Louisville (CA 28) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 17 text:

ii? i C 1 I 5 1 CONCEIVED under the i terms of the Naval X X QV iv , A NM ,CJ Q Limitation Treaties, of . the Washiiigton Con- : ference, the Louisville was authorized by l Congress on December 18, 1924. She E was then known only as Cruiser No. 28, 3 Q one of six others also authorized at the 1 same time. S 4 I E A Ship is Born 1 construction was made available. Once this was provided, the Navy lost no time in adding to its fleet one ten-thousand-ton cruiser. Bids were requested, and sub- mitted, with the award of the contract going to Puget Sound Navy Yard. On Independ- ence Day, ,luly 4, 1928, the keel was laid. The ship grew rapidly, and it soon be- came appropriate to assign her a name. P E 2 WITH THE KEEL LAID, CONSTRUCTION OF THE It was peace. The world was struggling in a search for security and freedom from wars. Nothing was urgent about the build- ing of this man-of-war, so it was three years ,I later, in March of 1927, before money for NEW CRUISER BEGINS AT P. S. N. Y., JULY, 1928 During the Civil War, in the year 1862, there was built a mighty ironclad of 468 tons with 14 guns. Named the Louisville, she served the Navy throughout the war. The second Louisville had been chris- .

Page 16 text:

'J Q-X '4 W1 , 4,3 , -qv ii! y ,5 V Q v Jn,, I Q ' f 1 .f v ff . .av-.-.-fs . . .. V f a . . , . 0 , 1'

Page 18 text:

tened the St. Louis, an Atlantic Ocean liner, built in Philadelphia in 1894. With this country,s entry into World War I, the Navy acquired her, renamed her the Louisville and placed her in active service under the Cruiser and Transport Force. Designated an auxiliary cruiser, she plied regularly-between American and European ports, successfully braving the submarines and mine menace. At the end of the war she was decommissioned and returned to her original owners. On March 12, 1929 this memorandum appeared on the bulletin board of the Com- mandantgsl Ollice at Puget Sound Navy Yard: It is .noted for the information of all concerned that the Secretary of the Navy has assigned the name, Louisville, in honor of the city of Louisville,- Kentucky, to Cruiser No. 28? Thus she was named- the third of the Navy's Louisvilles. At-the beginning of September 1930, the Laaly Lou's first press notices appeared in the Courier Journal of Louisville, Kentucky: BY MARCH, 1930, CRUISER 28, READY FOR PRELIM- INARY' FLOATING, IS WATERBORNE AND TESTED uBremerton, Wash., Sept. 1-Amid the cheers of a vast multitude, the blare of bands and shrill blast of whistles of harbor craft, the U. S. S. Louisville was christened and uundockedn here this afternoon in an elab- orate and colorful ceremony. Her sleek sides glistening in the bright sunshine of a typical Northwest early autumn day, a long slim lighting ship floats this after- noon in the placid waters of Puget Sound. uSenators, Congressmen, and high officials of the Federal and State governments, scores of Navy and Army oflicers, in dress uniforms, and thousands of Washington citizens partici- pated in the christening exercises. While the official guests were assembling at a reviewing stand, placed abreast the bow of the Louis- ville, a Navy band played patriotic airs. WPromptly at two o'clock the assemblage was brought to order by a bugler sounding Gattentionf Admiral Henry J. Ziegemeier, Commandant of the Puget Sound Navy Yard, made the introductory address, and concluded by introducing Maurice H. Thatcher, U. S. Representative from the Fifth Kentucky Dis- trict, official representative of the City of Louisville. uRepresentative Thatcher concluded a fif- teen-minute address by introducing the spon- sor, Miss ,lane Brown Kennedy of Louisville, Ky., who was attended by Misses Henrietta Henderson and Ruth Crockett Cole of Louis- ville, as maids of honor. '4Chaplain Homer G. Glunt, U. S. Navy, offered a prayer and at exactly 2:30 o'clock Miss Kennedy broke over the shlipls bow a bottle of water from the Lincoln Springs at Hodgenville, Ky., the birthplace of Abraham Lincoln, oflicially christening the vessel. 6'Following the christening ceremony. the Louisville's own whistle blew one long and three short blasts and the ship slowly drew out of the dry dock under her own steam while the band played the 6Star Spangled