USS Columbia (hull number: CL-56) was a light cruiser of the United States Navy, which were built during World War II. The class was designed as a development of the earlier s, the size of which had been limited by the First London Naval Treaty. The start of the war led to the dissolution of the treaty system, but the dramatic need for new vessels precluded a new design, so the Clevelands used the same hull as their predecessors, but were significantly heavier. The Clevelands carried a main battery of twelve guns in four three-gun turrets, along with a secondary armament of twelve dual-purpose guns. They had a top speed of .

The ship, the sixth US Navy ship to bear the name, was named for the city of Columbia, South Carolina. Columbia was commissioned in July 1942, and saw service in several campaigns in the Pacific. Like almost all her sister ships, she was decommissioned shortly after the end of the war, and never saw active service again. Columbia was scrapped in the early 1960s. A memorial to the ship and crew who served on her exists in Columbia.

Design

The Cleveland-class light cruisers traced their origin to design work done in the late 1930s; at the time, light cruiser displacement was limited to by the Second London Naval Treaty. Following the start of World War II in September 1939, Britain announced it would suspend the treaty for the duration of the conflict, a decision the US Navy quickly followed. Though still neutral, the United States recognized that war was likely and the urgent need for additional ships ruled out an entirely new design, so the Clevelands were a close development of the earlier s, the chief difference being the substitution of a two-gun dual-purpose gun mount for one of the main battery gun turrets.

Columbia was long overall and had a beam of and a draft of . Her standard displacement amounted to and increased to at full load. The ship was powered by four General Electric steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft, using steam provided by four oil-fired Babcock & Wilcox boilers. Rated at , the turbines were intended to give a top speed of . Her crew numbered 1285 officers and enlisted men.

The ship was armed with a main battery of twelve 6 in /47-caliber Mark 16 guns in four 3-gun turrets on the centerline. Two were placed forward in a superfiring pair; the other two turrets were placed aft of the superstructure in another superfiring pair. The secondary battery consisted of twelve /38-caliber dual-purpose guns mounted in twin turrets. Two of these were placed on the centerline, one directly behind the forward main turrets and the other just forward of the aft turrets. Two more were placed abreast of the conning tower and the other pair on either side of the aft superstructure. Anti-aircraft defense consisted of eight Bofors guns in two quadruple mounts and thirteen Oerlikon guns in single mounts.

The ship's belt armor ranged in thickness from , with the thicker section amidships where it protected the ammunition magazines and propulsion machinery spaces. Her deck armor was thick. The main battery turrets were protected with faces and sides and tops, and they were supported by barbettes 6 inches thick. Columbias conning tower had 5-inch sides.

Service history The keel for Columbia was laid down on 19 August 1940 at the New York Shipbuilding Corporation. She was launched on 17 December 1941, ten days after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor brought the United States into World War II. Columbia was moved to the Philadelphia Navy Yard before she was commissioned into the fleet on 29 June 1942. After completing fitting-out work, the ship got underway for initial training on 14 September, which was carried out off Hampton Roads, Virginia, and included weapons familiarization practice and aircraft operations. Columbia then sailed for the Norfolk Navy Yard for repairs and alterations and then embarked on her shakedown cruise in Chesapeake Bay, which lasted from 16 October to 8 November The next day, she got underway and joined Task Group (TG) 2.6, which also included the fast battleship and the destroyers , , and . The ships sailed south and arrived in Panama on 13 November.

Columbia and the rest of the ships, less Champlin, continued on through the Panama Canal on 13 November and sailed on to Tongatabu. The ships conducted training exercises while on the way. The ships arrived there on 28 November, and TG 2.6 was disbanded the same day. After refueling on 29 November, Columbia was attached to TG 66.6 the following day, along with Indiana, Saufley, and De Haven. The task group departed the next day for Nouméa, arriving there on 2 December. The task group was disbanded and Columbia pulled alongside the repair ship , as she had developed turbine problems on the voyage there. Prometheus made temporary repairs that allowed the turbine to operate at low pressure, and Columbia could still make . She was then assigned Task Force (TF) 64, which included the fast battleships and Indiana, and the destroyers , , , , and . The ships departed on 7 December, intending to rendezvous with a task group centered on the fast battleship the next day.

Operations in the Solomon Islands

The two squadrons met at sea on 9 November and the ships were reorganized; Columbia became part of TG 67.2, which departed for Espiritu Santo in the New Hebrides later that afternoon. The ships arrived there a day later, and from 17 to 22 December, the ships were primarily occupied with combat training, including night fighting drills, anti-aircraft shooting practice, and combined squadron maneuvers. Further maintenance was carried out from 23 to 31 December at Espiritu Santo. Task Force 67 sortied on 2 January 1943 to join the fighting in the Guadalcanal campaign in the Solomon Islands. While the ships were en route, one of Columbias floatplanes fell off its catapult; a man who was in the plane at the time was picked up by one of the escorting destroyers. The task force arrived off Guadalcanal on 4 January and three of the cruisers split off to carry out a bombardment mission while Columbia and the rest of the force remained off Guadalcanal to screen a group of transports carrying reinforcements for the island. The next morning, the task force came under air attack from three Aichi D3A dive bombers that damaged the New Zealand cruiser , but Columbia was not attacked directly.

The task force arrived back in Espiritu Santo on 8 January, and Columbia received a new seaplane to replace the one that had fallen overboard. She launched both of her aircraft on 12 January for training flights, but one of them crashed at sea; searches for the missing pilot eventually found him on 13 January. That day, the ship was transferred to TF 18, which included the escort carriers , , and , the heavy cruisers and , the light cruisers and , and eight destroyers. The light cruisers formed Cruiser Division 12. Columbia later received yet another replacement seaplane. TF 18 was moved from Espiritu Santo to Efate.

Battle of Rennell Island

The task force sortied on 27 January, bound for the Solomons; two days later, the ships' air search radars picked up a group of unidentified aircraft approaching the formation. The escort carriers had already been detached to fly ground support missions, so the cruisers and destroyers were caught without air cover. In the ensuing Battle of Rennell Island, the Japanese launched a series of strikes against the American squadron late in the day. The first wave of sixteen Mitsubishi G4M bombers did not engage Columbia, but several G4Ms from the second wave of fifteen aircraft attempted to torpedo her. One attacked individually at around 19:34 and missed, though Columbias anti-aircraft gunners also missed the bomber. Shortly thereafter, four more G4Ms began attack runs on the ship, two off her port bow and the other pair off her port quarter. Her anti-aircraft guns destroyed one of the G4Ms, and the rest were forced to break off without launching their torpedoes. At around the same time, two of the torpedoes struck Chicago, inflicting severe damage.

Columbia and the other cruisers in the unit closed with Chicago to provide better defense of the damaged vessel, but around 21:30, the Japanese aircraft that were shadowing the Americans withdrew. The task groups split up after midnight but re-formed later in the morning of 30 January. By that time, Chicagos engines had broken down, and she was being towed by the heavy cruiser at a speed of . Columbia remained with Chicago while the tugboat came from Tulagi; at around 14:30, Columbia and the other light cruisers were detached to head back to Port Havannah on Efate, but around two hours later, the Japanese launched further attacks on Chicago, this time inflicting fatal damage. Columbias group was too far away to intervene, but the ships' crews nevertheless went to general quarters. The ships arrived at Efate the afternoon of 31 January, but they remained in port for just a day, sorting the following afternoon for patrols off the Santa Cruz Islands.

Training operations

The ships of TF 18 carried out training maneuvers from 1 to 3 February, and then met up with TF 69 the following day; the other task force included the old battleships , , , and , three escort carriers, and several destroyers. The two task forces were to patrol between the Solomons and Samoa to try to intercept a Japanese squadron believed to have sortied from Truk in the central Pacific. The ships remained in the area for several days, searching for the Japanese squadron in vain through 10 February. That day, the Americans learned that the Japanese force had returned to port, and in the meantime, the Japanese had launched Operation Ke, their surprise withdrawal from Guadalcanal. Columbia and the rest of TF 18 accordingly ended their patrolling and returned to Efate. By that time, her sister had arrived there with a replacement turbine for her damaged engine. The ships reached Savannah on 14 February, where she and the rest of Cruiser Division 12 were transferred to TF 68.

The ships of TF 68 sortied again on 19 February, heading back toward the Solomons; this time, they were to divert Japanese attention from an amphibious assault force that was to land on the Russell Islands, codenamed Operation Cleanslate. The cruisers were also to provide close defense of the invasion fleet against a possible raid by Japanese warships. On the night of 20/21 February, the ships passed through Ironbottom Sound, the site of several major naval battles during the Guadalcanal campaign, and anchored in Purvis Bay the following morning. The landings occurred without any opposition and Columbia, with the rest of TF 68, got underway for Noumea on 23 February. While at sea two days later, Columbia was detached to sail to Maré Island, where final repairs to her new turbine would be completed by Prometheus. She arrived there on 27 February, and the work lasted until 11 March. On 16 March, TF 68 was redesignated as TF 19; the ships spent most of the month carrying out training exercises, including maneuvers with TF 14, centered on the carrier . Captain Frank Beatty took command of Columbia on 6 April. By this time, the Japanese had effectively abandoned the southern Solomons, leaving little opposition in the area to engage. As a result, Columbia spent the next several months training with the rest of her task force, and occasionally with other units as well.

New Georgia campaign