USS Portland (CA-33)

History
USS Portland (CA-33), at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 14 June 1942.
United States
Name:	Portland
Namesake:	City of Portland, Maine
Ordered:	13 February 1929
Awarded:	15 August 1929
Builder:	Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation's Fore River Shipyard, Quincy, Massachusetts
Cost:	$10,753,000 (contract price)
Laid down:	17 February 1930
Launched:	21 May 1932
Sponsored by:	Mrs. Ralph D. Brooks
Completed:	15 August 1932
Commissioned:	23 February 1933
Decommissioned:	12 July 1946
Struck:	1 March 1959
Identification:	Hull symbol:CL-33 Hull symbol:CA-33 Code letters:NACB
Nickname(s):	"Sweet Pea"
Honors and awards:	16 × battle stars
Fate:	Sold for scrap, 6 October 1959
General characteristics (as built)
Class and type:	Portland-class cruiser
Displacement:	9,800 long tons (10,000 t) (standard)
Length:	610 ft 3 in (186.00 m) oa 582 ft (177 m) wl
Beam:	66 ft 1 in (20.14 m)
Draft:	17 ft 1 in (5.21 m) (mean) 24 ft (7.3 m) (max)
Installed power:	8 × Yarrow boilers 107,000 shp (80,000 kW)
Propulsion:	4 × Parsons reduction steam turbines 4 × screws
Speed:	32.7 kn (60.6 km/h; 37.6 mph)
Range:	10,000 nmi (19,000 km; 12,000 mi) @ 15 kn (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Capacity:	Fuel oil: 1,600 long tons (1,600 t)
Complement:	91 officers 757 enlisted men
Armament:	9 × 8 in (200 mm)/55 caliber guns (3x3) 8 × 5 in (130 mm)/25 caliber anti-aircraft guns 2 × 3-pounder47 mm (1.9 in) saluting guns 8 × caliber 0.50 in (13 mm) machine guns
Armor:	Belt: 3 ¹⁄₄–5 in (83–127 mm) Deck: 2 ¹⁄₂ in (64 mm) Barbettes: 1 ¹⁄₂ in (38 mm) Turrets: 1 ¹⁄₂–2 ¹⁄₂ in (38–64 mm) Conning Tower: 1 ¹⁄₄ in (32 mm)
Aircraft carried:	4 × floatplanes
Aviation facilities:	2 × Amidship catapults
General characteristics (1945)
Armament:	9 × 8 in (200 mm)/55 caliber guns (3x3) 8 × 5 in (130 mm)/25 caliber anti-aircraft guns 2 × 3-pounder47 mm (1.9 in) saluting guns 4 × quad 40 mm (1.6 in) Bofors anti-aircraft guns 4 × twin 40 mm (1.6 in) Bofors anti-aircraft guns 17 × single 20 mm (0.79 in) Oerlikon anti-aircraft cannons

USS Portland (CL/CA–33), the lead ship of her class of cruiser, was the first ship of the United States Navy named after the city of Portland, Maine. Launched in 1932, she saw a number of training and goodwill cruises in the interwar period. In World War II, she saw extensive service beginning at the 1942 Battle of Coral Sea, where she escorted the aircraft carrier Yorktown and picked up survivors from the sunken carrier Lexington. She screened for Yorktown again in the Battle of Midway, picking up her survivors as well. She then supported the carrier Enterprise during the initial phase of the Guadalcanal Campaign later that year, and was torpedoed during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal. The torpedo inflicted heavy damage which put her out of action for six months as she was repaired in Sydney, Australia and later San Diego, California.

Returning to action in mid-1943, she saw action in many of the major campaigns of the Pacific War, conducting shore bombardments in support of campaigns at the Aleutian Islands, Gilbert and Marshall Islands, Mariana Islands, and New Guinea. She was involved in the October 1944 Battle of Leyte Gulf, engaging Japanese ships in the decisive Battle of Surigao Strait. She then conducted shore bombardments at Lingayen Gulf and Corregidor Island, and in 1945 supported landings during the Battle of Okinawa until the end of the war.

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