USS Louisville (CA-28)

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USS Louisville (CA-28) was a Northampton-class cruiser named for Louisville, Kentucky. Built at Puget Sound Naval Yard in Bremerton, Washington, she was laid down in 1928, launched in 1930, and commissioned in January 1931. She was the first large American warship built in a drydock. Initially classified as a light cruiser (CL-28), she was redesignated a heavy cruiser (CA-28) on 1 July 1931 because of her 8-inch guns.

Louisville’s peacetime years included a shakedown cruise, fleet problems, and various training and “showing the flag” missions along the West Coast, in the Caribbean, and in the Pacific. In 1937 she collided with a fishing boat in Ketchikan but there were no deaths. In 1938 she conducted a long Pacific cruise, visiting Hawaii, Australia, and the South Pacific, and in 1939 she served in Caribbean exercises until returning to the West Coast for further operations.

During World War II, Louisville took part in early Pacific combat operations, including carrier plane raids on the Gilbert and Marshall Islands in February 1942 and subsequent actions in the South Pacific. She served as flagship for Rear Admiral J. B. Oldendorf and operated in the Solomon and Aleutian areas, performing convoy escorts and shore bombardments as needed. After a major overhaul at Mare Island Navy Yard in late 1943, she emerged with a lighter foremast, new radar and combat systems, and an upgraded anti-aircraft fit, and she wore camouflage Measure 32-6D.

In 1944–45 Louisville supported a series of hard-fought campaigns across the Pacific. She bombarded Wotje, Roi and Namur, Eniwetok, and the Palau and Sawatan groups, then played a leading role in the Mariana operations (Saipan, Tinian, and Guam) and became the first large U.S. ship to enter Philippine waters since 1941. She fought in the Battle of Leyte Gulf in October 1944, helping to defeat the Japanese southern force at Surigao Strait.

Louisville continued to fire on enemy positions during the Leyte and Luzon campaigns. On 21 October 1944 she was damaged by kamikaze shrapnel while bombarding Leyte. On 5–6 January 1945 another kamikaze strike caused severe damage, killed one captain and wounded many others, and nearly blew out the ship’s fire-control systems. The action forced a return to Mare Island for repairs, which were completed in April 1945. Afterward she supported operations around Okinawa and endured another kamikaze hit on 5 June 1945, with further casualties and damage. By mid-June she was back on duty and continued to support late-war operations.

After Japan’s surrender, Louisville helped with the evacuation and transfer of prisoners and weapons, then escorted surrendered vessels to Jinsen, Korea, and later to China. She returned to Philadelphia and was decommissioned on 17 June 1946, joining the Atlantic Reserve Fleet. She was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register in 1959 and sold for scrap later that year. Her ship’s bell is displayed at the Navy Operational Support Center in Louisville, Kentucky.

One of Louisville’s 8-inch gun turrets (Turret No. 2) was damaged by a kamikaze attack in 1945, later removed and repurposed as a rotating radiation detector for nuclear tests at the Nevada Test Site. Louisville earned 13 battle stars for her World War II service.