|
USS ''New Orleans'' (CL/CA-32) was the lead in service with the United States Navy. The ''New Orleans''-class cruisers were the last U.S. cruisers built to the specifications and standards of the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922. Such ships, with a limit of 10,000 tons standard displacement and 8-inch calibre main guns may be referred to as "treaty cruisers." Originally classified a light cruiser, because of her thin armor, she was reclassified, soon after being laid down, a heavy cruiser, because of her 8-inch guns. The term "heavy cruiser" was not defined until the London Naval Treaty in 1930. ==Inter-war period== ''New Orleans'' keel was laid on 14 March 1931 at the New York Navy Yard, commonly known as the Brooklyn Navy Yard. The ship was launched on 12 April 1933, sponsored by Cora S. Jahncke, a native of New Orleans, Louisiana and daughter of Ernest L. Jahncke, a civil engineer and president of the Jahncke Shipbuilding Co. in New Orleans. Jahncke had served as Assistant Secretary of the Navy in the administration of President Herbert Hoover, returning to private life in March 1933 with the inauguration of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. ''New Orleans'' was commissioned at the Brooklyn Navy Yard on 15 February 1934, with Captain Allen B. Reed as the first commander. Attending the commissioning ceremonies were Rear Admiral Yates Stirling, Jr., Commandant of the New York Naval Yard and former Assistant Navy Secretary Jahncke. Among ''New Orleans'' junior officer plankowners in 1934 were Jahncke's son, Ensign E.L. Jahncke, Jr. and Ensign T.H. Moorer, who as Admiral Thomas H. Moorer was Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) from 1967–1970 and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 1970–1974. ''New Orleans'' was lead ship in her class of seven heavy cruisers that collectively saw extensive service in all major engagements in the Pacific theater during World War II. ''New Orleans''-class cruisers earned more than sixty battle stars during World War II. ''New Orleans'' herself received 17 battle stars, placing her among the top four highest decorated ships of World War II, along with two of her sister ships, and . Under Captain Reed's command that ended on 30 August 1935, ''New Orleans'' made a shakedown Transatlantic crossing to Great Britain and Scandinavia in May and June 1934. ''New Orleans'' made ports of call and was greeted by thousands at Stockholm, Sweden, Copenhagen, Denmark, Amsterdam, Netherlands and Portsmouth, England, returning to New York on 28 June. On 5 July, ''New Orleans'' sailed to Balboa, Panama, the western entrance to the Panama Canal to rendez-vous with the heavy cruiser , carrying President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, on a nearly 12,000 nmi. cruise to Hawaii and an exercise with the United States Airship and her aircraft off the California coast. ''New Orleans'' reached Honolulu, Hawaii on 26 July 1934 and Astoria, Oregon on 2 August, where the cruise ended. ''New Orleans'' sailed at once for Panama and Cuba, stopping at San Pedro, California on 7 August 1934. She exercised off New England into 1935, then visited her namesake city at the end of March while en route to join United States Fleet Scouting Force Cruiser Division 6 (CruDiv 6) based out of San Pedro and operating along the coast of California and the eastern Pacific. ''New Orleans'' was open for public viewing while visiting the "Crescent City" and thousands of citizens visited the ship during the time she was berthed there. Shortly after arriving at San Pedro, the cruiser participated in Fleet problem XVI from 29 April to 10 June. It was the largest mock battle ever staged and conducted in five separate stages over five million square miles of the North Central Pacific between Midway, Hawaii, and the Aleutian Islands, involving 321 vessels and 70,000 men. In June ''New Orleans'' visited San Diego for the first-ever Fleet Week, one of 114 American warships in the "mightiest fleet ever assembled under the U.S. flag" for the California Pacific International Exposition. ''New Orleans'' returned to the Brooklyn Navy Yard in New York where she was dry-docked for maintenance from 20 August to 7 December 1936. Early in 1937, she was once more in the Pacific. Aside from winter training in the Caribbean early in 1939, she served out of California ports until joining the Hawaiian Detachment on 12 October 1939, for exercises, training, and, as war drew close, vigilant patrol. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「USS New Orleans (CA-32)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|