USS Fall River (CA-131)

USS Fall River (CA-131) was a Baltimore-class heavy cruiser of the United States Navy. Launched on 13 August 1944 by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation of Camden, New Jersey, sponsored by Mrs. Alexander C. Murray, wife of the mayor of Fall River; and commissioned on 1 July 1945, Captain David Stolz Crawford in command.

For other ships with the same name, see USS Fall River.
USS Fall River (CA-131) on 12 August 1945
History
United States
Name: Fall River
Namesake: City of Fall River, Massachusetts
Ordered: 9 July 1942
Builder: New York Shipbuilding Corp., Camden, New Jersey
Laid down: 12 April 1943
Launched: 13 August 1944
Commissioned: 1 July 1945
Decommissioned: 31 October 1947
Stricken: 19 February 1971
Fate: Sold for scrap, 28 August 1972. Bow resides at Battleship Cove
General characteristics
Class and type: Baltimore-class cruiser
Displacement: 13,600 long tons (13,818 t)
Length: 674 ft 11 in (205.71 m)
Beam: 70 ft 10 in (21.59 m)
Draft: 20 ft 6 in (6.25 m)
Propulsion: General Electric geared turbines, 120,000 shp (89 MW), 4 screws
Speed: 33 knots (61 km/h; 38 mph)
Complement: 1,142 officers and enlisted
Armament:
Armor:

Service history

On 31 October 1945, Fall River arrived at Norfolk, out of which she sailed in experimental development operations until 31 January 1946. The cruiser was assigned to JTF 1, organized to conduct Operation Crossroads, atomic weapons tests in the Marshall Islands in the summer of 1946. To prepare for this duty, Fall River sailed to San Pedro, California, where from 16 February to 6 March she was altered to provide flagship accommodations. Arriving at Pearl Harbor on 17 March, she embarked Rear Admiral Frank G. Fahrion, commander of the target vessel's group for the tests, and with him sailed in the Marshalls between 21 May and 14 September.

After west coast training, Fall River served a tour of duty in the Far East as flagship of Cruiser Division 1 from 12 January 1947 to 17 June 1947. Authorized during World War II but completed too late to see service in that conflict, the Fall River was caught in the post-war economizing measures, despite her recent completion and lack of wartime damage. She returned to Puget Sound Navy Yard, where she was placed out of commission in reserve on 31 October 1947. Proposals to convert her into an Albany-class guided missile cruiser were cancelled when sister ship Columbus was determined to be in better material condition. Fall River continued to reside in the reserve fleet until stricken on 19 February 1971, and sold on 28 August 1972 to Zidell Explorations Corp., Portland, Oregon.

The tip of her bow is now on display at Battleship Cove.

Bow of USS Fall River at Battleship Cove

Awards

References


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.