Heavy cruiser of the United States Navy
"USS Rochester (CA-73)" redirects here. For other U.S. Navy ships named Rochester, see
USS Rochester
.
44°56′39″N
93°05′38″W
/
44.9441407°N 93.0938141°W
/
44.9441407; -93.0938141
![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/eb/USS_Saint_Paul_%28CA-73%29_off_Wonsan%2C_Korea%2C_20_April_1951_%2880-K-11868%29.jpg/300px-USS_Saint_Paul_%28CA-73%29_off_Wonsan%2C_Korea%2C_20_April_1951_%2880-K-11868%29.jpg) USS
Saint Paul
off
Wonsan
on 20 April 1951
|
History
|
United States
|
Name
| Saint Paul
|
Namesake
| City of
Saint Paul
, Minnesota
|
Builder
| Bethlehem Steel Company
,
Quincy
, Massachusetts
|
Laid down
| 3 February 1943
|
Launched
| 16 September 1944
|
Commissioned
| 17 February 1945
|
Decommissioned
| 30 April 1971
|
Stricken
| 31 July 1978
|
Identification
| |
Motto
| Fighting Saints
|
Honors and
awards
| See
Awards
|
Fate
| Scrapped
, 13 December 1979
|
Notes
| Bell is at St. Paul City Hall, 3rd Floor
|
Badge
| ![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7d/USS_Saint_Paul_%28CA-73%29_insignia%2C_circa_1960_%28NH_102469-KN%29.png/150px-USS_Saint_Paul_%28CA-73%29_insignia%2C_circa_1960_%28NH_102469-KN%29.png) |
General characteristics
|
Class and type
| Baltimore
-class cruiser
|
Displacement
| 14,500 tons
|
Length
| 673 ft 5 in (205.26 m)
|
Beam
| 70 ft 10 in (21.59 m)
|
Draft
| 26 ft 5 in (8.05 m)
|
Speed
| 32
knots
(59 km/h)
|
Complement
| 1700 officers and enlisted
|
Armament
| |
Aircraft carried
| 4
|
USS
Saint Paul
(CA-73)
, a
Baltimore
-class cruiser
, was the second ship of the
United States Navy
to be named for
Saint Paul, Minnesota
.
Her keel was laid down as
Rochester
on 3 February 1943 by the
Bethlehem Steel Company
in
Quincy, Massachusetts
. She was
launched
on 16 September 1944 sponsored by Mrs. Marie Gordon McDonough,
[1]
wife of
John J. McDonough
, then mayor of Saint Paul; and
commissioned
on 17 February 1945,
Captain
Ernest H. von Heimburg in command.
She was struck from the
Naval Vessel Register
on 31 July 1978, and was sold for scrapping in January 1980.
Service history
[
edit
]
World War II
[
edit
]
After shakedown in the
Caribbean Sea
,
Saint Paul
departed
Boston, Massachusetts
, on 15 May 1945 and headed for the Pacific. From 8?30 June, she underwent training out of
Pearl Harbor
and sailed on 2 July to join Task Force 38 (TF 38). This fast carrier striking force completed replenishment at sea on 23 July and then proceeded to launching points for strikes against
Honsh?
,
Japan
's largest island. From 24 July to 10 August,
Saint Paul
screened the carriers as they delivered heavy air strikes on
Kure
,
Kobe
, and the
Tokyo
area in southern Honsh?, then at
Maizuru
and various airfields in northern Honsh?. During this period,
Saint Paul
also
bombarded industrial targets
: first on textile mills at
Hamamatsu
during the night of 29 July, and then on 9 August at iron and steel works in
Kamaishi
, firing the war's last hostile salvo from a major ship.
Typhoon
warnings canceled air operations from 11 to 14 August. Then, those launched that morning were recalled, after peace negotiations gave promise of Japan's surrender. On 15 August, all offensive operations against Japan were stopped.
Saint Paul
, with other units of the
Third Fleet
, retired to the southeast to patrol the coast while awaiting orders. On 27 August, she steamed into
Sagami Wan
to support
United States
occupation forces. On 1 September, she entered
Tokyo Bay
and was there during the formal surrender ceremony the next day.
Post-World War II
[
edit
]
Saint Paul
remained in Japanese waters for occupation duty until she was ordered to
Shanghai
on 5 November to become flagship of TF 73. She navigated the
Huangpu River
, anchored off the
Shanghai Bund
on 10 November; she remained there until early in 1946. On 21 December 1945 she was in collision with the Chinese (ex-Japanese) landing craft
LST144
, which was driven against the bow of
Saint Paul
by the force of the current. The landing craft sustained severe damage, the cruiser slight damage to the bow area.
[2]
On 7 January 1946,
Saint Paul
departed Shanghai in company with
Keith
and returned to the Naval Shipyard,
Terminal Island
,
California
, on 28 January 1946 for a brief refit to make good the collision damage. In May, the ship made a round trip to Pearl Harbor. Returning to Terminal Island on 1 August, she was overhauled to prepare for additional Far East duty.
[3]
From 1?15 February 1947, she conducted refresher training at
San Diego, California
.
Following her return to Shanghai in March,
Saint Paul
resumed operations as flagship for TF 71 until returning to the
United States
in November. Next, came training operations along the West Coast, including cruises for Naval Reservists from April?May. From August?December, she deployed to the western Pacific, serving in Japanese and Chinese waters. Back in the United States, she was converted from
catapult
to helicopter configuration before serving again in the Far East from April through October 1949.
Korean War
[
edit
]
Saint Paul
fires her
8-inch 55-caliber (203-mm) guns
at Chinese troops threatening the evacuation of
United Nations
forces from
Hungnam
,
North Korea
, in December 1950.
The
destroyer
USS
Buck
(DD-761)
,
battleship
USS
Wisconsin
(BB-64)
, and
Saint Paul
steam in close formation during operations off the Korean coast in 1952.
Saint Paul
firing at Korean coastal batteries in 1953.
When hostilities broke out in the
Korean War
in June 1950,
Saint Paul
was conducting a midshipman training cruise from
San Francisco, California
, to
Pearl Harbor
. She disembarked the future naval officers and proceeded late in July to the western Pacific where she joined Task Group 77.3 (TG 77.3) on patrol in the
Formosa Strait
.
Saint Paul
remained on patrol between
Formosa
and mainland
China
from 27 August to 1 November. She then moved north into the
Sea of Japan
to join TF 77, and commenced combat operations off the northeast coast of
Korea
on 9 November. On 17 November, she provided gunfire support to the
United Nations
troops advancing on
Chongjin
. That day,
shrapnel
from a near miss by a shell from a Communist shore battery injured six men at gun mount stations. The
cruiser
destroyed the enemy emplacement with counter-battery fire and continued her support mission.
As the Chinese Communists began massive attacks late in November,
United Nations
forces commenced a general withdrawal to consolidate and hold south of the 38th parallel.
Saint Paul
provided close support for the
Republic of Korea
I Corps on their east flank as they withdrew from
Hapsu
, and along the coast, as they retired from
Chongjin
. On 2 December, she moved north again, conducted night harassing missions above
Chongjin
, then moved south to support the withdrawal of the
Republic of Korea
Capital Division to
Kyongsong Man
. She entered the harbor at
Wonsan
on 3 December to provide a curtain of shellfire around that city as
United Nations
forces and equipment were moved to
Hungnam
; then followed the forces there, and remained to cover the evacuation of that city and harbor between 10 December and 24 December. (The now restored
SS
Lane Victory
was one of the ships protected by her cover fire.)
From 21 to 31 January 1951,
Saint Paul
conducted shore bombardment missions north of
Inchon
where, on 26 January, she was again fired upon by shore batteries. On 7 April, in TF 74, with
Wallace L. Lind
,
Massey
,
Fort Marion
and
Begor
,
Saint Paul
helped to carry out raids on rail lines and tunnels utilizing 250 commandos of the
41st Independent Royal Marines
. These highly successful destructive raids slowed down the enemy's resupply efforts, forcing the Communists to attempt to repair or rebuild the rail facilities by night while hiding the work crews and locomotives in tunnels by day.
Saint Paul
returned to the
United States
for yard work at
San Francisco, California
, from June to September, then conducted underway training before sailing on 5 November for
Korea
. She arrived off
Wonsan
on 27 November and commenced gun strike missions in support of the UN
blockade
. During the following weeks, she bombarded strategic points at
Hungnam
,
Songjin
, and
Chongjin
. In December, she served as an antiaircraft escort for TF 77, and, following a holiday trip to
Japan
, returned to operations off the coast of
North Korea
. In April 1952,
Saint Paul
participated in combined air-sea attacks against the ports of
Wonsan
and
Chongjin
.
On 21 April, while the cruiser was engaged in gun fire support operations, a sudden and serious powder fire broke out in her forward 8-inch (203 mm) turret. Thirty men died. The explosion occurred in the turret's left gun, which was loaded but had the breech open. The gun captain thought the weapon had fired and told the gun's rammerman to ram another projectile into the gun's breech. The gun blew up, setting off two other powder bags in the powder hoist.
[4]
Before returning to Japan for repairs, however,
Saint Paul
carried out gunstrikes on railroad targets near
Songjin
, during which she captured nine North Koreans from a small boat. Following a brief stay in port and two weeks on the gun line, she headed home and reached
Long Beach, California
, on 24 June.
On 28 February 1953,
Saint Paul
departed the West Coast for her third
Korean
tour and was in action again by April. In mid-June, she assisted in the recapture of
Anchor Hill
. With
New Jersey
, she provided close support to the Korean Army in a ground assault on this key position south of
Kosong
. The
cruiser
was fired upon many times by 75 mm and 105 mm guns, and observed numerous near misses, some only ten yards away. But on 11 July at Wonsan, she received her only direct hit from a shore battery. No one was wounded, and only her 3-inch (76.2 mm) antiaircraft mount was damaged. On 27 July, at 2159, she conducted her last gunstrike and had the distinction of firing the last round shot at sea in the war. The shell, autographed by
Rear Admiral
Harry Sanders
, was fired at an enemy gun emplacement. The truce was effective at 2200.
Saint Paul
then commenced patrol duties along the east coast of Korea.
Post-Korea
[
edit
]
Saint Paul
returned to the western Pacific again in May 1954; and, later that year, she was on hand when the Chinese Communists were threatening the Nationalist Chinese islands of the
Quemoy Islands
group. From 19 November 1954 to 12 July 1955, she operated with the
7th Fleet
in Japanese and Chinese waters, particularly between
Taiwan
and the Chinese mainland, playing a major role in protecting
United States
interests in the Far East. She returned to
Long Beach, California
, for repairs and an overhaul which included enclosing the command and flag bridge levels. Following this work she was back in the western Pacific from 15 August 1955 to 10 January 1956 serving as flagship for the 7th Fleet.
Saint Paul
returned to
Long Beach, California
, in February and subsequently moved to
Bremerton, Washington
, for upkeep and overhaul. This overhaul period included removing the forward 5" gun turret and adding a large deck house between the funnels to accommodate enhanced flagship facilities. This work was completed by late summer, and in September, she became flagship for the
1st Fleet
and entertained the
Secretary of the Navy
during a fleet review at Long Beach. She departed that port on 6 November; and, after refresher training at
San Diego, California
, arrived at
Yokosuka
,
Japan
, on 29 September to relieve
Rochester
as 7th Fleet flagship. She spent most of her time in
Keelung
or
Kaohsiung
,
Taiwan
, with periods of training in the
Philippines
and port calls at
Buckner Bay
,
Hong Kong
,
Manila
, and
Sasebo
. On 26 April 1957, she headed home.
Saint Paul
arrived at
Long Beach, California
, on 21 May and subsequently cruised along the West Coast, as far north as
Seattle, Washington
, until she sailed once more on 3 February 1958 for the Far East. She made an extensive cruise beginning at
Pearl Harbor
. Thence she steamed to
Wellington
, New Zealand; proceeded past
Guadalcanal
and north through the
Solomon Islands
to
New Georgia
; visited the
Caroline Islands
; and ended at
Yokosuka
on 9 March. She repeated her past WestPac deployments with duties as flagship, and exercises in the
Philippines
, before returning to Long Beach on 25 August for maintenance and upkeep. Sailing from
Long Beach, California
, on 4 May 1959,
Saint Paul
became the first major
United States Navy
ship to be homeported in the Far East since before
World War II
. Based at
Yokosuka
, she did not return to Long Beach until 39 months later.
In late 1963 through summer 1964, as one of the only World War II cruisers still in commission and still in her wartime all-gun configuration (several others were in commission, but had been extensively modernized into
guided missile cruisers
),
Saint Paul
was extensively used in the filming of the motion picture
In Harm's Way
, starring
John Wayne
. In the movie, it is apparent that the ship has been slightly modified according to the standard of the
Baltimore
class - the front 5-inch cannon turret has been removed, leading to the larger gap between the bridge and second 8-inch turret, so in the movie the cruiser no longer has 12 5-inch guns, but only 10 5-inch guns. In addition, her original 40mm quadruple turrets had been replaced with 3-inch twin turrets. The ship was never mentioned by her actual name (her large hull number on the bow was painted over), but was simply referred to as "Old Swayback" and was supposedly commanded by Wayne's character as a captain, served as his flagship as a rear admiral, and was later sunk during a crucial battle with the Japanese.
St. Paul
'
s forward
8"/55 caliber (203-mm) guns
fire at enemy targets ashore in
North Vietnam
in October 1966 during the
Vietnam War
.
After her movie filming stint was over, she assumed duties as 1st Fleet flagship and did not return to WestPac until 1966. From that year, she made five successful deployments with the 7th Fleet in operations off North and South
Vietnam
, providing gunfire support to allied troops. Reminiscent of her Korean operations,
Saint Paul
was hit on 1 September 1967 by a shell which struck her starboard bow, near the water line. None of her crew was injured; and her engineers repaired the slight damage, enabling her to continue her mission. For her service,
Saint Paul
earned the
Navy Unit Commendation
and two
Meritorious Unit Commendations
.
Saint Paul
shelling
Vietnam
in 1969.
At
San Diego, California
on 7 December 1970,
Saint Paul
began inactivation procedures. She sailed to
Bremerton, Washington
, on 1 February 1971, where she was decommissioned on 30 April after 26 continuous years of active service to her country, and was placed in reserve with the Puget Sound Group of the
Pacific Reserve Fleet
.
Saint Paul
was the last all-gun
Baltimore
-class cruiser in US Navy service while
Chicago
and
Columbus
soldiered on until 1980 as
Albany
-class
guided missile cruisers
.
Struck from the
Naval Vessel Register
on 31 July 1978,
Saint Paul
was sold for scrapping in January 1980.
Saint Paul
'
s
ship's bell
is now displayed in
Saint Paul City Hall
on the third floor between the city council and mayoral offices, in an area also containing a listing of the
United States Naval Reserve
personnel from Saint Paul who served aboard the destroyer
USS
Ward
(DD-139)
when she fired the first American shots of World War II.
[5]
Awards
[
edit
]
Notes
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
This article incorporates text from the
public domain
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships
. The entry can be found
here
.
External links
[
edit
]
- Photo gallery
of USS
Saint Paul
(CA-73) at NavSource Naval History