Today's classic ship, USS Columbus (CA-74)
Baltimore class heavy cruiser
Displacement: 13,600 t.
Length: 674’11”
Beam: 70’10”
Draft: 26’5”
Speed: 32.6 k.
Complement: 1,902
Armament(as built): 9 8”; 12 5”; 48 40mm; 24 20mm; 4 Aircraft
The USS COLUMBUS (CA-74) was launched 30 November 1944 by Bethlehem Steel Co., Quincy, Mass.; sponsored by Mrs. E. G. Meyers; and commissioned 8 June 1945, Captain A. Hobbs in command.
Joining the Pacific Fleet, COLUMBUS reached Tsingtao China, 13 January 1946 for occupation duty. On 1 April, she helped to sink 24 Japanese submarines, prizes of war, and next day sailed for San Pedro, Calif. For the remainder of the year, she operated in west coast waters, then made a second Far Eastern cruise from 15 January to 12 June 1947.
After west coast operations and an overhaul at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, COLUMBUS cleared Bremerton 12 April 1948 to join the Atlantic Fleet, arriving at Norfolk, Va., 19 May. COLUMBUS made two cruises as flagship of Commander-in-Chief, Naval Forces, Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean, from 13 September 1948 to 15 December 1949 and from 12 June 1950 to 5 October 1951, and one as flagship of Supreme Allied Commander, Atlantic, during parts of NATO Operation "Mainbrace" from 25 August to 29 September 1952. She cruised in the Mediterranean from October 1952 through January 1953, serving part of that time as flagship of the 6th Fleet. Now flagship of Cruiser Division 6, she returned to the Mediterranean from September 1954 to January 1955. Between deployments, COLUMBUS received necessary overhauls and carried out training operations along the east coast and in the Caribbean.
Reassigned to the Pacific Fleet, COLUMBUS cleared Boston 8 November 1955 for Long Beach, Calif., where she arrived 2 December. Just a month later, on 5 January 1956, she sailed for Yokosuka, Japan, and operated with the 7th Fleet until she returned to Long Beach 8 July. COLUMBUS made two more cruises to the Far East in 1957 and 1958. During the late summer of 1958, her presence was a reminder of American strength and interest as she patrolled the Taiwan Straits during the crisis brought on by the renewed shelling of the offshore islands by the Chinese Communists. On 8 May 1959, COLUMBUS went out of commission at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard to begin her conversion to a guided missile cruiser, and she was reclassified CG-12, 30 September 1959.
Columbus underwent a massive conversion to a guided missile cruiser (CG-12) between May 1959 and late 1962. This work, carried out at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard at Bremerton, Washington, involved removing all her guns and original upper decks structure, plus much of her interior, and erecting a new, very high superstructure to carry an extensive array of radar antennas and other electronics. Launchers and magazines for long-range Talos missiles were installed fore and aft, while a smaller launcher for Tartar missiles was fitted on each side, and a launcher for ASROC anti-submarine rockets was located amidships. Two open 5-inch/38 guns were added later at the insistence of President Kennedy after he witnessed a Terrier missile (from another ship) fail to down an aerial target drone. The ship's appearance, and capabilities, were thus completely altered.
Columbus, now a member of the three-ship 13,700-ton Albany class, was recommissioned as CG-12 on 1 December 1962. She conducted extensive trials and training operations for more than a year, and in August 1964 deployed to the Western Pacific for a cruise that ended in February 1965, just prior to the full-scale U.S. entry into the Vietnam war. However, Columbus was to play no further role in that conflict. She transferred to the Atlantic Fleet in January 1966 and in October of that year began her first deployment to the Mediterranean Sea.
Following the end of that Sixth Fleet tour early in 1967 Columbus operated in the Caribbean and off the U.S. East Coast. She operated again in the Mediterranean in January to July 1968, December 1968 to May 1969, October 1969 to March 1970, and August 1970 to February 1971. The 1970-71 cruise included service during the Jordanian crisis. The cruiser received a major shipyard overhaul during much of the rest of 1971, then made another MedTour during May-October 1972, a time of expanding Soviet Navy activity in the area. Columbus conducted her final Sixth Fleet deployment between November 1973 and May 1974. That summer she began inactivation preparations. The ship was decommissioned 31 January 1975. Stricken from the Naval Vessel Register 9 August 1976, Columbus was sold for scrapping in August 1977.
No more Big Guns. Sigh...