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In 1921, the Washington Naval Treaty sharply limited the building of
capital ships, defined as ships over 10,000 tons and with guns over 8
inches. Unsurprisingly, in the Twenties and Thirties, cruisers like Portland appeared in many navies:
warships displacing precisely 9,950 tons and carrying no guns larger
than 8 inches. With aircraft carriers also restricted by the treaty,
floatplanes on cruisers like Portland added a little air capability to
the fleet.
The
first Portland (CA–33), a heavy cruiser, was authorized 13
February
1929; laid down by Bethlehem Steel Co., Shipbuilding Div., Quincy’
Mass. 17 February 1930; launched 21 May 1932; sponsored by Mrs. Ralph
D. Brooks of Portland; and commissioned 23 February 1933,
Captain H. F.
Leary in command. A 9,950 ton cruiser, Portland was 610 feet
long, armed with nine 8 inch guns and eight 5 inch guns. A
distinctive catapult amidships serviced a float plane.
Departing Boston 1 April 1933, the cruiser arrived Gravesend Bay, N.Y.
the evening of 3 April. The next night she received word that dirigible
Akron was down at sea. Thirtysix minutes after receipt of the message
the ship was underway. Racing seaward, she was the first naval vessel
at the scene of the disaster, and the task of search and rescue
coordination was thus hers. Seventy-three lives were lost in the
disaster, including that of Admiral William Moffett, Chief, Bureau of
Aeronautics.
Portland steamed from San Diego, Calif. 2 October 1935 astern
Houston
(CA–30) which carried President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The following
days the President and his party fished. After calling at Panama and
several other ports, the two ships steamed to Charleston, S.C. where
the President disembarked.
During Pacific Fleet maneuvers Portland crossed the equator for
the
first time 20 May 1936. From thence until the outbreak of war she was
engaged in peacetime training and goodwill missions as a unit of
Cruiser Division 5, Scouting Force.
When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, Portland was two
days out
enroute Midway with a carrier group. Through the remainder of December
and until 1 May 1942 she operated between the west coast, Hawaii, and
Fiji.
Two weeks later she
participated in the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal (12–15 November) which
resulted in heavy damage to both forces but broke up the determined
Japanese effort to disrupt the landing of 6,000 American troops on
Guadalcanal, to bombard Henderson Field, and to land
reinforcements.
During this action 13 November 1942, Portland took a torpedo
hit at
0158 on the starboard quarter, which blew off both inboard propellers,
jammed the rudder five degrees right, and jammed number three turret in
train and elevation. A four degree list was quickly corrected by
shifting ballast, but the steering casualty could not be overcome and
the ship was forced to steam in circles to starboard.
At the end of the first circle a Japanese battleship, illuminated by
nearby burning ships and flares, was taken under fire by Portland’s
forward turrets. The enemy returned the fire, but all salvos passed
over the cruiser. In the four six-gun salvos returned by Portland,
she
succeeded in starting fires in the Japanese heavy. Then again at 0630,
still circling, Portland opened fire on an enemy destroyer at a
range
of six miles. On the sixth salvo the destroyer exploded, rolled over,
and sank within five minutes.
With the assistance of Higgins boats, a YP, and a tug, Portland
anchored at Tulagi 14 November. From there she was towed to Sydney,
Australia for preliminary repairs prior to overhaul in the United
States. Following short stops at Samoa and Pearl Harbor, the ship
arrived Mare Island Navy Yard 3 March 1943.
After operational training in southern Californian waters, Portland
steamed for the Aleutians late in May, arriving 11 June and bombarding
Kiska 26 July. After covering a reconaissance landing on Little Kiska
17 August, she called at Pearl Harbor 23 September, thence to San
Francisco in early October, then back to Pearl Harbor in
mid-October.
From November 1943 through February 1944, Portland participated
in the
Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaigns. She next screened carriers
during air strikes against Palau, Yap, Ulithi, and Woleai 30 March–1
April.
The ship then steamed with a carrier force assigned to cover the
landing in the Hollandia-Tanahmerah area of New Guinea 21–24 April.
Cruising northward again the force struck at Truk and, in company with
five other cruisers, and destroyers, Portland bombarded Satawan
in the
Nomei Group.
Following this series of operations Portland steamed for Mare
Island
for overhaul, completed in time for her return to the western Pacific
for pre-landing bombardments of Peleliu 12–14 September. The cruiser
supported the landing on Peleliu 15 September; and, for the four
following days, her guns blasted enemy positions that threatened the
advance of allied forces. She provided gunfire support at Peleliu
through 29 September and then steamed for Seeadler Harbor, Manus, the
Admiralties.
Portland next joined a powerful force in the first heavy surface
strike
on the central Philippines. She arrived off Leyte 17 October, entering
the Gulf the next day-two days before A-Day. For those two days her
guns softened up enemy held positions in preparation for the
landing.
The night of 24 October a strong Japanese force consisting of two
battleships, one heavy cruiser, and four destroyers headed for Surigao
Strait with the apparent intent of raiding shipping in Leyte Gulf. The
Japanese force advanced in rough column up the narrow strait during
darkness, while Portland and her sisters steamed across the top
of the
strait, crossing the enemy’s T. The Japanese were first met by PT
boats, then in succession by three coordinated destroyer torpedo
attacks, and finally by devastating gunfire from American battleships
and cruisers disposed across the northern end of the strait. The
Japanese force was utterly defeated, losing two battleships and three
destroyers.
From 3 January through 1 March 1945, Portland participated
in the
operations at Lingayen Gulf and Corregidor. Arriving off Lingayen Gulf
5 January and bombarding the vicinity of Cape Bolinao, she entered the
Gulf the same day and commenced bambardment of the eastern shore but
discontinued immediately when a heavy suicide air attack came in.
Portland entered Manila Bay 15 February and bombarded the south
shore
of Corregidor in preparation for landings there. She returned to Leyte
Gulf 1 March for her first availability for repairs, and replenishment
of general stores in five months.
From 26 March through 20 April, while conducting operations in support
of the Okinawa campaign, Portland underwent twenty-four air
raids, shot
down four enemy aircraft, and assisted in downing two others. From 8
May until 17 June she participated in the bombardment and capture of
Okinawa, departing 17 June for upkeep at Leyte. At Buckner Bay 6 August
she commenced upkeep and training.
With the termination of hostilities Portland was designated
flagship of
Vice Admiral George D. Murray, Commander Marianas, who was to accept
the surrender of the Carolines. The ship steamed to Truk Atoll and
there Admiral Murray, acting for Fleet Admiral Nimitz, accepted the
formal capitulation of the senior Japanese military and civilian
officials in ceremonies in Portland.
Portland called at Pearl Harbor 21–24 September, there embarking
600
troops for transportation to the United States. Transiting the Panama
Canal 8 October, she continued to the U.S., calling at Portland,
Maine
for Navy Day celebrations 27 October. She reported 11 March 1946 to the
Philadelphia Naval Shipyard for inactivation and assignment to the
Reserve Fleet. She decommissioned at Philadelphia 12 July 1946 and was
maintained in reserve status until struck from the Navy List 1 March
1959. The cruiser was sold to Union Mineral and Alloys Corp., New York,
N.Y. 6 October 1959 and scrapped.
Portland received sixteen battle stars for World War II service.
Sources: Public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships
and pictures from my father's 1943 Naval Recognition Manual
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