the screen of American carrier planes, Cleveland was credited with splashing at least one enemy aircraft and assisting in downing another of the few which did get through.[3]

From 12 to 29 September, Cleveland participated in the invasion of the

Palaus, then sailed from Manus Island on 5 October for a stateside overhaul. She arrived in Subic Bay on 9 February 1945, and sailed on to bombard Corregidor on 13–14 February, effectively neutralizing the fortress before the landings there. Continuing to support the consolidation of the Philippines, she covered the landings at Puerto Princesa, the Visayas, Panay, and the Malabang-Parang area on Mindanao.[3]

Cleveland put out from Subic Bay on 7 June to act as part of the covering force and provide fire support for the invasion landings at Brunei Bay, Borneo on 10 June. She returned to Subic Bay on 15 June, then sailed to Manila to embark General of the Army Douglas MacArthur and his staff as observers of the assault on Balikpapan. Arriving on 30 June, she fired in a pre-landing bombardment the next morning, and after General MacArthur had made an inspection tour of the landing area, got underway for Manila, arriving on 3 July.[3]

With a new cruiser task force, Cleveland sailed on 13 July to

Halifax, Nova Scotia, and Quebec in June 1946, before reporting to Philadelphia
for inactivation. Cleveland was placed out of commission in reserve there on 7 February 1947, until sold for scrap, 18 February 1960.

Awards

In addition to her Navy Unit Commendation, Cleveland received 13

battle stars for World War II service.[3]

Footnotes

Notes

  1. ^ /47 refers to the length of the gun in terms of calibers. A /47 gun is 47 times long as it is in bore diameter.

Citations

  1. ^ Friedman 1984, pp. 245–247.
  2. ^ a b c Friedman 1980, p. 119.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Cleveland II (CL-55)". Naval History and Heritage Command. 30 June 2015. Retrieved 2 December 2015.

References

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to USS Cleveland (CL-55).
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