USS Vicksburg (CL-86)
_off_San_Francisco,_circa_in_October_1945_(NH_66437).jpg) USS Vicksburg soon after the end of World War II
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | Vicksburg |
| Namesake | City of Vicksburg, Mississippi |
| Builder | Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company, Newport News, Virginia |
| Laid down | 26 October 1942 |
| Launched | 14 December 1943 |
| Commissioned | 12 June 1944 |
| Decommissioned | 30 June 1947 |
| Stricken | 1 October 1962 |
| Fate | Sold for scrap on 25 August 1964 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Cleveland-class light cruiser |
| Displacement |
|
| Length | 610 ft 1 in (185.95 m) |
| Beam | 66 ft 4 in (20.22 m) |
| Draft | 24 ft 6 in (7.47 m) |
| Installed power |
|
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 32.5 knots (60.2 km/h; 37.4 mph) |
| Range | 11,000 nmi (20,000 km; 13,000 mi) at 15 kn (28 km/h; 17 mph) |
| Complement | 1,285 officers and enlisted |
| Armament |
|
| Armor |
|
| Aircraft carried | 4 × floatplanes |
| Aviation facilities | 2 × stern catapults |
USS Vicksburg was a
5 in (127 mm) dual-purpose guns. They had a top speed of 32.5 knots
(60.2 km/h; 37.4 mph).
Vicksburg was first laid down as Cheyenne on 26 October 1942 at
battle stars for her World War II
service.
Design
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]
Vicksburg 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 four quadruple and six double mounts and ten 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. Vicksburg's conning tower had 5-inch sides.[2]
Service history
Construction and initial service
_underway_off_the_US_East_Coast_on_17_October_1944_(NH_98331).jpg)
Vicksburg was built by the
sea trials in Chesapeake Bay. On 7 August, she got underway for her shakedown cruise that took the ship as far south as the British West Indies and included training operations in the Gulf of Paria from 12 to 30 August. During this period, she was based in Trinidad. She also conducted shooting practice at the target range off Culebra, Puerto Rico, before departing to return to the United States, escorted by the destroyers Broome and Simpson.[4]
Vicksburg arrived in
Norfolk Navy Yard, arriving there on 17 December. She conducted a set of trials on 30–31 December, before departing on 1 January 1945, bound for the Pacific. She sailed in company with the destroyers USS Rodman and Emmons; the three ships were designated Task Group (TG) 21.12. They passed through the Panama Canal on 5 January and docked at Balboa, Panama, at on the other end of the canal. There, TG 21.12 was disbanded. Vicksburg sailed for Pearl Harbor the next day and arrived there on 17 January; there, she took part in combat practice that included air defense training that consisted of drone target practice, radar detection, and coordination with defending fighter aircraft.[4]
Pacific Theater operations
Battle of Iwo Jima
On 5 February, Vicksburg got underway, bound for
dreadnought battleships Nevada and Idaho, the heavy cruisers Chester and Pensacola, and several destroyers. Vicksburg, Chester, and Pensacola took up their positions at 06:51 the next morning, and at 07:09, Vicksburg launched one of her Vought OS2U Kingfisher seaplanes to help direct her fire. Firing at a range of about 12,000 yd (11,000 m), the ship took Japanese positions on the north side of Iwo Jima under fire. Poor weather hampered the aircrews' ability to observe the ship's fire, but Vicksburg nevertheless carried out the bombardment for almost an hour, ceasing fire at 08:08.[4]
After recovering and refueling her Kingfisher, Vicksburg resumed her bombardment at 09:47, but low visibility still interfered. During a third bombardment later that day, the heavy cloud cover dissipated and permitted much more effective shooting. During this period, at 14:14, a Japanese
invasion of Okinawa.[4]
Okinawa campaign and end of the war
In the early hours of 18 March, as the carriers began their attacks on Japanese positions in the
Mitsubishi G4M1 bomber attempted a torpedo attack on Vicksburg. The cruiser turned away, narrowly avoiding the torpedo by around 35 yd (32 m). Another Japanese aircraft dropped flares nearby about twenty minutes later before being driven off by anti-aircraft fire from the American fleet; shortly thereafter, it passed back through the American formation and was shot down by the combined fire of several ships, including Vicksburg. Further Japanese attacks took place through the morning. A Yokosuka P1Y land-based bomber attempted to dive on one of the carriers, but was shot down by heavy American fire. Some two hours later, a Yokosuka D4Y dive bomber flew over Vicksburg; the cruisers' light gunners scored three hits before the aircraft was shot down by 5-inch fire from other vessels—potentially Miami or the destroyer Harrison—brought the aircraft down. Over the following days, the American carriers struck many targets in Japan, prompting heavy Japanese counter-attacks. During this period, Vicksburg shot down a total of eight Japanese aircraft. She also used her Kingfisher to recover an American pilot who had been shot down off the Japanese coast.[4]
When the invasion of
Okinawa began on 1 April, Vicksburg returned to coastal bombardment duties. The ship supported the American advance across the southern half of the island, targeting defensive strongpoints, fortified caves, and other defensive positions. She fired thousands of rounds from her 6-inch and 5-inch batteries, at times engaging Japanese positions a few hundred yards from American positions.[4] She nevertheless remained attached to TG 58.1 during the campaign.[6] In the final stage of the fighting on Okinawa, Vicksburg was detached to escort minesweepers clearing Japanese minefields in the East China Sea. These operations concluded on 24 June, and Vicksburg thereafter went to the Philippines.[4] In mid-July, Vicksburg was assigned to TG 95.7, along with the old battleships Arkansas and Texas, two other cruisers, and several destroyers. The unit, part of TF 95, was used to patrol off Okinawa and make raids into the East China Sea to interdict Japanese shipping in the area, though Vicksburg saw no serious action during this period. In early August, Vicksburg joined the escort for the carriers Intrepid and Cabot, along with the cruiser Mobile and several destroyers, for a raid on Wake Island.[7]
Vicksburg later returned to the Philippines, where she lay when the Japanese surrendered on 15 August. She then joined Task Unit 30.3.7, which also included the destroyers
Rear Admiral Lloyd J. Wiltse. Vicksburg and other elements of TF 38 departed for Okinawa on 20 September, where the ship embarked some 2,200 passengers bound for the United States.[4]
Over the course of the ship's participation in World War II, Vicksburg earned two
battle stars.[4]
Post-War
Vicksburg and the other ships arrived in Hawaii on 4 October, remaining there for five days before departing for California. The ships arrived in
National Metal and Steel Corporation of Terminal Island, California, on 25 August 1964. There, she was broken up.[4]
Footnotes
Notes
Citations
References
- Evans, Mark L. (30 June 2015). "Vicksburg III (CL-86)". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Navy Department, Naval History and Heritage Command. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
- 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.
- Friedman, Norman (1984). U.S. Cruisers: An Illustrated Design History. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-0-87021-739-5.
- ISBN 978-1-59114-119-8.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to USS Vicksburg.
- Photo gallery of USS Vicksburg at NavSource Naval History