USS San Juan (CL-54)

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For other ships with the same name, see USS San Juan.
USS San Juan, 1942
USS San Juan (1942)
History
United States
NameSan Juan
NamesakeThe Municipality of San Juan, Puerto Rico
BuilderBethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation's Fore River Shipyard, Quincy, Massachusetts
Laid down15 May 1940
Launched6 September 1941
Sponsored byMrs. Margarita Coll de Santori
Commissioned28 February 1942
Decommissioned9 November 1946
ReclassifiedCLAA-54, 28 February 1949
Stricken1 May 1959
Identification
Honors and
awards
battle stars
FateSold for scrapping, 31 October 1961
General characteristics (as built)[1][2]
Class and typeAtlanta-class light cruiser
Displacement
  • 6,718 long tons (6,826 t) (standard)
  • 8,340 long tons (8,470 t) (max)
Length541 ft 6 in (165.05 m) oa
Beam53 ft (16 m)
Draft
  • 20 ft 6 in (6.25 m) (mean)
  • 26 ft 6 in (8.08 m) (max)
Installed power
  • 4 ×
    Steam boilers
  • 75,000 shp (56,000 kW)
Propulsion
Speed32.5 kn (37.4 mph; 60.2 km/h)
Complement820 officers and enlisted
Armament
Armor
  • Belt
    : 1.1–3+3⁄4 in (28–95 mm)
  • Deck: 1+1⁄4 in (32 mm)
  • Turrets: 1+1⁄4 in (32 mm)
  • Conning Tower: 2+1⁄2 in (64 mm)
General characteristics (1945)[1][2]
Armament
  • 16 × 5 in (127 mm)/38 caliber Mark 12 guns (8×2)
  • 1 × quad
    40 mm (1.6 in) Bofors
    anti-aircraft guns
  • 5 × twin 40 mm (1.6 in) Bofors anti-aircraft guns
  • 13 × 20 mm (0.79 in) Oerlikon anti-aircraft cannons
  • 8 × 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes
  • 6 × depth charge projectors
  • 2 × depth charge tracks

The second USS San Juan (CL-54), and the first to be named for the city of San Juan, Puerto Rico, was an Atlanta-class light cruiser of the United States Navy. She was laid down on 15 May 1940 by the Bethlehem Steel Co. (Fore River), Quincy, Massachusetts; launched on 6 September 1941; sponsored by Mrs. Margarita Coll de Santori; and commissioned on 28 February 1942.[3]

Service history

1942

After shakedown in the Atlantic, San Juan departed from Hampton Roads, Virginia, on 5 June 1942 as part of a carrier task group formed around the aircraft carrier Wasp (CV-7) and bound for the Pacific. The group got underway from San Diego on 30 June escorting a large group of troop transports destined for the Solomon Islands where the Navy was about to launch the first major American amphibious operation of the war.[3]

Following rehearsal in the

Noumea.[3]

San Juan's crewmen at general quarters, 1942

She then rejoined Wasp and operated with the carrier force for several weeks between the New Hebrides and the Solomons, on guard against a Japanese carrier attack. However, when this strike materialized on 24 August, San Juan had withdrawn to refuel and thus missed the Battle of the Eastern Solomons. Enterprise was hit in the battle, and San Juan, which had damaged a gun mount off Guadalcanal, escorted the carrier to Pearl Harbor, arriving on 10 September 1942.[3]

On 5 October, the cruiser again headed for the South Pacific, stopping first at

Nadi, Viti Levu Island, in the Fijis on 24 November.[3]

1943

From December 1942 to June 1943, San Juan was based at Nouméa and operated in the

Havannah Harbor, Efate, and later to Espiritu Santo.[3]

On 1 November, the Saratoga group, including San Juan, neutralized airfields on

Kwajalein in the Marshalls, fighting off persistent torpedo plane attacks on 4–5 December. Detached on 6 December, the cruiser returned to the United States for overhaul at Mare Island.[3]

1944

San Juan at San Francisco, 1944

San Juan rejoined Saratoga off Pearl Harbor on 19 January 1944 and the force covered the occupation of Eniwetok in February. San Juan next escorted the carriers

Marianas, and, in doing so, all but wiped out Japanese naval air strength.[3]

After a short stop at Eniwetok, San Juan escorted the new Wasp (CV-18) and Franklin during July as they covered the capture of Guam with strikes on Iwo Jima and Chichi Jima. After a strike on Palau and Ulithi, San Juan was ordered to San Francisco for overhaul, and departed from Eniwetok on 4 August escorting Yorktown.[3]

Following refresher training at San Diego and Pearl Harbor, San Juan joined Lexington's task group at Ulithi on 21 November. In early December, she screened the carriers in strikes on Formosa and Luzon in support of landings on Mindoro. During this operation, she was sent alone within scouting range of Japanese airfields in an effort to draw out Japanese aircraft by radio deception, but none rose to the bait. On 18–19 December, the force was battered by a typhoon, and returned to Ulithi on Christmas Eve.[3]

1945

Underway again six days later, the carriers covered the occupation of Luzon with strikes on Formosa,

Saigon, Cam Ranh Bay, and Hong Kong. After replenishing at Ulithi, San Juan escorted Hornet in air strikes on Tokyo during the Iwo Jima operation in February and then returned to Ulithi on 1 March to prepare for the Okinawa invasion.[3]

San Juan rejoined Hornet on 22 March and, until 30 April, operated with her to the north and east of

Sagami Wan, just outside Tokyo Bay.[3]

San Juan's embarked unit commander, Commodore

San Pedro, California, on 9 January 1946 with a full load of troops.[3]

Decommissioning and sale

The cruiser arrived at Bremerton, Washington, for inactivation on 24 January 1946, and was decommissioned and placed in reserve there on 9 November 1946. San Juan was redesignated CLAA-54 on 28 February 1949. She was struck from the Navy list on 1 March 1959 and sold on 31 October 1961 to

Los Angeles, California, for scrapping.[3]

Awards

San Juan received 13

battle stars for her World War II service.[3]

References
  1. ^ a b Rickard, J (13 January 2015). "Atlanta Class Cruisers". Historyofwar.org. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
  2. ^ a b "US Cruisers List: US Light/Heavy/AntiAircraft Cruisers, Part 2". Hazegray.org. 24 April 2000. Retrieved 23 October 2015.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o "USS San Juan II (CL-54)". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Navy Department, Naval History and Heritage Command. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  4. ISBN 978-0-553-80670-0

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to USS San Juan (CL-54).
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=USS_San_Juan_(CL-54)&oldid=1093096225"