USS Houston (CL-81)

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For other ships with the same name, see USS Houston.

USS Houston (CL-81) underway off Norfolk on 12 January 1944 (80-G-214200).jpg
USS Houston (January 1944)
History
United States
NameUSS Houston (CL-81)
NamesakeCity of Houston, Texas
BuilderNewport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company, Newport News, Virginia
Launched19 June 1943
Sponsored byMrs. C. B. Hamill
Commissioned20 December 1943
Decommissioned15 December 1947
Stricken1 March 1959
Identification
Honors and
awards		Bronze-service-star-3d.png 3 × battle stars
FateSold for scrap on 1 June 1961
General characteristics
Class and type Cleveland-class Light cruiser
Displacement
  • 11,744 long tons (11,932 t) (standard)
  • 14,131 long tons (14,358 t) (max)
Length
  • 610 ft 1 in (185.95 m) oa
  • 608 ft (185 m)pp
Beam66 ft 4 in (20.22 m)
Draft
  • 25 ft 6 in (7.77 m) (mean)
  • 25 ft (7.6 m) (max)
Installed power
  • 4 × 634 psi Steam boilers
  • 100,000 shp (75,000 kW)
Propulsion
  • 4 × geared turbines
  • 4 × screws
Speed32.5 kn (37.4 mph; 60.2 km/h)
Range11,000 nmi (20,000 km) @ 15 kn (17 mph; 28 km/h)
Complement1,255 officers and enlisted
Armament
Armor
  • Belt: 3+1⁄2–5 in (89–127 mm)
  • Deck: 2 in (51 mm)
  • Barbettes: 6 in (150 mm)
  • Turrets: 1+1⁄2–6 in (38–152 mm)
  • Conning Tower: 2+1⁄4–5 in (57–127 mm)
Aircraft carried4 × floatplanes
Aviation facilities2 × stern catapults

USS Houston (CL-81), was a Cleveland-class light cruiser and the third vessel in the United States Navy named after the city of Houston, Texas. She was active in the Pacific War for several months and survived two separate aerial torpedo hits in October 1944.

Renaming and construction[]

She was launched by Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company, Newport News, Virginia, on 19 June 1943, sponsored by Mrs C. B. Hamill. Originally named Vicksburg, her name had been changed on 12 October 1942 in honor of her predecessor USS Houston which had been sunk at the Battle of Sunda Strait. While the previous ship had received a heavy cruiser designation as she carried 8-inch guns, CL-81 was a light cruiser due to her 6-inch main battery but had a greater displacement due to higher levels of protection.

She was commissioned on 20 December 1943, with Captain William W. Behrens, USN, in command.[1]

With a nineteen-month period between the May 1942 enlistment of 1,000 Houston Volunteers sailors and the December 1943 commissioning, only one Houston Volunteer went on to serve aboard the new Houston.[2]

Service history[]

Houston departed Norfolk on 1 February 1944 for shakedown in the Caribbean Sea, and after a period of training out of Boston, she made for the Pacific on 16 April.[1]

Pacific[]

Houston arrived at Pearl Harbor via the Panama Canal and San Diego on 6 May, and after more training exercises arrived Majuro Atoll on 31 May to join Vice Admiral Marc Mitscher's huge Fast Carrier Task Force. From 5 June 1944Houston took part in the invasion of the Mariana and Palau Islands screening carrier units.[1]

As the forces of Admiral Richmond K. Turner landed on Saipan on 15 June, the Japanese made preparations for a "decisive" naval battle. The two fleets approached each other on 19 June for the largest aircraft carrier battle of the war. Four air raids hit the American fleet but the covering fighters and anti-aircraft fire from screening warships, destroyed many of the Japanese formations.[1]

In the Battle of the Philippine Sea, the first phase of which was dubbed "The Great Marianas Turkey Shoot", Japan's naval air power was struck a severe blow from which it never fully recovered and the invasion of the Mariana Islands was secured. After offensive raids had sunk Hiyō, and with two more Japanese carriers sunk by submarines, the battle ended with the task force returning to protect the Marianas. Houston remained to screen carrier strikes and engaged on 26 June in shore bombardment on Guam and Rota. She returned to Eniwetok on 12 August to prepare for the next operation.[1]

Assigned to the newly designated Task Group 38.2 (TG 38.2) under Rear Admiral Gerald F. Bogan, Houston steamed on 30 August to support air attacks on Palau on 6 September, after which she and a group of destroyers shelled Peleliu and other islands in preparation for the future amphibious landings. The carrier group next turned to the Philippines for strikes against airfields and shipping, and then returned to Peleliu to support the forces ashore from 17 to 19 September.[1]

Returning to Ulithi on 1 October 1944, Houston and her task group steamed five days later for an operation into the western Pacific, with airstrikes against Okinawa on 10 October. Two days later, the task force moved toward Formosa.[1]

In the Battle of Formosa, attacked Japanese bases and Japanese forces retaliated with heavy and repeated land-based air attacks. Houston claimed four aircraft shot down on 12 October. The following day USS Canberra was hit by an aerial torpedo and Houston took over her station on 14 October, Houston and other ships another endured another air raid claiming three of the attacking torpedo bombers. A fourth's torpedo hit her forward engine room flooding all four machinery spaces and causing the loss of propulsive power.

During the night Boston took her in tow for retirement to Ulithi, while Houston continued with damage control and the jettisoning of topside equipment. During the fifteenth and the morning of the sixteenth. By noon of the sixteenth, all second deck compartments were dry and several third deck compartments had been made watertight and dewatered and she was riding easily in tow.>

Second torpedo strike on Houston.

Fleet tug, Pawnee, had assumed the tow on 16 October. Late that afternoon, another Japanese airstrike from Formosa, struck Houston directly on her stern with another torpedo, parallel to her No.2 shaft, flooding her hangar and setting fire to the starboard tank for her scout planes. Ten men were blown over the side by the explosion. Of these, six were killed and the others wounded, one man was killed and six more wounded on board by falling debris.[3]

Evacuating all surplus sailors to the escorting ships, Captain Behrens and his damage control officer, with the aid of Houston's Executive Officer, Captain Clarence J. Broussard, kept the damage control parties working, and they managed to keep Houston afloat. Captain Broussard was later awarded the Silver Star for his actions. The Japanese believed "Cripple Division I" was the remnants of a Task Force 38 (TF 38) and Admiral William F. Halsey hoped to lure them into an attack on the two damaged cruisers.[1]

Part of the Japanese fleet did sortie from the Inland Sea, Japanese home islands, but after an air attack, retired to port. Houston and Canberra were soon out of range of Japanese land-based airpower, and they arrived at Ulithi on 27 October. After temporary repairs, Houston proceeded to Manus Island, and a floating dry dock to begin repairs. She arrived there on 20 December, and eventually steamed first to Pearl Harbor then to New York Navy Yard, as there was insufficient repair capacity available on the West Coast due to a large number of ships already undergoing repairs and overhauls. She arrived in New York on 24 March 1945.[1]

Post-War[]

Atlantic[]

A H Vedel onboard the USS Houston 1946

After extensive work in New York, Houston steamed out of New York harbor on 11 October 1945. Following refresher training in the Caribbean Sea, she took part in training exercises from Newport, Rhode Island. She steamed on 16 April 1946 for an extended goodwill tour of European and African ports, visiting cities in Scandinavia, Portugal, Italy, and Egypt.[1]

Houston returned to the US on 14 December 1946 and engaged in training and readiness operations until 17 May 1947, when she steamed with Cruiser Division 12 (CruDiv 12) for a Mediterranean Sea voyage.[1]

Decommissioning[]

Returning to Philadelphia on 16 August 1947, Houston was decommissioned on 15 December 1947, and then was placed in reserve for over a decade, and then finally stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 March 1959 and scrapped.[1] Her nameplate is on display at the Freedom Park (Omaha, Nebraska).[4]

Awards[]

Houston received three battle stars for World War II service.[1]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j k l m "Houston III (CL-81)". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Navy Department, Naval History and Heritage Command. 20 July 2015. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
  2. ^ Hornfischer, James D. (2006). Ship of ghosts: the story of the USS Houston, FDR's legendary lost cruiser, and the epic saga of her survivors. New York: Bantam Books. ISBN 978-0-553-80390-7. OCLC 69680190.
  3. ^ War damage report 53 USS Houston (CL-81) at www.history.navy.mil
  4. ^ "Omaha, Nebraska - Freedom Park, MO river view". Mapio.net. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
  • John Grider Miller, The Battle to save the Houston, October 1944 to March 1945. (Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1985; 2000).

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.

External links[]

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