Some 59 years ago this month: Benson E.L. Timmons III, U.S. Ambassador to Haiti, arrives aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Boxer (LPH-4)in September 1964. Note the beautiful early UH-1E in bright full-color livery.
From the William C. Reed Collection (COLL/5634) at the Archives Branch, Marine Corps History Division
The Marine Corps adopted the UH-1E— essentially the same as the Army’s UH-1B but with a rotor stop to allow shipboard stowage and a rescue hoist installed– in March 1962 with the first deliveries arriving in February 1964. That means Ambassador Timmons’ bird was one of the first USMC Hueys in service, likely of VMO-1, the inagural East Coast UH-1E squadron.
As for Boxer, the former Essex-class fleet carrier (CV-21) came late to World War II, commissioned on 16 April 1945. She did, however, see extensive service in Korea, earning eight (of a possible 10) battle stars for the conflict. Converting to an ASW carrier in 1955 (with the same hull number but with an “S” added) she changed her entire game in 1959 by becoming an LPH (“Landing Platform Helicopter”).
She would maintain the designation in the “Gator Navy” for a decade including sending Marines ashore via vertical envelopment in Operation Powerpack in the Dominican Republic in 1965 and moving 200 helicopters and a brigade’s worth of troopers of the 1st Cavalry to Vietnam.
Operation Power Pack, Dominican Republic, February 1965. USS Boxer (LPH-4) getting it done.
Decommissioned in 1969 as one of the last “straight deck” Essex class carriers in service, she was quickly sold for scrap.
Today, a new Gator with the same magic “4” on her island has been in service since 1995.
USS Boxer (LPH-4) of 1959 compared to today’s USS Boxer (LHD-4)
Roughly the same size and with the same sort of deck as the old LPH-4, the newer USS Boxer (LHD 4) also runs Hueys to this day.
STRAIT OF HORMUZ (July 18, 2019) A UH-1Y Venom helicopter assigned to Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron (VMM) 163 (Reinforced), 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), takes off from the flight deck of the amphibious assault ship USS Boxer (LHD 4) during a strait transit. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Dalton Swanbeck/Released)
In a continuation of the footage coming out of the recent 27-day expedition by E/V Nautilus over the seabed of the Midway battlefield, the lost Japanese aircraft carrier Kaga was visited and extensively filmed.
As described in Combined Fleets, her death spiral took place over nine hours on 4 June 1942:
1022 (0722 JST) As fighters prepare to launch, approximately 30 enemy dive-bombers overhead reported by HIRYU and also sighted by lookouts about to attack. KAGA takes evasive action to starboard, avoiding first three bombs but is struck by a minimum of one 1,000-pound (450-kg) and three 500-pound (230-kg) bombs from USS ENTERPRISE (CV-6)’s Douglas SBD “Dauntless” VS-6 and VB-6 led by LtCdr (later Rear Admiral) Wade McClusky (USNA ’26) inducing explosions among armed and fueled torpedo planes on the hangar decks, aggravated by unstored ordnance, starting a raging aviation gasoline fire. One of the bombs destroyed the bridge, killing most there including Captain Okada, Executive Officer Capt. Kawaguchi Masao (47), Navigator Cdr. Kodota Kazuharu, Gunnery Officer LtCdr. Miyano Tosaburo (52). As a result, KAGA is left with only surviving damage control officers, inexperienced personnel, and aviators to fight the fires. The fires are soon out of control. Switched to emergency steering. (At the same time, AKAGI and SORYU also set afire by bombing.)
1130: Comcardiv 2 (Rear Admiral Yamaguchi Tamon on HIRYU) orders ComCrudiv 8 (Rear Admiral Abe Hiroaki) to assign one destroyer each to the three damaged carriers, and have the damaged carriers retire toward Yamamoto’s Main Body. The order is repeated at 1147. KAGA under supervision of the First Damage Control Officer attempts to comply, still making about 5-8 knots.
1300 (1000 JST) About this time KAGA’s engine gang is either overcome, or ordered to stop the ship (Only a third of them would survive; 213 of them perished.) The carrier goes dead in the water. HAGIKAZE moves up to assist.
1325: The Imperial Portrait is transferred via the forecastle to HAGIKAZE. Elsewhere, the senior surviving officer Air Officer Cdr. Amagai Takahisa (51) directs all non-essential personnel, particularly aviators, to abandon ship and jumps into the sea with them.
1410: (1110 JST) KAGA is attacked by LtCdr (later Rear Admiral, retired) William H. Brockman’s (USNA ’27) submarine USS NAUTILUS (SS-168). One torpedo hits the starboard quarter, but fails to explode. Counter-attack by depth charge is made, but results unknown.
1640 The situation judged hopeless, all remaining personnel are ordered (apparently by the First Damage Control Officer) to abandon ship. They are removed or subsequently rescued from the sea by destroyers HAGIKAZE and MAIKAZE.
1715: HAGIKAZE reports to Nagumo that all remaining personnel on KAGA having earlier been ordered to abandon ship, have now been taken aboard the two destroyers.
1750 Nagumo reports to Yamamoto: “KAGA is inoperational in (grid) position HE E A55. All survivors have been transferred to destroyers.”
1800 Comdesdiv 4 on ARASHI orders HAGIKAZE to “keep a watch on KAGA until further notice.” He also asks KAGA and SORYU’s escorts if either carrier was starting to sink.
1830: ComDesdiv 4, having received false report of approaching enemy forces, orders NOWAKI, HAGIKAZE, HAMAKAZE, and ISOKAZE to continue to screen their assigned damaged carriers, but if the enemy approaches, to engage them.
1856: Sunset. Shortly after this time, KAGA and SORYU are apparently ordered scuttled. A final caretaker crew is removed from KAGA by a written order.
Sunk: 1925 (1625 JST) destroyer HAGIKAZE fires two torpedoes into her starboard side amidships aft. The KAGA begins to settle by the stern, yet remains on an even keel until she slides from sight in approximate position 30-23.3’N, 179-17.2′ W. She suffers a loss of 814 officers, petty officers, and men.
As covered in past posts, the Ticonderoga class guided-missile cruisers are not long for us, with Cold Warriors USS Lake Champlain (CG-57) and USS Mobile Bay (CG-53) already decommissioned in the past several weeks.
Add to that the USS Bunker Hill (CG-52), wrapping 37 years of naval service during a decommissioning ceremony at Naval Base San Diego on 22 September.
SAN DIEGO (Sept. 22, 2023) – The crew of the Ticonderoga class guided-missile cruiser USS Bunker Hill (CG 52) stands at attention during the ship’s decommissioning ceremony. Bunker Hill was decommissioned after more than 37 years of distinguished service. Commissioned Sept. 20, 1986, Bunker Hill served in the U.S. Pacific Fleet supported Operation Desert Shield, and Operation Desert Storm, and participated in the establishment of Operation Southern Watch. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Claire M. DuBois)
The third warship to carry the name of the famed Revolutionary War battle, important for naval history was the first built with a VLS system and had a very active career.
As noted by the Navy:
Bunker Hill operated in the North Arabian Sea and Gulf of Oman, supporting 10 Earnest Will convoys in 1987. The ship arrived in its new homeport of Naval Base Yokosuka, Japan the following year. At the end of January 1991, the ship launched its first Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles (TLAMs), a total of 28, against targets in Iraq from its station in the North Arabian Gulf, in support of Operation Desert Storm. It also supported Operations Desert Shield. In 2008, it was one of the Coalition ships from the British-led Combined Task Force (CTF) 150 maintaining a presence off the east coast of Africa in response to the recent events in Somalia. The following year it was the first guided-missile cruiser to receive a complete set of upgrades as part of the Navy’s Cruiser Modernization program including a new Aegis Weapons System, the Cooperative Engagement Capability (CEC), and SPQ-9B Radar. The guided missile cruiser made full speed from off the coast of Panama to reach Haiti, joining U.S. military efforts on the Caribbean island devastated by a massive earthquake in 2010.
A key moment in my life concerning Bunker Hill, her plankowner skipper, Captain F. Richard Whalen, to me was just “Coach Whalen” as I played on the same soccer team as his son in 6th grade. He hosted us on an unofficial tour of the ship and we attended her departure. The life of a 1980s Pascagoula kid, I guess.
With Bunker Hill gone, and sisters USS Vicksburg (CG-69) and USS San Jacinto (CG-56) slated to join her in mothballs before the end of the year, just 12 of the 27 members of the class will be active going into next year. The Navy plans to put the final Ticos in mothballs by the end of FY 27.
Adios, San Juan
USS San Juan (SSN 751), a late model 688i and the third warship to carry the name, was commissioned on 6 August 1988. Last week, she shifted homeports cross-country from Groton to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and will begin inactivation, decommissioning, and recycling soon, capping a 35-year career.
The Los Angeles-class attack submarine USS San Juan (SSN 751), transits the Puget Sound, on Sept. 20, 2023. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Commu
Taking her final ride to Bremerton was a group of sailors from the French Navy and Royal Canadian Navy on exchange.
Sailors from the French Navy and Royal Canadian Navy completed a joint exercise with the U.S. Navy’s Los Angeles-class attack submarine, USS San Juan (SSN 751), on Sept. 20, 2023.
Importantly, in 1993 San Juan conducted the first through-ice surfacing for a 688i-class submarine in the Arctic, showing off a key ability of the type.
The once-mighty 62-boat Los Angeles class is currently down to just 26 hulls, counting San Juan, with only 15 of the class slated to still be operational by FY27.
San Juan follows in the footsteps of the more than 140 other U.S. nuclear-powered submarines sent to spend their last days at the nation’s largest public shipyard, her reactor compartment stored, her hull cut up and sold for scrap, with possibly her sail or diving planes retained ashore as a monument.
Herman Wouk’s Pultizer-prize-winning novel and subsequent two-act play, The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial, is one of the best of either ever set on a U.S. Navy destroyer. If it had a remarkably true ring to it, keep in mind that Wouk was a young officer on two old four-piper destroyer minesweepers– USS Zane and USS Southard— during WWII.
The 1954 film adaptation by noir director Edward Dmytryk– with Bogie as the haunted LCDR Queeg, Van Johnson as the upstart LT Maryk, and a young Jose Ferrer as Maryk’s defense counsel, LT Greenwald– is just classic.
Those damned Baoding balls…
Now, it seems like Showtime is trying to capture some of that old magic by tapping William Friedkin to direct a new version of the story, with Kiefer Sutherland filling Bogie’s shoes.
I have to admit, it looks decent. Hopefully, it won’t be too “modernized” to the detriment of the story.
E/V Nautilus, in a 27-day expedition funded by NOAA Ocean Exploration via the Ocean Exploration Cooperative Institute, in conjunction with a whole alphabet soup of other agencies and institutes (U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command, International Midway Memorial Foundation, Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, Office of Hawaiian Affairs, the State of Hawaiʻi, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, University of Maryland, University of Rhode Island, University of Hawaiʻi, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Air/Sea Heritage Foundation, and Japanese archaeological colleagues from Teikyo University, Tokai University, and Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology) has been surveying the deep sea bed related to the Battle of Midway.
With that, they have released an extensive 27-minute survey of the lost carrier USS Yorktown (CV 5), conducted on 9 September.
Via EV Nautilus:
Ocean Exploration Trust’s survey of USS Yorktown during our Ala ʻAumoana Kai Uli expedition was the first time the world could witness this Battle of Midway wreck in real-time. The site was discovered 25 years ago, located during a joint U.S. Navy and National Geographic Society expedition led by Dr. Robert Ballard, president and founder of Ocean Exploration Trust. All dives in the Battle of Midway battlefield were launched and closed with protocol ceremonies to honor this place and all who lost their lives in ways that reflected their significance to Kānaka ʻOiwi (Native Hawaiian), Japanese, and U.S. military families and communities.
This historic, noninvasive, visual survey dive was conducted during a 27-day NOAA-funded mission to explore never-before-seen deep-water habitats to collect baseline data needed to support management in the most remote and northwestern section of Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument (PMNM). PMNM is a UNESCO World Heritage site distinguished for both its cultural and natural significance, the only site with this special distinction in the U.S. It is currently being considered for national marine sanctuary designation to safeguard further its diverse natural, cultural, and maritime heritage resources for generations to come.
The day after they visited Yorktown, the expedition made the first visual survey of the lost IJN Akagi, the Queen of Japanese flattops, on 10 September.
Via EV Nautilus:
Ocean Exploration Trust’s visual survey of the Japanese aircraft carrier Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) Akagi 赤城 is the first time anyone has laid eyes on the vessel since sinking during June 1942’s Battle of Midway. Akagi was initially located during a mapping survey conducted by Vulcan, Inc. in 2019 that involved U.S. Navy participation. On September 10, 2023, E/V Nautilus team spent 14 hours surveying Akagi, examining battle and seafloor collision damage in the ship’s structure. The dive was launched and closed with protocol ceremonies to honor this place and all who lost their lives in ways that reflected their significance to Kānaka ʻOiwi (Native Hawaiian), Japanese, and U.S. military families and communities.
And in more oddball installments from the world of the U.S. Navy’s troubled Littoral Combat Ship fiasco, I bring you a trio of recent bullet points.
Bye Bye, Milwaukee
The fifth ship to carry the name, the Freedom-variant (mono-hull Marinette Marine-built) littoral combat ship USS Milwaukee (LCS 5), was decommissioned at Naval Station Mayport on Sept. 8, the third of the class retired. She had been commissioned on 21 November 2015, leaving her entire career to span just 7 years, 9 months, and 18 days. Much of that was spent in repair and, when she did get operational, it was always on short 4th Fleet orders close to home– the ship never made it to her previously planned homeport of San Diego.
Milwaukee and its Sailors contributed a tremendous amount of work and time to ensure success of the LCS program during the ship’s time in naval service. Milwaukee completed two successful deployments in April 2022 and June 2023. The ship deployed to U.S. Fourth Fleet and integrated with the embarked US Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment (LEDET), other US warships, Department of Defense, Department of Justice, Department of Homeland Security, and SOUTHCOM/JIATF-S. During their second deployment, Milwaukee and her embarked LEDETs, seized an estimated $30 million in suspected cocaine, and three detainees during interdictions as sea, preventing 954kgs of cocaine from entering the United States. She also transported six detainees and case packages on behalf of USCGC BEAR in support of the counter-narcotic/interdiction mission. While deployed, Milwaukee provided maritime security presence enabling the free flow of commerce in key corridors of trade.
On the morning of Nov. 23, 2015, the USS Milwaukee set out across the frigid waters of the Great Lakes for its maiden voyage. The cost overruns had made headlines, but with the fifth ship in the water, Navy officials were hoping the vessel’s performance would lessen the growing doubts about the project.
The Navy planned to sail the Milwaukee from the shipyard on the shores of Lake Michigan in Marinette, Wisconsin, to its new home port of San Diego. From there, it would eventually join its sister ship, the USS Fort Worth, in helping to counter the Chinese navy’s expanding presence in the Western Pacific.
In a press tour days before the launch, Cmdr. Kendall Bridgewater evinced confidence, proclaiming that the enemy “would be hard-pressed to find a vessel that could come up against us.”
But the ship wouldn’t need a fight to suffer its first defeat. Its worst enemy would be its own engine.
On Dec. 11, about three weeks into the two-month journey, a software failure severely damaged the Milwaukee’s combining gear — a complex mechanism that connects the ship’s diesel engines and its gas turbines to the propulsion shafts, producing the power necessary for it to reach top speeds.
A Navy salvage ship had to tow it some 40 miles for repairs at a base near Norfolk, Virginia. The ship hadn’t made it halfway down the East Coast — let alone to the South China Sea — before breaking down. If the Milwaukee were a brand-new car, this would be the equivalent of stalling on its way out of the dealership.
Some former officers look back on the breakdown and those that followed as a clear violation of a cardinal principle in Navy shipbuilding: to “buy a few and test a lot.” But with the LCS, the Navy was doing the opposite. Commanders were learning about the flaws of the ships as they were being deployed.
“This is a totally foreseeable outcome,” said Jay Bynum, a former rear admiral who served as an assistant to the vice chief of naval operations as the ships were entering the fleet. “Just think about it, Toyota checks out all of this before the car hits the showroom floor. What if the engineering guys there said, ‘Well, we think this is how the engine will work, but let’s just start selling them.’
But, as one Freedom-variant littoral combat ship leaves after just a third of her expected life span was completed– none of it in “real world” overseas taskings– another new one appeared as if by magic.
Welcome Marinette
The USS Marinette (LCS 25) commissioned Saturday, Sept. 16, in Menominee, Michigan, the “Lucky” 13th Freedom-variant LCS.
Menominee, Michigan (Sept. 15, 2023) – The U.S. Navy’s newest littoral combat ship, USS Marinette (LCS 25), is pierside on the Menominee River prior to its commissioning in Menominee, Michigan on Sept. 16. USS Marinette is the first U.S. Navy warship to honor Marinette, Wisconsin. (Courtesy photo by Shawn Katzbeck)
She is the first naval warship to bear the name of Marinette, Michigan, and the third naval vessel. Marinette (YTB-791) and Marinette County (LST 953) were previously named for the community. Marinette received its name on Sept. 22, 2016. The name recognizes the contributions of her namesake town and the great shipbuilders who bring these ships to life, ensuring they are ready to accomplish mission tasking in support our nation’s maritime strategy.
Marinette Marine has three final Freedom-class LCS fitting out, to be delivered at some future date: PCUs USS Nantucket (LCS-27), Beloit (LCS-29), and Cleveland (LCS-31).
MK 70?
Meanwhile, in San Diego, USS Savannah (LCS-28) (a recently-commissioned Austal USA-built trimaran-hulled Independence-variant littoral combat ship) was spotted last week with a Lockheed Martin MK 70 Typhoon containerized vertical launching system on her large deck.
Capable of firing either a Standard Missile 6 or a Tomahawk Land Attack Missile, that could be a very interesting development, especially if the systems are mounted in numbers.
When asked by USNI News, the Navy acknowledged the veracity of the photographs but did not provide additional details.
“USS Savannah (LCS-28) will participate in a live-fire demonstration during the fourth quarter of 2023 that will include a containerized launching system. More information will be provided after the evolution is complete,” Naval Surface Forces spokesperson CDR Arlo Abrahamson said in a statement.
It increasingly seems that the Indy class LCS has some merit while the Freedoms may, well, not.
The name “Navajo,” referencing the Diné people, has been used by the U.S. Navy six times, five of these for hard-working and unsung tugs who, going beyond the title, typically served as rescue and salvage ships.
The first, the 800-ton USS Navajo (AT-52), was in commissioned service from 1908 to 1937 and in non-commissioned service as IX-56 (ex-Navajo) from 1942 to 1946. She spent her entire career in the Hawaiian Islands and was key in the salvage of Battleship Row, helping to return the sunken battleships USS California and West Virginia to service.
Salvage of USS F-4 (SS-23), April-August 1915. Description: All salvage pontoons on the surface, off Honolulu, Hawaii, circa 29 August 1915, with preparations underway to tow the sunken submarine into Honolulu Harbor. The salvage equipment was devised by Naval Constructor Julius A. Furer. Halftone photograph, copied from Transactions of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers, Volume 24, 1916, Figure 13. The tug in the center is probably USS Navajo (AT-52). NH 43499
The second USS Navajo (AT-64), was the lead ship of a new 1,300-ton class of seagoing tugs commissioned in 1940.
USS Navajo (AT-64), starboard bow view.
She was on duty on December 7, 1941, at Pearl Harbor and was one of the first on rescue duty after the attack.
USS Arizona (BB-39) sunk at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, after her fires were out, on 9 December 1941. She was destroyed during the Japanese raid of 7 December 1941. USS Navajo (AT-64) and USS Tern (AM-31) are alongside, spraying water to cool her burned-out forward superstructure and midship area. In the left center distance are the masts of USS West Virginia (BB-48) and USS Tennessee (BB-43). NH 83064
Navajo later went forward with the fleet to the New Hebrides and, in the words of DANFS, “supported operations there with repair and salvage work at Espíritu Santo in the New Hebrides, Nouméa at New Caledonia, Tongatabu, Tonga, and Suva in the Fiji Islands, as well as under battle conditions at Tulagi, Guadalcanal, and Rennell in the Solomons.”
She was influential in recovering the battle-damaged USS Saratoga (CV-3) after the precious carrier was hit by a torpedo from the Japanese submarine I-26 in September 1942, then helped rescue the bulk of the crew of the lost cruiser USS Chicago (CA-29) the following January in the aftermath of the Battle of Rennell Island.
Caricature drawing by AOM2c M.O. Martindale (on board USS Saratoga 11 September 1942) of tug Navajo pulling Saratoga (CV-3) with the caption, “rest easy Saratoga, we have you in tow!” Courtesy of Fleet Admiral Nimitz. NH 58336
Sadly, the heroic tug was lost at sea 80 years ago this week while towing the loaded 6,600-ton gasoline barge YOG-42 from Samoa to Espíritu Santo, when the barge suddenly exploded. It was estimated the whole tragedy was over within two minutes before both vessels sank, taking 17 of Navajo’s crew to the bottom. The culprit: a single torpedo from the Japanese submarine I-39.
The third USS Navajo (ATA-211) was an 800-ton Sotoyomo-class rescue tug in commission from 1945 to 1962. A hearty vessel, she worked in the Gulf oil field industry for decades afterward and is still around, currently operating from Flordia as the Honduran-flagged tug Hyperion.
USS Navajo (ATA-211), seen in the late 1940s in Key West. NH 83829
The fourth, USNS Navajo (T-ATF-169), was a Powhatan-class fleet ocean tug in service with Military Sealift Command from 1980 to 2016. She is still in Navy custody, mothballed in Pearl Harbor.
USNS Navajo (T-ATF-169) tows the decommissioned USS Belleau Wood (LHA-3) from the pier side in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, 10 July 2006, out to open waters for an upcoming sink exercise (SINKEX) as part of exercise Rim of the Pacific 2006. US Navy photo # 060710-N-9288T-048 by MC2 Brandon A. Teeples.
On the morning of 14 September 1814, it became obvious to Admiral of the Blue, Sir Alexander Inglis Cochrane, Commander-in-Chief, North American Station, that the failed 25-hour bombardment of Fort McHenry would force the British to abandon their assault on the port city of Baltimore.
A view of the bombardment of Fort McHenry, during the War of 1812, near Baltimore, by the British fleet, taken from the observatory under the command of Admirals Cochrane & Cockburn on the morning of the 13th of Sepr. 1814 which lasted 25 hours, & thrown from 1,500 to 1,800 shells in the night attempted to land by forcing a passage up the ferry branch but were repulsed with great loss. Engraving by John Bower. LOC print. LC-DIG-ppmsca-35544
That morning, aboard an American truce sloop near the 80-gun ship of the line HMS Tonnant was lawyer, author, and amateur poet Francis Scott Key, aged 35, whose subsequent poem “Defence of Fort M’Henry” was the next day penned at the Indian Queen Tavern in Baltimore.
In honor of those rockets and mortars launched from the fireships HMS Erebus and HMS Meteor, along with four other British bomb vessels, against McHenry, here is an October 1981 montage of seven views showing parts of the test launching of a Trident I C-4 missile from the submerged Benjamin Franklin-class Fleet Ballistic Missile submarine USS Francis Scott Key (SSBN-657) and the Trident’s inert re-entry bodies as they plunge into the earth’s atmosphere and then into the Atlantic Ocean.
Via the National Museum of the U.S. Navy, 330-CFD-DN-SC-82-00005
Warship Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2023: Mud Hen Regulus Pitcher
Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. 80-G-433460
Above we see, through the swirling smoke, the Baltimore-class heavy cruiser USS Toledo (CA 133) as she lets rip an 8-inch gun salvo into enemy installations at Wonsan in September 1951 during the Korean War. Note her Star-Spangled Banner and hull number identifiers on her turret tops, needed in the age of onboard helicopter detachments and fast-moving jets operating in a combined United Nations fleet.
Laid down 80 years ago today, our cruiser was too late to get in licks in World War II but as you can see, earned her keep in later conflicts.
The Baltimores
When the early shitstorm of 1939 World War II broke out, the U.S. Navy, realized that in the likely coming involvement with Germany in said war– and that country’s huge new 18,000-ton, 8x8inch gunned, 4.1-inches of armor Hipper-class super cruisers– it was outclassed in the big assed heavy cruiser department. When you add to the fire the fact that the Japanese had left all of the Washington and London Naval treaties behind and were building giant Mogami-class vessels (15,000 tons, 3.9 inches of armor), the writing was on the wall.
That’s where the Baltimore class came in.
These 24 envisioned ships of the class looked like an Iowa-class battleship in miniature with three triple turrets, twin stacks, a high central bridge, and two masts– and they were (almost) as powerful. Sheathed in a hefty 6 inches of armor belt (and 3 inches of deck armor), they could take a beating if they had to. They were fast, capable of over 30 knots, which meant they could keep pace with the fast new battlewagons they looked so much like, as well as the new fleet carriers that were on the drawing board.
Baltimore class ONI2 listing
While they were more heavily armored than Hipper and Mogami, they also had an extra 8-inch tube, mounting nine new model 8-inch/55 caliber guns, whereas the German and Japanese only had 155mm guns (though the Mogamis later picked up 10×8-inchers). A larger suite of AAA guns that included a dozen 5-inch/38 caliber guns in twin mounts and 70+ 40mm and 20mm guns rounded this out.
In short, these ships were deadly to incoming aircraft, could close to the shore as long as there were at least 27 feet of seawater for them to float in and hammer coastal beaches and emplacements for amphibious landings, then take out any enemy surface combatant short of a modern battleship in a one-on-one fight. They were tough nuts to crack, and of the 14 hulls that took to the sea, none were lost in combat.
Meet Toledo
Our subject was the first U.S. Navy ship named for “The Glass City” in Ohio, home off and on since 1896 to the famous Toledo Mud Hens.
Laid down on 13 September 1943 by the New York Shipbuilding Corp. at Camden, New Jersey, she was launched two days shy of VE-Day on 6 May 1945.
Bow view of the USS Toledo leaving drydock 6 May 1945. Temple University Libraries, Special Collections Research Center
Her “hometown” was so impressed by the warship that the Navy League of Toledo was able to raise $12,500 for a beautiful 204-piece silver service worthy of a battleship and commissioned through the Gorham Silver Company of Rhode Island and engraved with local landmarks that were presented to the ship.
With WWII over and no rush to get Toledo into the fight anymore, she wasn’t commissioned at the nearby Philadelphia Naval Shipyard across the river until 27 October 1946. Her first of 17 skippers– all Annapolis grads– was Capt. August Jackson Detzer, Jr. (USNA ’21), who started his career as a midshipman during the Great War on the old battleship USS Maine (BB-10).
1946 Jane’s for the Baltimore class heavy cruisers, including the new Toledo
While many members of her class had to fight for their lives shortly after being commissioned, Toledo was much luckier, and she spent 1947 enjoying the life of a peacetime heavy cruiser in the world’s largest Navy. She ranged across the West Indies on a shakedown cruise, then was sent to the Far East to assist in Japan/Korea Occupation duties via the Mediterranean and Suez Canal, remaining in the West Pac until November of that year when she made sunny California, calling at her homeport of Long Beach for the first time, just in time for Thanksgiving. A nice first year afloat!
Toledo made two more peacetime deployments to the West Pac in 1948-49, notably calling on newly independent India and Pakistan on a goodwill cruise and standing by during the evacuation of Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalist KMT forces from mainland China to Taiwan.
It was during this period that Toledo saw her first of several major overhauls, done at Puget Sound NSY from 5 October 1948 to 18 February 1949, which included landing her 20mm Oerlikons and seaplane catapults/handling gear.
Moving forward, she would carry helicopters as needed.
USS Helena (CA-75) and sister USS Toledo (CA-133) at Pier 15, Balboa, Canal Zone, July 1, 1949. National Archives Identifier 202801697
USS Toledo (CA-133) at anchor, circa 1949. Note her glad rags flying and the small WWII-style hull numbers.
War!
At rest in Long Beach on 25 June 1950, having just returned home from her third West Pac cruise only 13 days prior, news came that the North Korean military rushed across the 38th parallel, sparking an international response.
Recalling her crew and fixing what deficiencies they could, Toledo arrived off the Korean coast on 25 July, running her first of many, many naval gunfire bombardment missions just two days later, hitting Nork positions near Yongdok on 27 July.
USS Toledo’s forward 8-inch guns. They would get a lot of work off Korea. Kodachrome by Charles L Patterson, who served on her Marine Det in the 1950s
Perhaps one of the most beautiful images of a cruiser ever taken. USS Toledo (CA-133) Off the east coast of Korea while operating with Task Force 77. Photographed from a USS Essex (CV-9) aircraft. The original photo is dated 6 September 1951. NH 96901
USS Toledo (CA 133) blasts shore installations as her main battery sends a salvo into Communist transportation facilities in Korea. Operating with United Nations Forces, this was the first target upon reporting for duty, as a detached element of Task Force 77. Note the twin 5″/38 DP mounts in action at near max elevation, a depressed 8″/55 mount seen belching fire to the top right, and lifejacket/helmeted gun crews in the 40mm quad Bofors tub. 330-PS-2115 (USN 432090)
With Marine ANGLICO teams in short supply in this early stage of the war– busy operating in support of ROK and U.S. Army forces– the ship landed shore parties to provide direct naval gunfire support and correction of shot the old-fashioned way.
USS Toledo (CA-133) Shore fire control party from Toledo in an observation post overlooking the Han River, Korea, circa late April, or May 1951. They are ready to spot and correct the cruiser’s gunfire should the enemy appear. 80-G-432346
A shore fire control party from Toledo moves up past Korean tombs to man an observation post overlooking the Han River, circa late April, or May 1951. 80-G-432355
The smoke ring is formed by the escape gases and smoke as USS Toledo (CA 133) fires a 5” salvo at enemy installations in Wonsan, Korea. Photograph received September 23, 1951. 80-G-433428
USS Toledo (CA-133) Underway in Korean waters, with a battleship and a destroyer in the right distance. The original photo is dated 2 November 1952. NH 96902
USS Toledo (CA-133) The cruiser’s shells hit enemy installations in the Wonsan Harbor area, Korea, during a bombardment in early 1953. 80-G-478496
USS Toledo (CA-133) firing her forward 203 mm guns
She completed three wartime cruises off Korea during the conflict, in all conditions.
USS Toledo (CA-133). Official caption: “In Seas that Smoke with the wind and cold, the USS Toledo (CA-133) fights the elements as well as the enemy off the coast of North Korea. The heavy cruiser, now on her third tour of duty in the war zone, is due to return to the States for overhaul this coming spring.” Photograph and caption were released circa Winter 1952-53. The view was taken from Toledo’s icy forecastle, looking out over the cold Sea of Japan toward an aircraft carrier. The carrier is either the Essex-class Valley Forge (CVA-45) or the Philippine Sea (CVA-47). From the All-Hands collection at the Naval History and Heritage Command. NH 97171
In all, Toledo was authorized six (of a possible 10) Korean Service Medals, with the breaks in dates often due to leaving the gun line to get more shells:
K1 – North Korean Aggression: 26 Jul-12 Sep 50 and 18 Sep-23 Oct 50
K3 – Inchon Landing: 13-17 Sep 50
K5 – Communist China Spring Offensive: 26 Apr-30 May 51 and 12 Jun-8 Jul 51
K6 – UN Summer-Fall Offensive: 9-Jul-51, 25 Jul-7 Aug 51, 10-22 Aug 51, 5-9 Sep 51, 11-14 Sep 51, 17 Sep-4 Oct 51, 18-30 Oct 51, and 1-12 Nov 51
K8 – Korean Defense Summer-Fall 1952: 13-29 Sep 52, 9-18 Oct 52, and 30 Oct- 30 Nov 52
K9 – Third Korean Winter: 1-Dec-52, 17 Dec 52-16 Jan 53, and 28 Jan-24 Feb 53
Besides her Korean battle stars (five listed in DANFS, six authorized according to NHHC) Toledo earned a Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation for her service.
Needless to say, her gunners and deck division guys humped a lot of shells and charges during the war.
USS Toledo (CA-133) Crewmen bring eight-inch powder charges aboard from a barge alongside, at Sasebo, Japan, circa July-October 1950, while Toledo was engaged in Korean War combat operations. Note the ship’s after eight-inch triple gun turret trained on the starboard beam, and aircraft crane and hangar hatch cover at the stern. NH 96903
USS Toledo (CA-133) Eight-inch shells and powder charges on a barge alongside the starboard quarter, as Toledo replenished her ammunition supply in Sasebo Harbor, Japan, after combat operations off Korea, circa July-October 1950. Crewmen are carrying the powder cans into position to be hoisted aboard the cruiser. NH 96905
USS Toledo (CA-133) Crewmen loading ammunition from a barge in Inchon Harbor, Korea, before Toledo’s moving into position to support United Nations ground forces, as they attempt to stop the enemy’s spring offensive, circa late April 1951. The original photo is dated 14 April 1951, which is nearly two weeks before Toledo arrived in the combat zone to begin her second Korean War tour. Men in the center are carrying eight-inch powder cans, while those at right have hand trucks to move the heavy main battery projectiles. NH 96904
In return, on several occasions, she sorrowed through Chinese/Nork counterfire from the shore including some close calls where shells straddled our cruiser, but in the end, suffered no hits.
Toledo was also a lifesaver, with her helicopters and boats plucking several downed pilots from the water, including one, from the carrier USS Boxer (CV-21), twice.
Peace again
Arriving back in California from her third combat deployment on St. Patrick’s Day 1953, she was sidelined at Hunter’s Point NSY for a five-month overhaul when the truce was worked out on 27 July. So far, it has held.
Our recently refitted cruiser had a series of snapshots captured during this refit. Importantly, she shipped her 40mm guns ashore for 10 twin 3″/50 (7.62 cm) Mark 33 Mounts and new Mk 56 FC radar fits.
USS Toledo (CA 133), sometime after her 1953 refit. Note the forward port 5″/38 DP mount at maximum elevation, 3″/50 mounts, and the Commencement Bay-class escort carrier in the background. NH 67806
Following her refit and the outbreak of an uneasy peace on the Korean peninsula, Toledo completed her seventh and eighth West Pac deployments (November 1953- May 1954 and September 1954- March 1955), spending lots of time ranging from Japan to Korea and Taiwan where she once again supported a KMT evacuation, this time from the Tachen Islands in January 1955 where her guns rang out once again against the Red Chinese.
USS Toledo (CA-133) (left) and sister USS Helena (CA-75) (right) moored at Yokosuka, Japan, 1955
Missile days
Four Baltimores were refitted for the nuclear deterrent role, USS Helena, Los Angeles, Macon, and our own Toledo. This saw them pick up the ability to carry as many as three nuclear-capable SSM-N-8A Regulus I cruise missiles on the stern and a distinctive 8-foot diameter AN/SPQ-2 S-Band mesh symmetrical parabolic antenna’d missile guidance radar to control them. Of course, Regulus had an over-the-horizon operational range of some 500 nm while the SPQ-2 was limited to just 50 under ideal conditions, but hey.
The Regulus was a big boy, 32 feet long with a 21-foot wingspan and a launch weight of 13,685 pounds. Essentially the same size as an F-86 Sabre. Capable of using first the W5 (120 kT) then the W27 (1,900 kT) thermonuclear warheads.
Sailors aboard the USS Helena (CA 75) inspect a Regulus missile mounted on the stern of the ship. The Helena is moored at an unknown Far East port in early 1956. Note the old seaplane service hatch open. LIFE Magazine Archives, Hank Walker photographer.
To accommodate the installation, the aircraft catapults were removed as were any remaining 40mm guns and the stern 3″/50 mount.
October 1959, heavy cruiser Helena gets her Regulus I missiles maintenance done before she departs for Japan
It was a hell of a thing to see one launch from one of these cruisers.
Official caption: “Nuclear Assault A Regulus I boils white smoke from booster charges as it roars away from its launcher aboard the heavy cruiser USS Los Angeles off San Diego. The launch, a routine evaluation ‘shoot’, was conducted during the time that 600 members of the Institute of Aeronautical Science were embarked aboard the attack carrier USS Ticonderoga (CVA-14), right. The demonstration, which included a ‘Terrier’ guided missile interception of the Regulus, power exhibition, carrier operations, and a HUK exercise, was highlighted by the Regulus launching. The Terrier was fired at the Regulus from the USS Norton Sound (AVM-1), background, on August 7, 1957.” NH 97391
A U.S. Navy Regulus missile is launched from the USS Helena in February 1957. K-21731
Toledo received her missile fit during a four-month overhaul at the Puget Sound NSY in the summer of 1955.
C.1955. Starboard-bow view of the cruiser USS Toledo (CA-133) firing a Regulus I surface-to-surface guided missile. The missile is controlled by the SPQ-2 radar trained to starboard at the head of the mainmast. Other radars visible include the SPS-4 Zenith surface search at the head of the foremast and the SPS-6 air search below it. A Mark 25 fire control radar is fitted on the Mark 37 secondary armament director, which is trained to port and partially obscured by the Mark 13 fire control radar on the main armament director. Note the twin 3-inch/50 AA guns on the main deck forward and the raised platforms amidships abaft the twin 5-inch/38 gun turret. They are controlled by the Mark 56 directors mounted on either side of the forward superstructure and amidships.
Original Kodachrome of an SSM-N-8 Regulus cruise missile on USS Toledo (CA-133) in 1958. Note she still has her seaplane crane, a common feature. U.S. Navy photo from her 1958 cruise book available at Navysite.de
Between early 1956 and November 1959, Toledo remained very active when it came to keeping up appearances in the West Pac, making no less than four more deployments to the region in that period.
USS Toledo (CA 133) at Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada on 4 August 1956. City of Vancouver archives.
USS Toledo (CA-133). Port bow view while underway in 1957. Note her extensive twin 3″/50 DP fits, including one forward and aft as well as three on each broadside, and multiple AN/SPG-35 (Mk56) GFCS AAA fire controls. A big-gun cruiser to the max!
USS Toledo (CA-133) seen turning away from USS Columbus (CA-74) after a highline transfer. Photo taken from USS Columbus during her 1956 WESTPAC cruise. Note the helicopter on deck. From the collection of Domenic S. Terranova, USS Columbus Fire Control Officer. Via Navsource.
USS Toledo underway Kodachrome by Charles L Patterson
On board the heavy cruiser Toledo during her visit to Sydney in May 1958 for the commemoration of the Battle of the Coral Sea.
Bluejackets hanging out with some local ladies during Toledo’s visit to Sydney in May 1958 for the commemoration of the Battle of the Coral Sea. Note the Regulus
USS Toledo (CA-133) anchoring in Tokyo Bay, in 1959.
End game
With the Navy converting five Baltimore and Oregon City-class heavy cruisers into guided missile cruisers, scraping off most of their guns in favor of batteries of Talos and Tartar missile launchers while the nuclear-powered USS Long Beach (CLGN-16) was slated to commission in 1961, keeping a bunch of (almost) all-gun cruisers in commission in the age of the atom seemed increasingly antiquated.
This led the Navy to mothball just about every unconverted heavy and light cruiser in the inventory, including the mighty 20,000-ton USS Des Moines (CA-134) and sister Salem (CA-139), only keeping the newest of that class, USS Newport News (CA-148) around to fill in as the last active all-gun heavy cruiser in the fleet, lingering until 1975.
Dovetailing into this retirement program, Toledo was placed out of commission at Long Beach on 21 May 1960, then moved to the reserve basin at San Diego and remained there for the next 14 years.
In 1973, the 7 remaining unconverted Baltimores, Toledo included, made their final appearance in Jane’s.
Long laid up, these were listed as “fire support ships.”
On 1 January 1974, Toledo’s name was struck from the Navy list, and then she was sold to the National Metal & Scrap Corp. on 30 October 1974. Her sisters had either already been disposed of or were soon to follow except for USS Chicago (CA-136/CG-11), which somehow was not decommissioned until 1980 and scrapped until 1991.
And of Regulus?
Besides the four Regulus-equipped cruisers, the Navy fielded the early cruise missile on two converted WWII diesel submarines and three purpose-built boats. Meanwhile, 10 Essex and Midway-class carriers were equipped to fire the missile as well.
By 1961, Regulus and its SPQ-2 control radar were replaced by the Polaris A1 SLBM carried by a new generation of Fleet Ballistic Missile submarines, largely ending the strategic nuke role by the U.S. Navy surface fleet. Tactical nukes, however, endured in the form of the 40-mile ranged RIM-2D Terrier BT-3A(N) with its W30/W45 1kT nuclear warhead, the TLAM-N (capable of carrying a W80 200 kT nuclear warhead 1,200nm), nuclear depth charges, and the Mk 23 “Katie” 16-inch nuclear shell used on the Iowas.
While the Army developed assorted nuclear shells (Mark 33/T317/M422/M454) designed for use in various 8-inch howitzers in land combat, first fielding them in 1957 and keeping them in the arsenal until 1992, I can’t find anything where the Navy did the same for its 8-inch gunned cruisers, which remained in service until
Epilogue
The National Museum of the Pacific War has a plaque, installed by her veterans’ association in 2000, in Toledo’s honor.
Speaking of her veteran’s association, I cannot find a listing for them any longer with what appears to be their website going offline in 2018. The archive is great.
Most of the cruiser’s ornate circa 1945 silver service is on display aboard the museum ship USS Midway (CV-41), having been returned to the city of Toledo briefly after USS Toledo was decommissioned, then, in 1961, being loaned to the USS Spiegel Grove (LSD-32) — named after an Ohio town near the city. From there, the service was then transferred (missing a martini pitcher) to the new supercarrier USS Kitty Hawk (CVA-63) in 1963 with the blessing of the Toledo City Council, due to the Ohio connection with the Wright Brothers. After the “Battle Cat” was decommissioned in 2009, the service was sent by the NHHC to live aboard Midway.
Toledo/Kitty Hawk silver service aboard USS Midway
As for the name, “Toledo” was recycled by the Navy for the 58th Los Angeles-class hunter-killer (SSN-769) a late VLS-equipped 688(i) variant commissioned in 1995. Among other claims to fame, she was observing the ill-fated Russian cruise missile submarine Kursk when the boat suffered its catastrophic incident then took part in the 2003 Iraq War where she launched TLAMs from a station in the eastern Mediterranean.
She is still on active duty, assigned to Portsmouth, Virginia and, since commissioning, has carried two of the old cruiser’s silver platters aboard for special occasions.
USS Toledo (SSN-769) aerial view of the nuclear-powered attack submarine USS Toledo (SSN-769) underway on the surface. Catalog #: L45-284.05.01
Ships are more than steel and wood And heart of burning coal, For those who sail upon them know That some ships have a soul.
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The Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruisers have passed an important threshold in their story: as of this month, they have hit nearly 50 percent strength in numbers with only 15 still active (soon to be just 12) of the 27 completed.
USS Lake Champlain (CG-57) was decommissioned on 1 September, capping a 35-year career. Here, she is being towed off. She earned 11 Battle E Awards, 3 Navy Unit Commendations, and 2 Meritorious Unit Commendations.
SAN DIEGO (Aug.10, 2023) – The Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Mobile Bay (CG 53) sits pier side during a decommissioning ceremony. The Mobile Bay was decommissioned after more than 36 years of distinguished service. Commissioned Feb. 21, 1987, Mobile Bay served in the U.S. Atlantic, Seventh, and U.S. Pacific Fleet and supported Operation Desert Storm. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Stevin C. Atkins)
Likely to still be retired this year from the class are USS Vicksburg (CG-69), USS Bunker Hill (CG-52), and USS San Jacinto (CG-56).
Sayonara, Shiloh
Meanwhile, one of the last in the fleet, USS Shiloh (CG 67), departed Yokosuka, Japan, on Sept. 5 to transit to her new homeport of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, “as part of a planned rotation of forces in the Pacific.”
Shiloh has been forward deployed in Japan for 17 years and is slated to be retired next year.
U.S. Navy Sailors and members of Ship Repair Facility (SRF) Yokosuka bow to the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Shiloh (CG 67) in Yokosuka, Japan, Sept. 5, 2023. Shiloh departed Yokosuka on Sept. 5 to transit to its new homeport of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, as part of a planned rotation of forces in the Pacific. Shiloh is attached to Commander, Carrier Strike Group 5 forward-deployed to the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Askia Collins)
