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The third USS ''Columbus'' (CA-74/CG-12), a
heavy cruiser A heavy cruiser was a type of cruiser, a naval warship designed for long range and high speed, armed generally with naval guns of roughly 203 mm (8 inches) in calibre, whose design parameters were dictated by the Washington Naval Treat ...
, was the first ship of the
United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...
named for
Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451–1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, the capital city of the U.S. state of Ohio * Columbus, Georgia, a city i ...
,
Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...
. She was launched on 30 November 1944 by Bethlehem Steel Co.,
Quincy, Massachusetts Quincy ( ) is a city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the largest city in the county. Quincy is part of the Greater Boston area as one of Boston's immediate southern suburbs. Its population in ...
; she was sponsored by Mrs. E. G. Meyers; and commissioned on 8 June 1945.


History


As CA-74

Joining the Pacific Fleet, ''Columbus'' reached
Tsingtao Qingdao, Mandarin: , (Qingdao Mandarin: t͡ɕʰiŋ˧˩ tɒ˥) is a prefecture-level city in the eastern Shandong Province of China. Located on China's Yellow Sea coast, Qingdao was long an important fortress. In 1897, the city was ceded to Ger ...
,
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
, on 13 January 1946 for occupation duty. On 1 April, she helped to sink 24
Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...
submarines A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability.) The term "submarine" is also sometimes used historically or info ...
, prizes of war, and next day sailed for
San Pedro, California San Pedro ( ; ) is a neighborhood located within the South Bay (Los Angeles County), South Bay and Los Angeles Harbor Region, Harbor region of the city of Los Angeles, California, United States. Formerly a separate city, it consolidated with Los ...
. For the remainder of the year, she operated in west coast waters, then made a second
Far East The Far East is the geographical region that encompasses the easternmost portion of the Asian continent, including North Asia, North, East Asia, East and Southeast Asia. South Asia is sometimes also included in the definition of the term. In mod ...
ern cruise from 15 January to 12 June 1947. After west coast operations and an overhaul at
Puget Sound Naval Shipyard Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, officially Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility (PSNS & IMF), is a United States Navy shipyard covering 179 acres (0.7 km2) on Puget Sound at Bremerton, Washington in uninterrupted ...
, ''Columbus'' cleared
Bremerton Bremerton is a city in Kitsap County, Washington, United States. The population was 43,505 at the 2020 census and an estimated 44,122 in 2021, making it the largest city on the Kitsap Peninsula. Bremerton is home to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard ...
on 12 April 1948 to join the Atlantic Fleet, arriving at Norfolk, Va., on 19 May. ''Columbus'' made two cruises as
flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of navy, naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically ...
of Commander-in-Chief, Naval Forces Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean, from 13 September 1948 to 15 December 1949 and from 12 June 1950 to 5 October 1951, and one as flagship of
Supreme Allied Commander Supreme Allied Commander is the title held by the most senior commander within certain multinational military alliances. It originated as a term used by the Allies during World War I, and is currently used only within NATO for Supreme Allied Co ...
, Atlantic, during parts of
NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...
Operation Mainbrace Exercise Mainbrace was the first large-scale naval exercise undertaken by the newly established Allied Command Atlantic (ACLANT), one of the two principal military commands of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). It was part of a serie ...
from 25 August to 29 September 1952. She cruised in the
Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...
from October 1952 through January 1953, serving part of that time as flagship of the 6th Fleet. Now flagship of Cruiser Division 6, she returned to the Mediterranean from September 1954 to January 1955. Between deployments, ''Columbus'' received necessary overhauls and carried out training operations along the east coast and in the
Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...
. Reassigned to the Pacific Fleet, ''Columbus'' cleared
Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
,
Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...
, on 8 November 1955 for
Long Beach, California Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...
, where she arrived on 2 December. Just a month later, on 5 January 1956, she sailed for
Yokosuka is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city has a population of 373,797, and a population density of . The total area is . Yokosuka is the 11th-most populous city in the Greater Tokyo Area, and the 12th in the Kantō region. The city i ...
,
Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
, and operated with the
7th Fleet The Seventh Fleet is a numbered fleet of the United States Navy. It is headquartered at U.S. Fleet Activities Yokosuka, in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. It is part of the United States Pacific Fleet. At present, it is the largest of th ...
until she returned to Long Beach on 8 July. ''Columbus'' made two more cruises to the Far East in 1957 and 1958. During the late summer of 1958, her presence was a reminder of American strength and interest as she patrolled the
Taiwan Straits The Taiwan Strait is a strait separating the island of Taiwan and the Asian continent. The strait is part of the South China Sea and connects to the East China Sea to the north. The narrowest part is wide. Names Former names of the Taiwan ...
during the crisis brought on by the renewed shelling of the offshore islands by the
Chinese communists The Communist Party of China (CPC), also translated into English as Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the founding and sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Founded in 1921, the CCP emerged victorious in the Chinese Civil W ...
. In late 1958 she was selected to be converted to carry guided missiles and on 8 May 1959, ''Columbus'' entered the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard to begin her conversion to an ''Albany''-class
guided missile A missile is an airborne ranged weapon capable of Propulsion, self-propelled flight aided usually by a propellant, jet engine or rocket motor. Historically, 'missile' referred to any projectile that is thrown, shot or propelled towards a targ ...
cruiser A cruiser is a type of warship. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and can usually perform several operational roles from search-and-destroy to ocean escort to sea ...
.


As CG-12

On 30 September 1959, ''Columbus'' was retrofitted as an guided missile cruiser, joining and as the only three ships of this line, and reclassified CG-12. USS ''Columbus'' (CG-12) was subsequently recommissioned on 1 December 1962 (following a much shorter conversion period than either ''Chicago'' or ''Albany''), though a year and half long work-up and testing of her new weapons system delayed her first deployment to the western
Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...
until August 1964. The 1959 ''Albany''-class refit of USS ''Columbus'' left CG-12 with the following armaments: *
RIM-8 Talos Bendix RIM-8 Talos was a long-range naval surface-to-air missile (SAM), among the earliest SAMs to equip United States Navy ships. The Talos used radar beam riding for guidance to the vicinity of its target, and semi-active radar homing (SARH) ...
- 2 twin Talos SAM launch systems : Fore: Systems 1 & 2, with one launcher; Aft: Systems 7 & 8, with one launcher *
RIM-24 Tartar The General Dynamics RIM-24 Tartar was a medium-range naval surface-to-air missile (SAM), among the earliest SAMs to equip United States Navy ships. The Tartar was the third of the so-called "3 Ts", the three primary SAMs the Navy fielded in the ...
- 2 twin Tartar SAM launch systems : Starboard: Systems 3 & 5 with MK11 launcher; Port: Systems 4 & 6 with MK11 launcher * Anti-submarine - 1 eight-tube
ASROC The RUR-5 ASROC (for "Anti-Submarine Rocket") is an all-weather, all sea-conditions anti-submarine missile system. Developed by the United States Navy in the 1950s, it was deployed in the 1960s, updated in the 1990s, and eventually installed ...
system * Torpedoes - 2 triple-tube Mk-32 torpedo systems * two open mount naval guns port and starboard midships


Flagship

After visiting San Francisco, Puget Sound, and Hawaii as flagship of the 1965 Pacific Midshipman Training Squadron, Parts of the ships are on display in Columbus.


Awards

''Columbus'' served as Flagship COMCRUDESFLOT throughout 1966, after assignment to the Atlantic Fleet at the start of that year. From 1966 until 1974, ''Columbus'' deployed to the Mediterranean seven times. * September 1966 - March 1967 * January 1968 - July 1968 * December 1968 - May 1969 * 8 October 1969 - 18 March 1970 * 6 September 1970 - 1 March 1971 * 17 May 1972 - 18 October 1972 * 2 November 1973 - 31 May 1974 Unlike the ''Albany'' and ''Chicago'', both of which received further upgrades, ''Columbus'' did not receive the digital missile fire-control and radar modernizations in 1970 due to cutbacks in the defense budget. The ship did however, receive a 5-month overhaul of her machinery, and heavy maintenance to her electrical and hull structures to keep her operational for another five years. Upon return from her final Mediterranean deployment on 31 May 1974, she entered port and began preparations for deactivation and decommissioning. After serving for 29.5 years, ''Columbus'' was decommissioned on 31 January 1975, stricken from the
Naval Vessel Register The ''Naval Vessel Register'' (NVR) is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from t ...
on 9 August 1976 and sold for scrapping on 3 October 1977, to Union Minerals & Alloys Corp., and scrapped in Port Newark, NJ.


References

* *


Bibliography

*


External links


US Navy Historical Center ''Columbus'' gallery
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Columbus Baltimore-class cruisers Albany-class cruisers Cold War cruisers of the United States Ships built in Quincy, Massachusetts 1944 ships