USS ''Birmingham'' (CL-62), a United States light cruiser named for the city of

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...

, the "Pittsburgh of the South", was laid down at the

Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS), a division of Huntington Ingalls Industries, is the largest industrial employer in Virginia, and sole designer, builder and refueler of United States Navy aircraft carriers and one of two providers of U.S. Navy ...

Newport News, Virginia Newport News () is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 186,247. Located in the Hampton Roads region, it is the 5th most populous city in Virginia and 140th most populous city in the Uni ...

, on 17 February 1941 and launched on 20 March 1942 by Mrs. Cooper Green, wife of the president of the Birmingham City Commission. She was commissioned on 29 January 1943, Captain John Wilkes in command. ''Birmingham'' earned eight battle stars, receiving heavy damage on at least three occasions.

Design

''Birmingham'' was

long overall __NOTOC__ Length overall (LOA, o/a, o.a. or oa) is the maximum length of a vessel's hull measured parallel to the waterline. This length is important while docking the ship. It is the most commonly used way of expressing the size of a ship, and ...

and had a

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...

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 boiler A high pressure watertube boiler (also spelled water-tube and water tube) is a type of boiler in which water circulates in tubes heated externally by the fire. Fuel is burned inside the furnace, creating hot gas which boils water in the steam-gene ...

s. 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 turret A gun turret (or simply turret) is a mounting platform from which weapons can be fired that affords protection, visibility and ability to turn and aim. A modern gun turret is generally a rotatable weapon mount that houses the crew or mechani ...

s on the centerline. Two were placed forward in a superfiring pair; the other two turrets were placed aft of the

superstructure A superstructure is an upward extension of an existing structure above a baseline. This term is applied to various kinds of physical structures such as buildings, bridges, or ships. Aboard ships and large boats On water craft, the superstruct ...

in another superfiring pair. The secondary battery consisted of twelve /38 caliber

dual-purpose gun A dual-purpose gun is a naval artillery mounting designed to engage both surface and air targets. Description Second World War-era capital ships had four classes of artillery: the heavy main battery, intended to engage opposing battleships and ...

s 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 A conning tower is a raised platform on a ship or submarine, often armored, from which an officer in charge can conn the vessel, controlling movements of the ship by giving orders to those responsible for the ship's engine, rudder, lines, and gro ...

and the other pair on either side of the aft superstructure. Anti-aircraft defense consisted of twenty-eight Bofors guns in four quadruple and six double mounts and twenty-one Oerlikon guns in single mounts. The ship's belt armor ranged in thickness from , with the thicker section

amidships This glossary of nautical terms is an alphabetical listing of terms and expressions connected with ships, shipping, seamanship and navigation on water (mostly though not necessarily on the sea). Some remain current, while many date from the 17th t ...

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

barbette Barbettes are several types of gun emplacement in terrestrial fortifications or on naval ships. In recent naval usage, a barbette is a protective circular armour support for a heavy gun turret. This evolved from earlier forms of gun protection ...

s 6 inches thick. ''Birmingham''s conning tower had 5-inch sides.

Service history

World War II

1943

Following her shakedown cruise, ''Birmingham'' was assigned to the Atlantic Fleet. Departing

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Incorporated in 1705, it had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in Virginia after neighboring Virginia Be ...

on 7 June, she steamed to the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

and gave gunfire support during the invasion of Sicily (10–26 July 1943). Returning to the United States on 8 August, she was reassigned to the Pacific Fleet and arrived at

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Re ...

on 6 September. Joining the fast carrier task force screen, she took part in the raids on

Tarawa Tarawa is an atoll and the capital of the Republic of Kiribati,Kiribati
''

Wake Island Wake Island ( mh, Ānen Kio, translation=island of the kio flower; also known as Wake Atoll) is a coral atoll in the western Pacific Ocean in the northeastern area of the Micronesia subregion, east of Guam, west of Honolulu, southeast of To ...

(5–6 October). At the Solomons, she took part in the

Battle of Empress Augusta Bay The Battle of Empress Augusta Bay, on 1–2 November 1943 – also known as the Battle of Gazelle Bay, Operation Cherry Blossom, and in Japanese sources as the Sea Battle off Bougainville Island (ブーゲンビル島沖海戦) – was a naval ba ...

(8–9 November), along with her

sister ship A sister ship is a ship of the same class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They often share a ...

s , , , and . This was the first major action by the new ''Cleveland''-class light cruisers that were entering the fleet. ''Birmingham''s gunners shot down at least four enemy Japanese aircraft. During the daytime, Japanese planes hit ''Birmingham'' with two bombs and a

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, su ...

. The ship's casualties included two killed and 34 wounded. The hits kept her out of the night surface battle with the

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrender ...

fleet that followed. ''Birmingham'' retired to Mare Island Navy Yard for repairs which lasted until 18 February 1944, when she rejoined the Pacific Fleet.

1944

USS Birmingham comes alongside the burning USS Princeton

Assigned to Task Force 58 (TF 58), she took part in the Battle of Saipan (14 June – 4 August); the Battle of the Philippine Sea (19–20 June); Battle of Tinian (20 July – 1 August); Battle of Guam (21 July); and Philippine Islands raids (9–24 September). She then served with TF 38 during the

Okinawa is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city ...

raid (10 October), northern

Luzon Luzon (; ) is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the Philippines archipelago, it is the economic and political center of the nation, being home to the country's capital city, Manila, as ...

and

Formosa Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is an island country located in East Asia. The main island of Taiwan, formerly known in the Western political circles, press and literature as Formosa, makes up 99% of the land area of the territorie ...

raids (15 October and 18–19 October), and the

Battle of Leyte Gulf The Battle of Leyte Gulf ( fil, Labanan sa golpo ng Leyte, lit=Battle of Leyte gulf; ) was the largest naval battle of World War II and by some criteria the largest naval battle in history, with over 200,000 naval personnel involved. It was fou ...

(24 October). During the latter, she suffered great topside damage from explosions on board the

aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft. Typically, it is the capital ship of a fleet, as it allows a ...

while courageously attempting to aid that stricken vessel. 239 men died, 408 were wounded, and the bodies of four were never recovered. ''Birmingham'' retired to Mare Island Navy Yard for repairs which lasted from November 1944 to January 1945.

1945, Iwo Jima, Okinawa

Rejoining the Pacific Fleet, the cruiser supported the

Battle of Iwo Jima The Battle of Iwo Jima (19 February – 26 March 1945) was a major battle in which the United States Marine Corps (USMC) and United States Navy (USN) landed on and eventually captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Imperial Japanese Army (IJ ...

(4–5 March 1945) and joined

Task Force 54 Task may refer to: * Task (computing), in computing, a program execution context * Task (language instruction) refers to a certain type of activity used in language instruction * Task (project management), an activity that needs to be accomplished ...

(TF 54) for the

invasion of Okinawa The , codenamed Operation Iceberg, was a major battle of the Pacific War fought on the island of Okinawa by United States Army (USA) and United States Marine Corps (USMC) forces against the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA). The initial invasion of ...

(25 March – 5 May). On 4 May, after fighting off three attacks, she was damaged for a third time when a Japanese ''

kamikaze , officially , were a part of the Japanese Special Attack Units of military aviators who flew suicide attacks for the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, intending to d ...

'' plane hit her forward. The resulting explosion killed 47, with 4 missing and 81 wounded.The Encyclopedia of Alabama
/ref> Returning to Pearl Harbor, she underwent repairs from 28 May to 1 August. ''Birmingham'' rejoined the 5th Fleet at Okinawa on 26 August, and then in November steamed to

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

, Australia. She visited other Australian ports, including Melbourne on 8 November 1945. She returned to

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

on 22 March 1946 and was taken out of commission and placed in reserve there on 2 January 1947. She was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 March 1959 and scrapped at

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

Awards and legacy

''Birmingham'' earned eight

battle star A service star is a miniature bronze or silver five-pointed star inch (4.8 mm) in diameter that is authorized to be worn by members of the eight uniformed services of the United States on medals and ribbons to denote an additional award or ser ...

s during her World War II service. An long waterline model of USS ''Birmingham'', owned by the U. S. Navy, has been loaned for display at Birmingham City Hall, at the

Southern Museum of Flight The Southern Museum of Flight is a civilian aviation museum Birmingham, Alabama. The facility features nearly 100 aircraft, as well as engines, models, artifacts, photographs, and paintings. In addition, the Southern Museum of Flight is home to ...

, and currently, at the Birmingham History Center.

Footnotes

Notes

Citations

References

* * * *

External links

navsource.org: USS ''Birmingham''hazegray.org: USS ''Birmingham''Solomons Islands Damage Report, 8 November 1943
{{DEFAULTSORT:Birmingham (CL-62) Cleveland-class cruisers World War II cruisers of the United States 1942 ships Ships built in Newport News, Virginia