laststandonzombieisland

Some 85 years ago this month.

Late December 1940.

A great view of a cramped turret full of 8″/55 (20.3 cm) Mark 12 guns of the New Orleans-class heavy cruiser USS Tuscaloosa (CA-37), as she rests in Norfolk, hosting dignitaries. ADM William D. Leahy (fore, L) and his wife are seen standing under the guns with Capt. Lee P. Johnson (fore, R), before they collectively departed for Vichy France, on a diplomatic mission.

LIFE Archives

Admiral William D. Leahy, USN, and his wife on board USS Tuscaloosa (CA 37), inspecting the cruiser’s Marines, before they depart for France in late December 1940. Note the Springfield 1903s

The big T in December 1940 was amid her stint on FDR’s Neutrality Patrol in the Atlantic and Caribbean– having met up with the Dutch gunboat Van Kinsbergen to examine the latter’s 40mm Bofors mounts just four months prior.

Tusky’s December was to be a busy one. Per DANFS:

On 3 December 1940, at Miami, President Roosevelt embarked in Tuscaloosa for the third time for a cruise to inspect the base sites obtained from Great Britain in the recently negotiated “destroyers for bases” deal. In that transaction, the United States had traded 50 old flush-decked destroyers for 99-year leases on bases in the western hemisphere. Ports of call included Kingston, Jamaica; Santa Lucia, Antigua; and the Bahamas. Roosevelt fished and entertained British colonial officials-including the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, on board the cruiser.

While the President cruised in Tuscaloosa, American officials in Washington wrestled with the problem of extending aid to Britain. Having barely weathered the disastrous campaign in France in the spring and the Battle of Britain in the summer, the United Kingdom desperately needed war materiel. American production could meet England’s need, but American neutrality law limiting the purchase of arms by belligerents to “cash-and-carry” transactions was about to become a major obstacle, for British coffers were almost empty. While pondering England’s plight as he luxuriated in Tuscaloosa, the President hit upon the idea of the “lend-lease” program to aid the embattled British.

On 16 December, Roosevelt left the ship at Charleston, S.C., to head for Washington to implement his “lend-lease” idea, one more step in the United States’ progress towards full involvement in the war. Soon thereafter, Tuscaloosa sailed for Norfolk and, on 22 December, embarked Admiral William D. Leahy, the newly designated Ambassador to Vichy France, and his wife, for passage to Portugal. With the “stars and stripes” painted large on the roofs of Turrets II and III, and her largest colors flying, Tuscaloosa sailed for the European war zone, initially escorted by USS Upshur (DD-144) and Madison (DD-425).

Letting those big guns sing in the Torch (North Africa), Overlord (Utah Beach at Normandy) Dragoon (Southern France), Detachment (Iwo Jima), and Iceberg (Okinawa) landings, Tuscaloosa received seven battle stars for her WWII service. She fired 22,000 shells in the latter two operations alone.

Placed out of commission at Philadelphia on 13 February 1946, Tuscaloosa remained in reserve there until she was struck from the Navy list on 1 March 1959. Her hulk was sold on 25 June 1959 to the Boston Metals Co. of Baltimore for scrapping.