USS San Diego (CL-53) (CLAA-53)

History

When World War II ended in 1945, USS San Diego (CL-53) became the second most decorated ship in United States Navy (USN) history. There was a naval race going on before the war, and both Germany and Japan were building strong navies in preparation for war. The War Department informed U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt of the threat, prompting the president to sign a Congressional Appropriations Act in 1938 authorizing the construction of new U.S. warships.

Citizens traveled to Washington, D.C., to demand that one of the new ships be named after the city of San Diego, California. The President agreed, and the Admiralty formally commissioned one of their cruisers as the USS San Diego (CL-53).

Her keel was laid on March 27, 1940 by the Bethlehem Steel Shipyard in Quincy, Massachusetts. The ship was then outfitted at the Boston Naval Shipyard, and the CL-53 officially entered service in a snowy January 10, 1942 ceremony about a month after the attack on Pearl Harbor (December 7, 1941).

Her full 650 personnel and officers were scheduled and present on the day of commissioning - the crew included green sailors and officers from the Naval Academy, as well as reserve officers and experienced NCOs.

She is the third of eight ships in the Atlanta class, a new type of ocean-going cruiser designed to protect aircraft carriers and battleships from heavy anti-aircraft guns and a network of torpedoes against enemy aircraft and surface ships. This is different from the previous 6-inch gun-class cruisers built for naval and coastal bombing. A lighter anti-aircraft main gun was chosen; the 16 x 5 in (127 mm)/38 caliber guns were mounted on 8 dual gun mounts - three front and three rear - creating a fatigue effect below the centerline.

The remaining two turrets were mounted on the starboard and port sides, with the midship aft slightly aft. The Admiralty considered the twin mounts of the 5" (127 mm)/38 caliber guns to be more effective than the single mounts previously used. This also reduces weight by reducing the use of eight separate gun mounts, which are spread across the ship rather than all on the centerline.

The full battery can fire more than 10,560 kg (17,600 lb) of shells per minute, including the new "VT" radar fusion anti-aircraft shell. This weight reduction allows for the installation of additional anti-aircraft weapons, so 16 x 1.1 in (28 mm)/75 caliber guns and 6 x 28 mm anti-aircraft guns complete her arsenal. Drawing on the design of U.S.

Navy ships of the First World War, the 8 x 21-inch torpedo tubes were mounted via two quad launchers mounted front and rear, making the Atlanta-class the only U.S. Navy ship built after 1940 that It was equipped with torpedo tubes during the war.

This class is designed with 3.5" belt armor and 2" deck armor. The light cruiser is 541 feet long, 53 feet beam, and has a draft of 24 feet. Her full-load displacement is 8,200 tons, and by using 2 x 75,000 hp geared steam turbines, she can reach 30 knots.

In February 1942, the aircraft carrier USS San Diego was ordered to conduct her training trial cruises in the Chesapeake Bay, and when her construction was fully completed, she was transferred through the Panama Canal to the Port of San Diego in May 1942 for final renovations Report to Pacific Fleet. CL-53 left San Diego to escort the USS Saratoga to join the carrier force in the Battle of Midway. Even at flanking speed, the CL-53 and Saratoga missed the Battle of Midway by failing to reach Midway in time for the crucial carrier engagement.

CL-53 was then ordered to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and in mid-June 1942 was designated as one of the escorts for the carrier USS Hornet (CV-8) to continue operations in the South Pacific.

In late July, the U.S. War Department learned that the Japanese were building an airfield on Guadalcanal and quickly moved Task Force 61 (TF61) to respond to the threat. On August 7, 1942, the Battle of Guadalcanal officially began, with the task force approaching Savo and Tulagi, then southern Guadalcanal. This would be the first major American invasion force of the war. The 82 expeditionary force was commanded by Lieutenant General Frank Jack Fletcher.

The USS San Diego, along with seven other cruisers and 15 destroyers, was tasked with protecting 23 transports and cargo ships carrying 19,000 U.S. Naval Expeditionary Force personnel and their supplies.

The landing was a complete surprise for Japan, but defenders quickly recovered, challenging the American invasion fiercely by land, sea and air.

After the first phase on Guadalcanal, Task Force 61 was divided into different commands, and when the aircraft carrier USS Wasp sank nearby on September 15, 1942, the USS San Diego was used as a USS Hornet's shield. During the Battle of Santa Cruz Island, the USS San Diego was stationed on the port side of the USS Hornet, unable to protect her starboard side from bombardment and torpedo attacks.

However, the CL-35's 5-inch anti-aircraft guns shot down 3 enemy aircraft in the attack on the Hornet, and the carrier's own crew did their best, but on defense, they failed to keep the ship. USS San Diego moved with Hornet, targeting itself and rescuing 200 crew members from Hornet while continuing to provide cover for the air strikes.

USS Santiago then provided air defense protection for the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise during the Battle of Guadalcanal, 12-15 November 1942. On the morning of 13 November, the Japanese battleship IJN Hiei was repeatedly attacked by USN Grumman TBF Avenger torpedo aircraft from Henderson Field and additional TBF and Douglas SBD Dreadnought dive bombers from USS Enterprise. Hiei was hit several times and began to absorb water. It was decided that the battleship IJN Kirishima came in with her parachute to rescue IJN Hiei and drag her out of the war zone.

Both Japanese battleships are now covered by the IJN Nagara cruisers, with accompanying destroyers providing air and submarine protection during salvage operations. However, IJN Hiei continued to falter and had to be dropped. Aircraft from USS Enterprise, supported by USS San Diego, found Hiei again and hit her with bombs and torpedoes. On the night of November 13, 1942, she sank off the stern north of Savo Island.

The Battle of Guadalcanal ended when the IJN evacuated after all 11 participating Japanese warships sank or ran aground on Guadalcanal, with an estimated 24,000 Japanese losses.

In early February 1943, the Japanese sent 20 destroyers to Guadalcanal at flank speed along the Bougainville Strait. The U.S. Navy believes it was an attack on Henderson Field following the landing of reinforcements.

Within days, however, the remaining 11,000 Japanese troops on the island were evacuated. The evacuation ended a standoff on Guadalcanal, where after months of service in the disputed waters of Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands, the USS Santiago sailed to Auckland, New Zealand for supplies and asked its crew to rest ashore.

In July 1943, the USS Enterprise underwent an overhaul, so the light cruiser USS San Diego, operating in the waters off New Caledonia, was ordered to join the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga - now the only available US aircraft carrier in the South Pacific . In February 1942, the Japanese Navy and Air Force attacked Rabaul, New Guinea, which was guarded by the Australian New Guinea Volunteer Rifles. The base at Rabaul was a stronghold built for over 100,000 Japanese troops.

The defenders were no match for the Japanese, and the captured soldiers, along with their families, were loaded into the Japanese transport plane Montivedomaru. On its way to Japan, the ship was tragically sunk by the US submarine USS Sturgeon, killing some 1,140 prisoners and 88 Japanese crew members, 18 of whom survived.

In 1943, Operation Rollover was the US and UK decision to suppress the main Japanese Pacific Forward Operating Base (FOB) at Rabaul. On November 5, 1943, USS San Diego joined the cruiser USS Princeton to support the USS Saratoga and the British carrier HMS Victorious in a successful raid on a Japanese base. The Army then established air bases on the islands of Munda, New Georgia and Bougainville around Rabaul, and mobilized twin-engine medium bombers to fly the base daily, denying it was used as a major base by the Japanese navy.

Despite these efforts, Rabaul was occupied by the Japanese until their complete surrender at the end of the war in August 1945 - at which point the troops' supplies had been cut off and the war effort against Japan was all but useless.

From 20 to 23 November 1943, the aircraft carrier USS San Diego was assigned to support Operation Current. The mission was to occupy Tarawa in the Gilbert Islands and the 4,000-foot-long Japanese airstrip on Betio Island on the 300-acre Tarawa Atoll.

The general plan was to use the airfields to occupy the islands as the fleet moved across the Pacific ("island hopping") towards the Japanese mainland. Operation Current was supported by 200 U.S. ships gathered around Tarawa Atoll and the Makin Islands.

The five aircraft carriers in the fleet, carrying 900 aircraft, bombed and shelled the islands, while the carriers were defended by the USS San Diego and other AA cruisers. U.S.

Marines suffered heavy casualties in the fighting on Tarawa Atoll and Makin Island, with 990 Marines killed and 2,296 wounded. A Japanese submarine sank the aircraft carrier USS Liscome Bay (CVE-46) near Makin, killing 644 crew members.

Japan lost 4,690 Marines defending the island - the bloodiest battle of the Pacific War to date.

In early December, the USS San Diego was assigned to defend the port side of the USS Lexington as she launched the Kwajalein raid on December 4, 1943. When the planes took off at 5 am for the morning attack, two enemy cruisers were spotted and damaged in the bay before the freighter SS Kembu Maru sank.

Mrs. Lex's plane destroyed 30 enemy planes before returning to the carrier. Around 1:00 PM, the Japanese regrouped and attacked Lexington from the port side, allowing the USS San Diego to shoot down two incoming enemy torpedo planes. Japanese Army/Navy land-based aircraft carried out a well-coordinated night attack, firing parachute flares that illuminated Lexington, causing an IJN submarine that torpedoed Lexington to hit Lexington's starboard side.

On December 9, 1943, the crew was able to make temporary repairs to the hull, and the USS San Diego was assigned to escort the USS Lexington, who on December 9, 1943, carried a modernized Combat Information Center (CIC) and a newly improved Radar equipment lurches toward Pearl Harbor. The 16 x 1.1 in (27 mm) anti-aircraft guns were removed and replaced with 8 x 40 mm/56 caliber Bofors anti-aircraft guns for a significant increase in firepower. The 2 x dual 5" mounts on port and starboard were replaced by 8 x Bofors 40mm anti-aircraft guns, selected as the Navy's standard anti-aircraft guns.

After the upgrade was complete and normal crew changes were carried out, supplies were stored below deck, and the San Diego weighed anchor and Return to Pearl Harbor for redistribution.

Returning to Pearl Harbor in January 1944, the USS San Diego was assigned as escort for Fast Carrier Task Force 58 (TF58), the most powerful carrier task force in recorded naval history , under the command of Lieutenant General Mark Mitchell. The massive and improved anti-aircraft firepower of the USS San Diego is an asset of Task Force Flintlock, an operation aimed at capturing the islands of Kwajale and Majuro, where the airfields are located. 8,100 Japanese defenders against 42,000 Army and Marines, as well as a large number of supporting carrier aircraft, the results were unquestionable. The Admiralty's strategy was to deploy Task Force 58 - assigned to TF58 to balance the war in the Pacific, with the USS San Diego on the front lines of the next attack on the mighty Japanese naval base in Truk. The Japanese considered Truk to be their "Pearl Harbor," with a natural depth capable of supporting capital ships and land large enough to accommodate many airfields and troop encampments.

The decision was to continue attacking the island fortresses, putting the Japanese on the defensive and making Truk unable to serve as a base for forward operations. Truk was still in Japanese hands when the Empire surrendered in August 1945, but due to Allied offensives elsewhere, forces there too were rendered ineffective and faced starvation before returning to the Japanese mainland.