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USS Astoria undergoing training off Hawaii, circa 8 July 1942
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| Career |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | USS Astoria |
| Namesake: | Astoria, Oregon |
| Operator: |  USA United States Navy |
| Builder: | Puget Sound Naval Shipyard |
| Laid down: | 1 September 1930 |
| Launched: | 16 December 1933 |
| Christened: | 16 December 1933 |
| Commissioned: | 28 April 1934 |
| Nickname: | Nasty Asty |
| Fate: | Sunk, Battle of Savo Island 9 August 1942 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type: | New Orleans class heavy cruiser |
| Displacement: | 9,950 tons |
| Length: | 588 ft (179 m) |
| Beam: | 61 ft 9 in (18.82 m) |
| Draft: | 19 ft 5 in (5.92 m) |
| Speed: | 32.7 kn (37.6 mph; 60.6 km/h) |
| Complement: | 899 officers and enlisted |
| Armament: | 9 × 8 in (200 mm)/55 cal guns (3x3) 8 × 5 in (130 mm)/25 cal guns[1] 2 × 3-pounders (37 mm (1.5 in)) 8 × .50 in (12.7 mm) machine guns |
The second USS Astoria (CA-34) was a United States Navy New Orleans class heavy cruiser that participated in both the Battle of the Coral Sea and the Battle of Midway, but was then sunk in August 1942 at the Battle of Savo Island. Originally, Astoria was the lead ship of theAstoria-class as she was the first ship of that class to be laid down but received a later hull number higher than New Orleans because she was launched second. Early in 1943, after the Astoria had been sunk, the remaining ships of this class were refit and reclassified.
Immediately following the Guadalcanal Campaign the remaining ships of the class would go through major overhauls to lessen top-heaviness due to new electrical and radar systems and advanced anti-aircraft weaponry. In doing so the ships took on a new appearance, most notably in the bridge, becoming known as the New Orleans-class.
Battle of Midway[edit]
The heavy cruiser remained in Pearl Harbor only until the 30th. On that day, she returned to sea with the hastily repairedYorktown to prepare to meet yet another major thrust by the Japanese fleet – this one aimed at Midway. Air searches from that island spotted the enemy's Midway Occupation Force — made up of transports, minesweepers, and two seaplane carriers – early on 3 June, but the enemy carrier force eluded detection until early in the morning of the 4th. The heavy cruiser screened Yorktown as the carrier began launching strike aircraft at about 0840. While the planes droned off to make their contribution to the destruction of the Japanese carrier force, Astoria and her colleagues prepared for the inevitable Japanese reply.
The counterstroke, however, did not come until a few minutes before noon as Yorktown's victorious aviators began to return to their ship. 18 Aichi D3A1 "Val" dive bombers came in to attack the carrier. F4F-4 Wildcat fighters from Fighting Squadron 3 (VF-3) accounted for 10 of the intruders, but the remaining eight managed to penetrate the combat air patrol (CAP).Astoria teamed up with Portland and the screening destroyers to splash another two of the attackers. The remaining six, however, succeeded in attacking Yorktown, and three of those scored hits. One of the three hit the carrier's stack, causing fires in her uptakes that literally smoked Rear Admiral Fletcher and his staff out of flag plot. At about 1310, he shifted his flag to Astoria.
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Yorktown's damage control parties worked feverishly, and by 1340 she was again underway under her own power, albeit at only 18 to 20 kn (21 to 23 mph; 33 to 37 km/h). At about 1430, the second attack – composed of 10 Nakajima B5N2"Kate" torpedo bombers escorted by six Zero fighters – came in and eluded the weak CAP. Astoria and the other ships of the screen attempted to discourage attacks from four different directions by bringing every gun to bear and firing them into the sea to throw curtains of water into the path of the attackers. Nevertheless, four of the "Kates" made good their attack and released their torpedoes within 500 yd (460 m). Yorktown dodged two, but the other two scored hits which stopped the ship again. By 1500, the order to abandon ship went out. Astoria called away lifeboats to assist in the rescue of Yorktown's survivors. That night, the heavy cruiser retired east ward with the rest of the task force to await dawn, while a single destroyer, Hughes, stood by the stricken carrier.
The following day broke with Yorktown still afloat, and efforts began to salvage the battered warship. Though the Japanese had abandoned the Midway attack and had begun retiring toward Japan, submarine I-168 had been given orders to sinkYorktown. After a 24-hour search, the enemy submarine found her quarry on the 6th and attacked with a spread of four torpedoes. One torpedo missed completely, two passed under destroyer Hammann alongside the carrier and detonated inYorktown's hull, while the fourth broke Hammann's back. The destroyer sank in less than four minutes. The carrier remained afloat until early on the morning of the 7th. At about dawn, she finally rolled over and sank.
Astoria remained as flagship for TF 17, as it operated north of Midway, until shortly after midday on 8 June when TF 11 arrived on the scene, and Rear Admiral Fletcher transferred his flag to Saratoga, On 11 June, Admiral Nimitz – satisfied that the major Japanese thrust had been thwarted – ordered his carrier task forces back to Hawaii, and Astoria reentered Pearl Harbor with them on 13 June. During the early summer of 1942, she completed repairs and alterations at the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard and carried out training in the Hawaiian operating area.
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Portland at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 14 June 1942.
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| Career | |
|---|---|
| Ordered: | 13 February 1929 |
| Laid down: | 17 February 1930 |
| Launched: | 21 May 1932 |
| Commissioned: | 23 February 1933 |
| Decommissioned: | 12 July 1946 |
| Struck: | 1 March 1959 |
| Nickname: | "Sweet Pea" |
| Fate: | Sold for scrap, 6 October 1959 |
| General characteristics (as built) | |
| Class & type: | Portland-class Heavy Cruiser |
| Type: | Heavy Cruiser |
| Displacement: | 9,950 long tons (10,110 t) |
| Length: | 592 ft (180.4 m) (waterline); 610 ft 3 in (186.0 m) (overall) |
| Beam: | 64 ft 6 in (19.7 m) |
| Draft: | 21 ft 0 in (6.4 m) |
| Installed power: | 107,000 shp (80,000 kW) 8 × Yarrow boilers |
| Propulsion: | 4-shaft Parsons steam turbines |
| Speed: | 32.7 kn (60.6 km/h; 37.6 mph) |
| Range: | 10,000 nmi (19,000 km; 12,000 mi) @ 15 kn (28 km/h; 17 mph) |
| Capacity: | Fuel oil: 1,600 long tons (1,600 t) |
| Complement: | 876 officers and enlisted men |
| Armament: | 9 × 8 in (200 mm)/55 cal guns (3 triple turrets) 8 × 5 in (130 mm)/25 cal AA gun 8 × .50 in (12.7 mm) machine guns |
| Armor: | Turrets: 1.5 to 3 in (38 to 76 mm) |
| Aircraft carried: | 4 × floatplanes |
| Aviation facilities: | 2 × catapults |
USS Portland (CA–33), the lead ship of her class of heavy cruiser, was the first ship of the United States Navy named after the city of Portland, Maine. Launched in 1932, she saw a number of training and goodwill cruises in the interwar period. In World War II, she saw extensive service beginning at the 1942 Battle of Coral Sea, where she escorted the aircraft carrier Yorktown and picked up survivors from the sunken carrier Lexington. She screened for Yorktown again in the Battle of Midway, picking up her survivors as well. She then supported the carrierEnterprise during the initial phase of the Guadalcanal Campaign later that year, and was torpedoed during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal. The torpedo inflicted heavy damage which put her out of action for six months as she was repaired in Sydney, Australia and later San Diego, California.
Returning to action in mid-1943, she saw action in many of the major campaigns of the Pacific War, conducting shore bombardments in support of campaigns at the Aleutian Islands, Gilbert and Marshall Islands, Mariana Islands, and New Guinea. She was involved in the October 1944 Battle of Leyte Gulf, engaging Japanese ships in the decisive Battle of Surigao Strait. She then conducted shore bombardments at Lingayen Gulf and Corregidor Island, and in 1945 supported landings during the Battle of Okinawa until the end of the war.
Following World War II, Portland accepted the Japanese surrender in the Caroline Islands and then undertook several Operation Magic Carpet cruises to bring U.S. troops home. She was decommissioned in 1946 and scrapped by 1962. In her extensive service she accrued 16battle stars, making her one of the most decorated ships in the U.S. fleet.
Battle of Midway[edit]
Main article: Battle of Midway
After brief repairs at Tongatabu, Portland took on a new commander, Captain Laurence DuBose. She then steamed for Pearl Harbor escorting Yorktown, before heading to Midway Atoll to set a trap for Japanese forces attacking there. On 4 June, after fighters from carriers Yorktown and Enterprise had sunk three Japanese carriers, aircraft from Japanese carrier Hiryū responded with an attack on Yorktownthat afternoon. Portland was to her port, providing anti-aircraft defense along with cruisers Pensacola and Vincennes. A Japanese air attack came at 14:00 and another after 16:30, and Yorktown was struck several times with torpedoes. With increasing damage, the carrier was abandoned and its survivors picked up by five destroyers and then transferred to Portland. In all, 2,046 of Yorktown's crew transferred to the cruiser. She then steamed toward Pearl Harbor and met thesubmarine tender Fulton and transferred the Yorktown survivors aboard her on 6 June. During 7 June she searched for downed naval aviators and the next day joined the group of carrier Saratoga. They steamed for the Aleutian Islands to counter a Japanese force there but were recalled to Pearl Harbor two days later.
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USS Pensacola
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| Career (United States) | |
|---|---|
| Name: | USS Pensacola |
| Namesake: | Pensacola, Florida |
| Builder: | New York Navy Yard |
| Laid down: | 27 October 1925 |
| Launched: | 25 April 1927 |
| Commissioned: | 6 February 1928 |
| Decommissioned: | 26 August 1946 |
| Nickname: | "Grey Ghost" |
| Honors and awards: |   13 Battle stars |
| Fate: | Sunk as a target in 1948 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type: | Pensacola-class heavy cruiser |
| Displacement: | 9,100 long tons (9,200 t) |
| Length: | 585 ft 8 in (178.51 m) |
| Beam: | 65 ft 3 in (19.89 m) |
| Draft: | 15 ft 2 in (4.62 m) |
| Installed power: | 107,000 shp (80,000 kW) |
| Propulsion: | 4 × geared Parsons steam turbines 8 × White-Forster boilers 4 × shafts |
| Speed: | 32.7 kn (37.6 mph; 60.6 km/h)[1] |
| Range: | 10,000 nmi (12,000 mi; 19,000 km) at 15 kn (17 mph; 28 km/h) |
| Capacity: | 1,500 short tons (1,400 t) fuel oil |
| Complement: | 1,200 officers and enlisted[1] |
| Sensors and processing systems: | CXAM radar from 1940[2] |
| Armament: | 10 × 8 in (203 mm)/55 cal guns(2x3, 2x2) 4 × 5 in (127 mm)/25 cal anti-aircraft guns[3] 6 × 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes |
| Armor: | Belt: 3 in (76.2 mm) Deck: 1–2 in (25.4–50.8 mm) Gunhouses: 1.5 in (38.1 mm) |
| Aircraft carried: | 4 × floatplanes |
| Aviation facilities: | 2 × catapults |
USS Pensacola (CL/CA-24) of the United States Navy was the lead ship of her class of heavy cruiser. The third Navy ship to be named after the city of Pensacola, Florida, she was nicknamed the "Grey Ghost" byTokyo Rose. She received 13 battle stars for her service.
She was laid down by the New York Navy Yard on 27 October 1925, launched on 25 April 1927, sponsored by Mrs. Joseph L. Seligman, and commissioned on 6 February 1928, Captain Alfred G. Howe in command.
Service history[edit]
Inter-war period[edit]
Pensacola departed New York on 24 March 1930, and transited thePanama Canal to Callao, Peru, and Valparaíso, Chile, before returning to New York on 5 June. For the next four years she operated along the eastern seaboard and in the Caribbean Sea, several times transiting the Panama Canal for combined Fleet battle practice ranging from California to Hawaii.
Originally CL-24, effective 1 July 1931, Pensacola was redesignated CA-24 in accordance with the provisions of the London Naval Treaty of 1930.
Pensacola departed Norfolk on 15 January 1935 to join the Pacific Fleetarriving San Diego, her new home port, on 30 January. Fleet problems ranged to Hawaii, one cruise took her to Alaska, and combined fleet maneuvers returned her briefly to the Caribbean Sea before she sailed on 5 October 1939 to base at Pearl Harbor, arriving on the 12th.Pensacola was one of six ships to receive the new RCA CXAM radar in 1940.[2] Maneuvers frequently found the cruiser off Midway and French Frigate Shoals, and she made one voyage to Guam.
World War II[edit]
1941-1942[edit]
Pensacola departed Pearl Harbor on 29 November 1941 with the so-called "Pensacola Convoy", bound for Manila, in the Philippines. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the convoy was diverted to Australia, entering Brisbane harbor on 22 December. Pensacola returned to Pearl Harbor on 19 January 1942, and put to sea on 5 February to patrol the approaches to the Samoan Islands. On 17 February 1942, she rendezvoused off Samoa with Carrier Task Force 11 (TF 11), built around Lexington.
Near Bougainville Island, Pensacola's gunners helped repel two waves of Japanese bombers on 20 February. No ships were damaged. Anti-aircraft fire and Lexington Combat Air Patrol planes shot down 17 of the 18 attackers.
Pensacola continued to help guard Lexington on offensive patrol in the Coral Sea until Yorktown joined the task force on 6 March. The American ships steamed for the Gulf of Papua where—on 10 March—Lexington launched planes for a surprise strike over the Owen Stanley Mountains at Japanese shipping and installations at Salamaua and Lae. A complete surprise, the raid caused heavy damage. The task force then turned toward Nouméa, New Caledonia, to replenish. Pensacolapatrolled with Yorktown's task force until 8 April, then headed, via Samoa, for Pearl Harbor, arriving on 21 April. She carriedMarine Fighting Squadron 212 (VMF-212) to Efate in the New Hebrides Islands and returned to Pearl Harbor withEnterprise on 26 May.
Pensacola departed Pearl Harbor on 28 May with the Enterprise task force for a rendezvous on 2 June northeast of Midway with units of TF 17. Two days later, when the Japanese armada came within range of the American carriers, the battle of Midway commenced.
Admiral Spruance's torpedo planes and dive-bombers attacked the Japanese carriers. Akagi and Kaga went up in flames, and Sōryū was badly damaged. A fourth enemy carrier—Hiryū, still at large—launched strikes at Yorktown and the American flattops struck back, leaving the enemy carrier hit many times, in a mass of flames. Meanwhile, Yorktown—hit by three bombs—was fighting for her life. Pensacola raced from Enterprise′s screen to aid the stricken carrier. While trying to assist Yorktown, the ship was struck with a torpedo and hit in the galley. Yorktown was dead in the water when Pensacolaarrived, and the cruiser assisted in shooting down four enemy torpedo bombers during a second attack.
Despite all that could be done, Yorktown received two torpedo hits amidships and had to be abandoned. Pensacola rejoined the screen of Enterprise to pursue the retiring Japanese.
Pensacola returned to Pearl Harbor on 13 June and—with Enterprise—again put to sea on 22 June, carrying 1,157 marines of Marine Aircraft Group 22 (MAG 22) to Midway. She patrolled and trained in Hawaiian waters until 7 August. As Marines stormed the shores of Guadalcanal, the cruiser set course for the Solomons in the screen of Saratoga, Hornet and Wasp to support the leathernecks in that bitter campaign. In submarine-infested waters, torpedoes damaged Saratoga on 31 August and sank Wasp on 15 September.
Pensacola arrived at Nouméa, New Caledonia on 26 September, and departed with Hornet on 2 October to strike the enemy in the Santa Isabel–Guadalcanal area. On 24 October, Hornet′s task group joined Enterprise and the combined force steamed to intercept enemy warships approaching the Guadalcanal-Tulagi area.
On 26 October, search planes located a Japanese carrier and battleship formation, beginning the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands which was fought without contact being made between surface ships of the opposing forces. Air strikes inflicted severe bomb damage to Zuihō and Shōkaku, and sank Yura. Bomb hits damaged Kirishima and other enemy ships.
Pensacola helped fight off a coordinated dive bombing and torpedo plane raid which damaged Hornet so severely that she had to be abandoned. Within minutes of the attack on Hornet, 24 dive bombers dropped 23 bombs in a run on Enterprise. Despite damage, the famed "Fighting Lady" launched a large number of planes from Hornet besides her own.
Pensacola received 188 survivors from Hornet, whom she debarked at Nouméa on 30 October 1942. The task force had turned back a Japanese attempt to regain Guadalcanal, sunk Yura, and damaged a number of enemy capital ships. Japanese carriers lost 123 planes.
Pensacola departed Nouméa on 2 November to guard transports landing Marine reinforcements, and supplies, at Aola Bay, Guadalcanal. She helped guard Enterprise during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal on 12–13 November. Planes fromEnterprise assisted in the sinking of Hiei, one cruiser, three destroyers, and eleven auxiliaries, and the damaging of four cruisers and four destroyers.
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| Career (United States) | |
|---|---|
| Name: | USS Vincennes |
| Laid down: | 2 January 1934 |
| Launched: | 21 May 1936 |
| Commissioned: | 24 February 1937 |
| Struck: | 2 November 1942 |
| Fate: | Sunk, Battle of Savo Island 9 August 1942 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type: | New Orleans class heavy cruiser |
| Displacement: | 9,400 tons |
| Length: | 588 ft (179 m) |
| Beam: | 61 ft 10 in (18.85 m) |
| Draft: | 18 ft 8 in (5.69 m) |
| Speed: | 32.7 kn (37.6 mph; 60.6 km/h) |
| Complement: | 952 officers and enlisted |
| Armament: | 9 × 8 in (200 mm)/55 cal guns(3x3) 8 × 5 in (130 mm)/25 cal AA guns,[1] 2 × 3-pounder 37 mm (1.5 in) guns 8 × .50 in (12.7 mm) machine guns |
| Aircraft carried: | 4 × floatplanes |
USS Vincennes (CA-44) was a United States Navy New Orleans classheavy cruiser sunk at the Battle of Savo Island in 1942. She was the second ship to bear the name.
She was laid down on 2 January 1934 at Quincy, Massachusetts, by theBethlehem Shipbuilding Company's Fore River plant, launched on 21 May 1936, sponsored by Miss Harriet Virginia Kimmell (daughter ofJoseph Kimmell, mayor of Vincennes, Indiana), and commissioned on 24 February 1937, Captain Burton H. Green in command.
World War II[edit]
After having safely convoyed her charges to Cape Town, where she arrived on 9 December, Vincennes departed South African waters on the 16th, bound, via Trinidad, for Hampton Roads. Following her arrival at Norfolk on 4 January 1942, she shifted to New York four days later to be outfitted for war. Late in the month, she joined Hornet as the carrier conducted her shakedown training off the east coast of the United States.
Vincennes sailed from New York on 4 March, bound for the Pacific. She transited the Panama Canal on 11 March and, proceeded to San Francisco.
Doolittle Raid[edit]
The heavy cruiser, now a part of TF 18, built around Hornet, departed San Francisco on 2 April. The carrier bore a strange deck cargo, 16 Army B-25 Mitchell medium bombers slated to strike at Japan's heart. TF 18 rendezvoused with TF 16, built around Enterprise, and with the combined might of the two task forces, struck out westward across the Pacific, headed toward Japanese home waters.
On the morning of 18 April, when the American warships were still some 150 mi (240 km) from the planned launch point, an unexpected hitch developed. Japanese trawlers sighted and reported the task force. Vice Admiral William Halsey decided to fly off the bombers immediately. Accordingly, all 16 of the heavily loaded Mitchells, laden with bombs and extra fuel, rose from Hornet's spray-slicked flight deck and climbed unsteadily into the leaden gray skies. Although the raid inflicted only minimal materiel damage upon the Japanese homeland, it nevertheless packed a powerful morale building "punch". When queried as to the base from whence the bombers had come, President Roosevelt said "from Shangri-La".
The combined Enterprise and Hornet task force retired eastward and made Pearl Harbor on 25 April. Departing again five days later, the ships, still screened by Vincennes, bent on speed toward the Coral Sea. However, they were too late to take part in the Battle of the Coral Sea.
Battle of Midway[edit]
Vincennes' task force returned to Pearl Harbor on 26 May but got underway again on the 29th, bound for waters off Midway Island, which, according to American intelligence reports, a Japanese invasion force was approaching. By 4 June, the heavy cruiser had joined TF16 and was steaming north of Midway.
After American air attacks had crippled three of the four Japanese carriers the Vincennes, together with the cruiser Pensacola and destroyers Benham and Balch was sent over to TF17 to reinforce the carrier Yorktown after it had suffered damage in a dive bombing attack.
At 1640, a group of Nakajima B5N "Kate" torpedo bombers from Hiryū approached from the north. TF 17's radar soon picked them up 15 mi (24 km) out, and Yorktown launched planes to intercept as her screen deployed to bring an optimum concentration of anti-aircraft fire to bear upon the approaching enemy. Three minutes after the first plane was spotted, F4F Wildcats from the carrier hit a "Kate". The Japanese torpedo plane spiraled from the sky trailing a long streamer of smoke before crashing into the sea.
Vincennes opened fire at 1644 with her 5 in (130 mm)/25 cal, 20 mm, and 1.1 in (28 mm) anti-aircraft batteries. Increasing her speed to 25 kn (29 mph; 46 km/h) and slowly turning to starboard, Vincennes kept her port guns trained on the enemy. While combing torpedo tracks, Vincennes hit a "Kate" and it went into the sea 150 yd (140 m) off her port bow.
The sharp, bitter action ended as quickly as it had begun. The Japanese had been driven off, but at a high cost for the Americans. Yorktown, mortally hit and listing to port, slowed to a halt. Vincennes followed Astoria around the carrier, screening from further air attacks. However, on 6 June, I-168 slipped through a screen of six destroyers and torpedoedYorktown and Hammann, sinking the latter. The carrier went down early on the 7th.
Returning to Pearl Harbor, Vincennes entered the navy yard for repairs and alterations which lasted until early July. She then conducted tactical exercises off the island of Hawaii with other ships of TF 11 before departing Hawaiian waters on 14 July to rendezvous with TFs 16, 18, and 62.
Online Library of Selected Images:
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Lieutenant Joichi Tomonaga, Imperial Japanese Navy, (___-1942)
Joichi Tomonaga was air unit commander of the carrier Hiryu during the Battle of Midway. On 4 June 1942, he led the morning attack on the U.S. base at Midway, and the afternoon torpedo attack on USS Yorktown (CV-5). He was killed in action during the latter attack, which succeeded in hitting the U.S. carrier with two torpedoes, causing her abandonment.
This page features our only picture of Lt. Joichi Tomonaga, and provides a related image and links to others.
For views of the two Battle of Midway attacks led by Lt. Tomonaga, see::
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