USS Springfield (CL-66)
USS Springfield (CL-66) fires her 6"/47 and 5"/38 guns, during gunnery practice in the Pacific, circa 1947-1948.
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| History | |
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 United States
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| Name: | Springfield |
| Namesake: |
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| Builder: | Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation's Fore River Shipyard, Quincy, Massachusetts |
| Laid down: | 13 February 1943 |
| Launched: | 9 March 1944 |
| Sponsored by: |
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| Commissioned: | 9 September 1944 |
| Decommissioned: | 30 September 1949 |
| Reclassified: |
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| Refit: | 1957–1960 |
| Recommissioned: | 2 July 1960 |
| Decommissioned: | 15 May 1974 |
| Struck: | 31 July 1980 |
| Identification: |
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| Motto: | "Power for Peace" |
| Honors and awards: |
 2 × battle stars
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| Fate: | Sold for scrap on 11 March 1980 |
| Badge: |  |
| General characteristics (as built) | |
| Class and type: | Cleveland-class Light cruiser |
| Displacement: |
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| Length: | |
| Beam: | 66 ft 4 in (20.22 m) |
| Draft: |
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| Propulsion: |
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| 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: |
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| Armor: |
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| Aircraft carried: | 4 × floatplanes |
| Aviation facilities: | 2 × stern catapults |
| General characteristics (1960 rebuild) | |
| Class and type: | Providence-class guided missile cruiser |
| Displacement: | 15,025 long tons (15,266 t) |
| Armament: |
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| Service record | |
| Operations: | World War II |
| Awards: | 2 × battle stars |
USS Springfield (CL-66/CLG-7/CG-7) was one of 27 Cleveland-class light cruisers built for the United States Navy during World War II. She was the third US Navy ship to be named after Springfield, Illinois. Commissioned in 1944, she served briefly in the Atlantic before transferring to the Pacific. There she served with fast carrier task forces, primarily in an anti-aircraft role, but also in a shore bombardment role in the last stages of the Pacific War. She earned two battle stars for wartime service. Like all but one of her sister ships, she was decommissioned and laid up soon after the end of World War II.
In the late 1950s she was one of three Cleveland-class ships to be converted into Providence-class guided missile cruisers. As part of this conversion, she was modified to become a flagship, which involved expanding her forward superstructure and removing most of her forward armament. She was recommissioned in 1960 as CLG-7 (later redesignated as CG-7). In her second career, she served entirely in the Atlantic and Mediterranean. She was decommissioned for the final time in 1974 and sold for scrap six years later.
Springfield was laid down on 13 February 1943 by Bethlehem Steel Corp. at its Fore River yard, Quincy, Mass.; launched on 9 March 1944; co-sponsored by Mrs. Angelina Bertera of Springfield, Massachusetts, and Miss Norma McCurley of Springfield, Illinois; and commissioned on 9 September 1944 at Boston, Mass., Capt. Felix L. Johnson in command.
On 7 November, the light cruiser headed out of Boston harbor on her maiden voyage. Two days later, she put in at Norfolk, Va.; and, after several days of gunnery practice in the Chesapeake Bay, she started south for the British West Indies. The ship arrived in the Gulf of Paria, Trinidad, on the 21st and conducted shakedown training in that area during the following month. Springfield completed her shakedown training on 21 December and sailed back to Boston.
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Wikipedia