CHICAGO USS (CA-29)

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CHICAGO USS (CA-29)

Post by shipstamps » Tue Sep 30, 2008 4:12 pm


10 September 1928 keel laid down of a heavy-cruiser on the Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, California for the USS Navy.
10 April 1930 launched under the name USS CHICAGO (CA-29), the second ship in the USS navy to be named after the city Chicago. Sponsored by Miss Elizabeth Britten, a sister of a Congressman of Illinois. One of the Northampton class.
Displacement 9.300 tons standard, 12.350 tons full load, dim. 182.97 x 20.14 x 5.12m. (draught), length bpp. 177.4m.
Powered by four Parsons geared turbines, 107.000 shp. four shafts, speed 32.5 knots.
Range by 15 knots 13.000 mile.
Armament: 9 – 8 inch, 4 – 5 inch guns and 8 – 12.7mm AA guns. 6 – 21 inch torpedo tubes.
Crew 621, during war around 800 men.
Carried four floating planes, two catapults.
09 March 1931 commissioned, under command of Captain M. H. Simons.

April 1931 left and made first a shakedown cruise to Honolulu, Tahiti and American Samoa.
27 July 1931 she left Mare Island for the East Coast, arriving at Fort Ponds Bay, N.Y. on 15 August.
There she became flagship of Commander Cruiser, Scouting Four, and operated with that force until 1940.

In February 1932 CHICAGO in company with other ships of the Scouting Four, conducted gunnery exercises preliminary to the annual fleet problem off the California coast. The fleet was based on the west coast thereafter and, until 1934, operated in the Pacific, from Alaska to the Canal Zone and the Hawaii Islands. In 1934 the annual fleet exercises were held in the Caribbean, followed in May 1934 by the Presidential Fleet Review in New York Harbor. The Scouting Force operated along the east coast and the Caribbean until October 1934 and then returned to base at San Pedro, Calif.
CHICAGO continued to operate out of San Pedro until 29 September 1940 when she sailed to Pearl Harbor.

During the next 14 months, the heavy cruiser operated out of Pearl Harbor, exercising with various task forces to develop tactics and cruising formations, and cruising to Australia and to the west coast.
When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on 07 December 1941, CHICAGO was at sea with TF 12 and the Force immediately began a 5 day sweep in the Oahu-Johnston-Palmyra triangle in an effort to intercept the enemy. The Force returned to Pearl Harbor 12 December; between 14 and 27 December CHICAGO operated with TF 11 on patrol and search mission.

On 02 February 1942 CHCAGO departed Pearl Harbor for Suva Bay where she joined the newly formed Allied naval force. During March and April the heavy cruiser operated off the Louisiade Archipelago, covering the attacks on Lae and Salamaua, New Guinea. In a position to intercept enemy surface units which attempted to attack Port Moresby, CHICAGO also provided cover for the arrival of American troops on New Caledonia.

On 1 May 1942 CHICAGO was ordered from Noumea to join Commander, Southwest Pacific and on the 4th she supported YORKTOWN (CV-%) in her strike against the Japanese on Tulagi, Solomon Islands. On 7 May she proceeded, with the Support Group, to intercept and attack the Japanese Port Moresby invasion group. The following day the group underwent several Japanese air attacks, during which CHICAGO suffered several casualties from strafing, but drove off the planes and proceeded ahead until it was clear that the Japanese force had turned back.

On the night of 31 May/1 June 1942 while in port in Sydney harbour, Australia, the CHICAGO fired on an attacking Japanese midget submarine. On this night, three Japanese midget submarines attempted to enter Sydney Harbour. One of the subs became entangled in an Anti-submarine boom net. The other two submarines made it trough, one of which was disabled by depth charges, the other managed to fire two torpedoes at CHICAGO. One torpedo passed near CHICAGO and destroyed another vessel nearby whilst the second torpedo failing to detonate skidded ashore onto Garden Island. The primary mission for the crew on board the Japanese midget submarines was to sink the USS CHICAGO. They were unsuccessful.

During June and July 1942 CHICAGO continued to operate in the Southwest Pacific. Between 7 and 9 August, she supported the initial landings on Guadalcanal and others of the Solomon Islands, beginning America’s powerful counteroffensive from the sea that was to crush Japan. On 9 August she engaged in the Battle of Savo Island. Hit by a Japanese destroyer torpedo, Chicago fought damage while continuing to engage until contact with the enemy was lost. CHICAGO was repaired at Noumea, Sydney and San Francisco, where she arrived on 13 October.

Early in January 1943, CHICAGO departed San Francisco after her repair, action-bound once more. On 27 January she sailed from Noumea to escort a Guadalcanal convoy. On the night of the 29th, as the ships approached to that bitterly contested island, Japanese aircraft attacked the force and the Battle of Rennell was underway. During the attacks two burning Japanese planes silhouetted CHICAGO providing light for torpedo attacks; two hits caused severe flooding, and loss of power. By the time the attack ended fine work on board had checked CHICAGO’s list.
LOUISVILLE ()CA-28) took the disabled ship in tow and was relieved by a tug the following morning. During the afternoon the Japanese attacked again and despite heavy losses, managed to hit the disabled cruiser with four more torpedoes which sank her on 30 January 1943 in a position of 11 25S and 160 56E. with the loss of 6 officers and 56 men.

On Fiji 2005 83c sg?

Sources: mostly copied from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Chicago_(CA-29) The Encyclopedia of Warships.
http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/c7/chcago-ii.htm

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