USS Columbia (CL-56)

History
USS Columbia (CL-56), port bow aerial view while underway on 15 May 1945 off San Pedro, California.
United States
Name:	Columbia
Namesake:	City of Columbia, South Carolina
Builder:	New York Shipbuilding Corporation, Camden, New Jersey
Laid down:	18 August 1940
Launched:	17 December 1941
Sponsored by:	Miss J. A. Paschal
Commissioned:	29 July 1942
Decommissioned:	30 November 1946
Struck:	1 March 1959
Identification:	Hull symbol:CL-56 Code letters:NICN
Motto:	"Gem of the Pacific"
Honors and awards:	10 × Battle stars Navy Unit Commendation
Fate:	Sold for scrap, 18 February 1959
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; 13,000 mi) 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 8 × 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
Service record
Operations:	World War II
Awards:	Navy Unit Commendation 10 × Battle stars

USS Columbia (CL-56) was one of 26 United States Navy Cleveland-class light cruisers completed during or shortly after World War II. The ship, the sixth US Navy ship to bear the name, was named for the city of Columbia, South Carolina. Columbia was commissioned in July 1942, and saw service in several campaigns in the Pacific. Like almost all her sister ships, she was decommissioned shortly after the end of the war, and never saw active service again. Columbia was scrapped in the early 1960s. A memorial to the ship and men who served on her exists in Columbia, SC.

Columbia was laid down on 18 August 1940 by the New York Shipbuilding Corp., Camden, New Jersey; and launched on 17 December 1941 sponsored by Miss J. A. Paschal. She was commissioned on 29 July 1942, with Captain W. A. Heard in command.

Sailing from Norfolk on 9 November 1942, Columbia arrived at Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides on 10 December, and joined in the patrols west of the New Hebrides in support of the continuing struggle for Guadalcanal. On 29 January 1943, while cruising off Rennell Island to cover the movement of transports to Guadalcanal, Columbia's group came under heavy air attack, and the battle of Rennell Island followed, with land and carrier-based aircraft joining in to protect the American ships. Columbia aided in shooting down three enemy planes in this battle. Based out of Efate from 1 February, Columbia continued her patrols in the Solomons, and in June carried out a bombardment and mining mission on 29–30 June, coordinated with the New Georgia landings. On 11–12 July, she bombarded Munda, and until 5 September, when she sailed for a brief overhaul at Sydney, patrolled southeast of the Solomons.

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