A Portland class heavy cruiser was one of two large and fast warships which were built for the US Navy between 1930 and 1932. They were the USS Indianapolis (CA-35) and the USS Portland (CA-33). Both of them would see combat action in the Pacific Theater of Operation of World War II. However, only the second one survived the war, as USS Indianapolis would be sunk by the Japanese submarine I-58 on July 30, 1945, with one torpedo. This class of heavy cruisers had been preceded by the Northampton class, which comprised six warships. Thus, the new vessels were slightly longer (610-ft long compared to the 600 feet of their predecessors). They also had further improvements to the armor protection.
The two Portland class heavy cruisers saw intense naval combat action throughout the war in the Pacific. Having been commissioned on February 23, 1933, USS Portland (CA-33) was assigned to Task Force 17. During her first serious military engagement, she was hit by three air-launched torpedoes, which failed to explode, at the Battle of Santa Cruz Islands in October 1942. However, she would be less fortunate at Guadalcanal, when she was hit by a destroyer-launched torpedo and severely damaged on November 13, 1942. After being repaired, she returned to duty and took part in the Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaigns. After the war, Portland was in reserve for many years until 1959, the year she was scrapped.
The USS Indianapolis had been commissioned in November 1932. When the United States entered the war, she was assigned to Task Force 11 as an escort of carrier USS Saratoga (CV-3). After participating in the Aleutian Islands campaign, she was transferred to the 5th Fleet, becoming the flagship of Vice Admiral Raymond A. Spruance. In November 1943, she took part of the Gilbert Islands campaign and the invasion of Tarawa. Just before the end of the war, she sailed alone to Tinian, Mariana Islands, on a secret mission, without escort, as she had been assigned to carry critical components of the first atomic bomb that would be dropped on Hiroshima. After successfully completing the mission, USS Indianapolis was attacked and hit by the Japanese submarine I-58 on July 30, 1945. She sank an hour later and most of her crew were eaten by sharks.
Specifications
Type: heavy cruiser
Displacement: 10,258 tons, standard; 12,755 tons, full loaded.
Length: 185.9 m (610 feet)
Beam: 20.1 m (66 feet)
Draft: 6.4 m (21 feet)
Propulsion: four Parsons geared turbines, with four shafts, supplied by eight boilers, generating 107,000 sHP.
Maximum Speed: 32.7 knots (60.6 km/h or 37.6 mph)
Range: 13,000 nautical miles (14,960 miles)
Complement: 900 men (on the day she was sunk)
Armor: 58-mm-thick on belt.
Armament: nine 203-mm (8-inch) naval guns set up in three triplet turrets; eight 127-mm (5-inch) guns.
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| Above, USS Portland (CA-33) being repaired in drydock in late 1942, after being damaged off the coast of Guadalcanal. |
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| USS Indianapolis (CA-35) in late 1932 after completion. |