USS Cleveland (CL-55)

History
USS Cleveland (CL-55), underway at sea in late 1942. Note that the ship's forward six-inch gun turrets and gun director appear to be tracking the photo aircraft.
United States
Name:	Cleveland
Namesake:	City of Cleveland, Ohio
Ordered:	17 May 1938
Builder:	New York Shipbuilding Corporation, Camden, New Jersey
Yard number:	Hull No. 423
Laid down:	1 July 1940
Launched:	1 November 1941
Commissioned:	15 June 1942
Decommissioned:	7 February 1947
Struck:	1 March 1959
Identification:	Hull symbol:CL-55 Code letters:NICM
Nickname(s):	"Charlie Love Five Five"
Honors and awards:	13 × battle stars
Fate:	Sold for scrap 18 February 1960
General characteristics
Class and type:	Cleveland-class Light cruiser
Displacement:	11,744 long tons (11,932 t) (standard) 14,131 long tons (14,358 t) (max)
Length:	610 ft 1 in (185.95 m) oa 608 ft (185 m)pp
Beam:	66 ft 4 in (20.22 m)
Draft:	25 ft 6 in (7.77 m) (mean) 25 ft (7.6 m) (max)
Installed power:	4 × 634 psi Steam boilers 100,000 shp (75,000 kW)
Propulsion:	4 × geared turbines 4 × screws
Speed:	32.5 kn (37.4 mph; 60.2 km/h)
Range:	11,000 nmi (20,000 km) at 15 kn (17 mph; 28 km/h)
Complement:	1,255 officers and enlisted
Armament:	4 × triple 6 in (150 mm)/47 caliber Mark 16 guns 6 × dual 5 in (130 mm)/38 caliber anti-aircraft guns 4 × dual 40 mm (1.6 in) Bofors anti-aircraft guns 13 × single 20 mm (0.79 in) Oerlikon anti-aircraft cannons
Armor:	Belt: 3 ¹⁄₂–5 in (89–127 mm) Deck: 2 in (51 mm) Barbettes: 6 in (150 mm) Turrets: 1 ¹⁄₂–6 in (38–152 mm) Conning Tower: 2 ¹⁄₄–5 in (57–127 mm)
Aircraft carried:	4 × floatplanes
Aviation facilities:	2 × stern catapults

USS Cleveland (CL-55) was the lead ship and one of the 28 United States Navy Cleveland-class light cruisers completed during or shortly after World War II. She was the second ship to be named for the city of Cleveland, Ohio.

Cleveland was commissioned in June 1942, and saw extensive service in the war, in both the Mediterranean and Pacific theaters. Like almost all of her sister ships, she was decommissioned shortly after the end of the war, and never saw active service again. Cleveland was scrapped in the early 1960s.

On 1 November 1941, Hull No. 423 was launched and christened USS Cleveland (CL-55). Built by New York Shipbuilding Corporation of Camden, New Jersey, and sponsored by Mrs. H. Burton, Cleveland was commissioned on 15 June 1942 with Captain E. W. Burrough in command.

Clearing Norfolk's Chesapeake Bay on 10 October 1942, Cleveland joined a task force off Bermuda (on 29 October) bound for the invasion of North Africa – the first new class of ship to enter World War II. Her firepower supported the landings at Fedhala, French Morocco on 8 November, and she remained on patrol until 12 November, returning to Norfolk on 24 November.

Cleveland sailed for the Pacific on 5 December 1942, and arrived at Efate Island on 16 January. Her first mission in the consolidation of the Solomon Islands was with Task Force 18 (TF 18) to guard a troop convoy to Guadalcanal from 27 to 31 January, Cleveland fired on the enemy as she came under heavy air attack in the Battle of Rennell Island on 29–30 January.

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