USS Manchester (CL-83)

History
USS Manchester (CL-83), "Returning to bombline off coast of Korea after a short rest period in Yokosuka, Japan." (Quoted from the original caption). The photo is dated November 1953, but was actually taken during Manchester's first two Korean War tours, 1950-52. All of her 6-inch gun turrets, four of her 5"/38 gun mounts and all of her main and secondary gun directors are trained on the port beam.

Name:	Manchester
Namesake:	City of Manchester, New Hampshire
Builder:	Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation's Fore River Shipyard, Quincy, Massachusetts
Laid down:	25 September 1944
Launched:	5 March 1946
Sponsored by:	Mrs. Ernest J. Gladu
Commissioned:	29 October 1946
Decommissioned:	27 June 1956
Struck:	1 April 1960
Identification:	Hull symbol:CL-83 Code letters:NUJZ
Honors and awards:	9 × battle stars for Korean War
Fate:	Sold for scrap on 31 October 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) @ 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 × quad 40 mm (1.6 in) Bofors anti-aircraft guns 6 × dual 40 mm (1.6 in) Bofors anti-aircraft guns 10 × 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:	Korean War
Awards:	9 × battle stars

USS Manchester (CL-83), a Cleveland-class light cruiser of the United States Navy, was laid down 25 September 1944 by the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation's Fore River Shipyard, Quincy, Massachusetts; launched 5 March 1946; sponsored by Mrs. Ernest J. Gladu; and commissioned 29 October 1946, Capt. Peter G. Hale in command.

Manchester completed her shakedown cruise in the Caribbean and returned to Boston, her home port, 26 March 1947. There she was equipped with an experimental plastic cover for her bridge to be tested on her first transatlantic crossing. On 18 April, she steamed for the Mediterranean to lend visible support to the Truman Doctrine of 12 March. Returning to the East Coast for two weeks in June, she conducted a Naval Reserve training cruise out of Newport, R.I. She resumed her Mediterranean cruise 25 June, returning to Boston 30 November. Manchester completed two more deployments with the 6th Fleet (9 February to 26 June 1948, 3 January to 4 March 1949) before departing Philadelphia 18 March for assignment with the Pacific Fleet.

She arrived at Long Beach 3 April and departed two weeks later for the politically volatile Far East, entering the harbor at Tsingtao, China, 15 May. The cruiser operated in the Yellow, East China, and South China Seas until returning to Long Beach 28 November.

During this time, the Nationalist Chinese forces, having suffered extreme setbacks, had begun their withdrawal to the island of Taiwan, 16 July, and the People's Republic of China had been proclaimed at Peiping, 1 October 1949. The success of the Red Chinese bolstered other Asian Communist aspirations. On 25 June 1950, North Korean leaders ordered their troops to cross the 38th parallel into South Korea. The United Nations quickly declared North Korea the aggressor and called on members of that body to repel the invasion, 26 to 27 June.

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