USS San Francisco (CA-38)

San Francisco off the Mare Island Shipyard on 13 October 1944
History
United States
NameSan Francisco
NamesakeCity of San Francisco, California
Ordered13 February 1929
Awarded11 October 1930 (date assigned to ship yard and beginning of construction period)
BuilderMare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, California
Cost$11,318,000 (limit of cost)
Laid down9 September 1931
Launched9 March 1933
Sponsored byBarbara M. Bailly
Commissioned10 February 1934
Decommissioned10 February 1946
Stricken1 March 1959
Identification
Nickname(s)
  • "Frisco Maru"[1]
  • "Frisco"[1]
Honors and
awards
Fate
General characteristics (as built)[2]
Class and typeNew Orleans-class cruiser
Displacement9,950 long tons (10,110 t) (standard)
Length
  • 588 ft (179 m) oa
  • 574 ft (175 m) pp
Beam61 ft 9 in (18.82 m)
Draft
  • 19 ft 5 in (5.92 m) (mean)
  • 23 ft 6 in (7.16 m) (max)
Installed power
Propulsion
Speed32.7 kn (37.6 mph; 60.6 km/h)
CapacityFuel oil: 1,650 tons
Complement101 officers 803 enlisted
Armament
Armor
  • Belt: 3–5 in (76–127 mm)
  • Deck: 1+142+14 in (32–57 mm)
  • Barbettes: 5 in (130 mm)
  • Turrets: 1+12–8 in (38–203 mm)
  • Conning Tower: 5 in (130 mm)
Aircraft carried4 × floatplanes
Aviation facilities2 × Amidship catapults
General characteristics (1945)[3][4]
Armament
Aviation facilities1 × Amidship catapult

USS San Francisco (CL/CA-38), a New Orleans-class cruiser, was the second ship of three of the United States Navy named after the city of San Francisco, California. Commissioned in 1934, she was one of the most decorated ships of World War II, earning 17 battle stars and the Presidential Unit Citation.

Like most of her sister ships, she saw extensive action during the Guadalcanal campaign, including the Battle of Cape Esperance and the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, during which she was heavily damaged and her captain and admiral killed. Earlier in the battle she mistakenly fired on the light cruiser Atlanta, causing serious damage and inflicting numerous casualties.

Decommissioned immediately after the end of the war, she was sold for scrap in 1959.

Her bridge wings, damaged during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal and removed during repairs, are now mounted on a promontory in Golden Gate National Recreation Area. They are set on the great circle course from San Francisco to Guadalcanal.

  1. ^ a b "Ship Nicknames". zuzuray.com. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
  2. ^ "Ships' Data, U. S. Naval Vessels". US Naval Department. 1 July 1935. pp. 16–23. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
  3. ^ Rickard, J (19 December 2014). "USS San Francisco (CA-38)". Historyofwar.org. Retrieved 8 October 2015.
  4. ^ "US Cruisers List: Light/Heavy/Antiaircraft Cruisers, Part 1". Hazegray.org. 22 January 2000. Retrieved 5 October 2015.