&sq=&lang=&file=File:USS_Columbia_(CL-56)_off_San_Pedro_1945.jpg) USS Columbia (CL-56), 15 May 1945
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| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | Columbia |
| Namesake | City of Columbia, South Carolina |
| Builder | New York Shipbuilding Corporation |
| Laid down | 18 August 1940 |
| Launched | 17 December 1941 |
| Commissioned | 29 July 1942 |
| Decommissioned | 30 November 1946 |
| Stricken | 1 March 1959 |
| Fate | Sold for scrap, 18 February 1959 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Cleveland-class light cruiser |
| Displacement | |
| Length | 610 ft 1 in (185.95 m) |
| Beam | 66 ft 4 in (20.22 m) |
| Draft | 24 ft 6 in (7.47 m) |
| Installed power |
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| Propulsion |
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| Speed | 32.5 knots (60.2 km/h; 37.4 mph) |
| Range | 11,000 nmi (20,000 km; 13,000 mi) at 15 kn (28 km/h; 17 mph) |
| Complement | 1,285 officers and enlisted |
| Armament |
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| Armor |
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| Aircraft carried | 4 × floatplanes |
| Aviation facilities | 2 × stern catapults |
USS Columbia was a Cleveland-class light cruiser of the United States Navy, which were built during World War II. The class was designed as a development of the earlier Brooklyn-class cruisers, 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 6-inch (152 mm) guns in four three-gun turrets, along with a secondary armament of twelve 5 in (127 mm) dual-purpose guns. They had a top speed of 32.5 knots (60.2 km/h; 37.4 mph).
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.