USS Flint (CL-97)
_at_anchor_in_March_1945_(80-G-K-3813).jpg) USS Flint (March 1945)
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | Flint |
| Namesake | City of Flint, Michigan |
| Builder | San Francisco, California |
| Laid down | 1 August 1941 |
| Launched | 25 January 1944 |
| Commissioned | 31 August 1944 |
| Decommissioned | 6 May 1947 |
| Reclassified | CLAA-97 18 March 1949 |
| Stricken | 1 June 1965 |
| Identification |
|
| Honors and awards | battle stars |
| Fate | Sold for scrap on 6 October 1966 |
| General characteristics (as built)[1][2][3] | |
| Class and type | Atlanta-class light cruiser |
| Displacement |
|
| Length | 541 ft 6 in (165.05 m) oa |
| Beam | 53 ft (16 m) |
| Draft |
|
| Installed power |
|
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 32.5 kn (37.4 mph; 60.2 km/h) |
| Complement | 688 officers and enlisted |
| Armament |
|
| Armor |
|
USS Flint (CL-97) was a modified
San Francisco, California, sponsored by Mrs. R. A. Pitcher. She was and commissioned on 31 August 1944. She was reclassified CLAA-97 on 18 March 1949.[4]
Service history
Flint reported to the
anti-aircraft cover during a Japanese kamikaze attack on 21 January 1945. Replenishing at Ulithi from 26 January to 10 February, Flint then sailed with newly designated TF 38 for air strikes on Tokyo preceding the attack on Iwo Jima. Her force arrived off Iwo Jima on 21 February to provide anti-aircraft cover for the Marines who had landed two days previously, and Flint returned to Ulithi 12 March for a brief 2 days of replenishment.[4]
Putting to sea with TF 58 for strikes against
Okinawa, Flint aided in bringing down several airplanes in heavy attacks on the task force from 18 to 22 March. The task force then closed Okinawa, and Flint with other cruisers bombarded beach installations in preparation for the landings on 1 April. Aside from the period of 14–24 May, when she was at Ulithi for upkeep, Flint operated off Okinawa until 13 June, when she anchored in Leyte Gulf.[4]
Flint sortied from
Honshū until the cessation of hostilities. On 24 August, she took station off Nii Shima to serve as rescue ship and homing station for transport planes carrying occupation troops to Japan. From 10 to 15 September, she lay in Tokyo Bay, then sailed with a carrier task force to provide air and sea surveillance of Central Honshū until 21 September.[4]
The cruiser made a voyage from Japan to
Kwajalein to bring home more servicemen eligible for discharge, Flint reported at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Washington, on 11 January 1946, and there was placed out of commission in reserve at Bremerton on 6 May 1947.[4] Her dedication plaque currently rests in the Sloan Museum, in the city she is named after.[citation needed
]
Awards
Flint received four
battle stars for World War II service.[4]
Footnotes
Notes
Citations
- ^ Rickard, J (13 January 2015). "Atlanta Class Cruisers". Historyofwar.org. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
- ^ "US Cruisers List: US Light/Heavy/AntiAircraft Cruisers, Part 2". Hazegray.org. 24 April 2000. Retrieved 23 October 2015.
- ISBN 0-87021-974-X.
- ^ a b c d e f "Flint". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Navy Department, Naval History and Heritage Command. 8 July 2015. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
References
- This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
- Friedman, Norman (1980). "United States of America". In Gardiner, Robert & Chesneau, Roger (eds.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. pp. 86–166. ISBN 978-0-87021-913-9.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to USS Flint (CL-97).
- Photo gallery of USS Flint at NavSource Naval History