USS Savannah (CL-42)

USS Savannah (October 1944)
History
United States
Name	Savannah
Namesake	City of Savannah, Georgia
Ordered	16 June 1933
Awarded	3 August 1933
Builder	New York Shipbuilding Corporation, Camden, New Jersey
Cost	$11,677,000 (contract price)
Laid down	31 May 1934
Launched	8 May 1937
Sponsored by	Miss Jayne Maye Bowden
Commissioned	10 March 1938
Decommissioned	3 February 1947
Stricken	1 March 1959
Identification	Hull symbol:CL-42 Code letters:NAQL
Honors and awards	3 × battle stars
Fate	Sold for scrap 6 January 1960
General characteristics (as built)[1]
Class and type	Brooklyn-class cruiser
Displacement	10,000 long tons (10,160 t) (estimated as design) 9,767 long tons (9,924 t) (standard) 12,207 long tons (12,403 t) (max)
Length	600 ft (180 m) oa 608 ft 4 in (185.42 m) lwl
Beam	61 ft 7 in (18.77 m)
Draft	19 ft 9 in (6.02 m) (mean) 24 ft (7.3 m) (max)
Installed power	8 × Steam boilers 100,000 shp (75,000 kW)
Propulsion	4 × geared turbines 4 × screws
Speed	32.5 kn (37.4 mph; 60.2 km/h)
Complement	868 officers and enlisted
Armament	15 × 6 in (150 mm)/47 caliber guns (5x3) 8 × 5 in (130 mm)/25 caliber anti-aircraft guns 8 × caliber 0.50 in (13 mm) machine guns
Armor	Belt: 3+1⁄4–5 in (83–127 mm) Deck: 2 in (51 mm) Barbettes: 6 in (150 mm) Turrets: 1+1⁄4–6 in (32–152 mm) Conning tower: 2+1⁄4–5 in (57–127 mm)
Aircraft carried	4 × SOC Seagull floatplanes
Aviation facilities	2 × stern catapults
General characteristics (1944)[2][3]
Beam	61 ft 7 in (18.77 m) 69 ft (21 m) (1944 refit)
Armament	15 × 6 in (150 mm)/47 caliber guns (5x3) 4 × twin 5 in (130 mm)/38 caliber anti-aircraft guns 4 × quad 40 mm (1.6 in) Bofors anti-aircraft guns 6 × twin 40 mm (1.6 in) Bofors anti-aircraft guns 12 × single 20 mm (0.79 in) Oerlikon anti-aircraft cannons

USS Savannah (CL-42) was a light cruiser of the Brooklyn-class that served in World War II in the Atlantic and Mediterranean theatres of operation. Savannah conducted Neutrality Patrols (1941) and wartime patrols in the Atlantic and Caribbean (1942), and supported the invasion of French North Africa in Operation Torch (November 1942). She sought German-supporting blockade runners off the east coast of South America (1943), and supported the Allied landings on Sicily and at Salerno (1943). Off Salerno on 11 September 1943, a German radio-controlled Fritz X glide-bomb caused extensive casualties aboard and serious damage to Savannah, requiring emergency repairs in Malta and permanent repairs at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. After repairs and upgrades, she served in the task force that carried President Roosevelt to the Yalta Conference in early 1945.