USS Tucson (CL-98)

USS Tucson (CL-98)
History
United States
Name:	Tucson
Namesake:	City of Tucson, Arizona
Builder:	Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation, San Francisco, California
Laid down:	23 December 1942
Launched:	3 September 1944
Sponsored by:	Mrs. Emmett S. Claunch, Sr.
Commissioned:	3 February 1945
Decommissioned:	11 June 1949
Reclassified:	CLAA-98 18 March 1949
Struck:	1 June 1966
Identification:	Hull symbol:CL-98 Hull symbol:CLAA-98 Code letters:NBRQ
Honors and awards:	1 × battle stars
Fate:	Sold for scrap on 24 February 1971
General characteristics (as built)
Class and type:	Atlanta-class light cruiser
Displacement:	6,718 long tons (6,826 t) (standard) 8,340 long tons (8,470 t) (max)
Length:	541 ft 6 in (165.05 m) oa
Beam:	53 ft (16 m)
Draft:	20 ft 6 in (6.25 m) (mean) 26 ft 6 in (8.08 m) (max)
Installed power:	4 × Steam boilers 75,000 shp (56,000 kW)
Propulsion:	2 × geared turbines 2 × screws
Speed:	32.5 kn (37.4 mph; 60.2 km/h)
Complement:	688 officers and enlisted
Armament:	12 × 5 in (127 mm)/38 caliber Mark 12 guns (6×2) 8 × dual 40 mm (1.6 in) Bofors anti-aircraft guns 16 × 20 mm (0.79 in) Oerlikon anti-aircraft cannons 8 × 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes (removed before end of World War II) 6 × depth charge projectors 2 × depth charge tracks
Armor:	Belt: 1.1–3 3⁄4 in (28–95 mm) Deck: 1 1⁄4 in (32 mm) Turrets: 1 1⁄4 in (32 mm) Conning Tower: 2 1⁄2 in (64 mm)

USS Tucson (CL-98) was a modified Atlanta-class light cruiser, sometimes referred to as an "Oakland-class". She was laid down on 23 December 1942 in San Francisco, California by the Bethlehem Steel Corporation; launched on 3 September 1944; sponsored by Mrs. Emmett S. Claunch, Sr.; and commissioned on 3 February 1945, Captain Arthur D. Ayrault in command. She was named after Tucson, Arizona.

Following outfitting at San Francisco and shakedown out of San Diego, Tucson sailed for the western Pacific on 8 May. She stopped at Pearl Harbor on 13 May for three weeks of additional training before resuming her voyage west on 2 June. She stopped overnight at Ulithi on 13 June and 14 June, then continued on to the Philippines, and reached Leyte on 16 June. The cruiser was assigned to the screen of the Task Force 38 (TF 38), specifically to that of Rear Admiral Gerald F. Bogan's Task Group 38.3 (TG 38.3) built around Essex, Ticonderoga, Randolph, Monterey, and Bataan.

Tucson joined the fast carriers just in time to participate in their final rampage against the Japanese Empire and its inner defenses. On 1 July, she sortied from Leyte Gulf with TF 38 and headed north to the Japanese home islands. On 10 July, the flattops launched planes against Tokyo. On 14–15 July, TF 38's air groups struck Hokkaidō and northern Honshū. They returned to southern Honshū on the 17–18 July to blast Tokyo again and then left the area for almost a week. On 24 July and 28 July, she appeared with the carriers south of Shikoku while their planes hit shipping in the Inland Sea. On 30 July, they zeroed in on Kobe and Nagoya. After that, they retired south to fuel and replenish before striking out northward. By the second week of August, Tucson was off northern Honshū screening the carriers while their planes pounded the island once more. She then accompanied them south to pummel Tokyo again on 13 August. Two days later, Japan capitulated.

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