USS Baltimore (CA-68)

USS Baltimore (CA-68), anchored in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, 22 September 1954.
History
United States
Name:	Baltimore
Namesake:	City of Baltimore, Maryland
Builder:	Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation's Fore River Shipyard, Quincy, Massachusetts
Laid down:	26 May 1941
Launched:	28 July 1942
Sponsored by:	Mrs. Howard W. Jackson
Commissioned:	15 April 1943
Decommissioned:	31 May 1956
Struck:	February 1971
Identification:	Hull symbol:CA-68 Code letters:NAKY Call sign:Housemaid
Honors and awards:	9 × battle stars
Fate:	Sold for scrap 10 April 1972
General characteristics
Class and type:	Baltimore-class heavy cruiser
Displacement:	14,472 long tons (14,704 t) (standard) 17,031 long tons (17,304 t) (max)
Length:	673 ft 5 in (205.26 m) oa
Beam:	70 ft 10 in (21.59 m)
Draft:	20 ft 6 in (6.25 m) (mean) 26 ft 10 in (8.18 m) (max)
Installed power:	4 × 615 psi Steam boilers 120,000 shp (89,000 kW)
Propulsion:	4 × General Electric geared turbines 4 × screws
Speed:	33 kn (38 mph; 61 km/h)
Range:	10,000 nmi (19,000 km) at 15 kn (17 mph; 28 km/h)
Complement:	1,142 officers and enlisted
Armament:	3 × triple 8 in (200 mm)/55 caliber guns 6 × dual 5 in (130 mm)/38 caliber anti-aircraft guns 12 × quad 40 mm (1.6 in) Bofors anti-aircraft guns 24 × single 20 mm (0.79 in) Oerlikon anti-aircraft cannons
Armor:	Belt: 4–6 in (100–150 mm) Deck: 2.5 in (64 mm) Barbettes: 6–6.3 in (150–160 mm) Turrets: 1.5–8 in (38–203 mm)
Aircraft carried:	4 × floatplanes
Aviation facilities:	2 × stern catapults

The fifth USS Baltimore (CA-68), the lead ship of the Baltimore-class heavy cruiser, was launched 28 July 1942 by Bethlehem Steel Company's, Fore River Shipyard, Quincy, Massachusetts, sponsored by Mrs. Howard W. Jackson, wife of the Mayor of Baltimore, commissioned 15 April 1943, Captain Walter C. Calhoun in command, and reported to the Pacific Fleet.

Between November 1943 and June 1944 Baltimore was a unit of the fire support and covering forces at the Makin Islands landings (20 November – 4 December 1943); Kwajalein invasion (29 January – 8 February 1944), and the Truk raid (16–17 February) and Eniwetok seizure (17 February – 2 March). On the 17th, Lt. (j.g.) Denver M. Baxter, USNR, flying one of the heavy cruiser's Vought OS2U Kingfishers, covered by two Grumman F6F Hellcats, rescued Lt. (jg.) George M. Blair, USNR, of VF-9 less than 6,000 yards from Dublon Island inside Truk lagoon where he had ditched his flak crippled Hellcat.

Baltimore continued to provide fire support in the Marianas attacks (21–22 February), the Palau-Yap-Ulithi-Woleai raid (30 March – 1 April); the Hollandia (currently known as Jayapura) landing (21–24 April); the Truk-Satawan-Ponape raid (29 April – 1 May), air strikes against Marcus Island (19–20 May) and Wake Island (23 May), the Saipan invasion (11–24 June); and the Battle of the Philippine Sea (19–20 June).