Louisville (CA 28) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 24 text:

+. S. S. HARVARD, WRECKED OFF SANTA BARBARA. SHOWING VESSEL AFTER THE U. S. S. LOUISVILLE HAD TAKEN OFF SEVERAL HUNDRED OF HER PASSENGERS. Below-THE MAYOR OF BREMERTON, WASHINGTON, PRESENTING CAPT. W. S. FARBER WITH A PLAQUE HONORING THE LOUISVILLE FOR HER TWO SEA RESCUES

Page 23 text:

each containing three eight-inch caliber guns, and her secondary battery consisted of four five-inch mounts. Her 107,000 horsepower turbines could propel her through the water at a speed of thirty-two or thirty-three knots. Fast and powerful, she was a tremendous fighting ship, and in years to come she was to fulfill, in the highest tradition of the Navy, her war- time duties. After the christening there still re- mained much work for the men of the yard to complete before the ship could be ready for commissioning. For three addi- tional months they labored at installing ventilation systems, fire control mechan- ism, furniture, and the innumerable fittings necessary to make her ready for sea. The day was grey-cast and drizzly when the Louis1Jille's first complement of men and officers, in dress uniform, marched aboard and lined up on the fantail. Mili- tarily disposed in compact ranks from the face of Turret Ill aft, the crew saluted the colors, as 'c0ld Glory was run up to the accompaniment of the national anthem, played by the ship's band. The Com- mandant of the yard formally turned over the ship to the United States Navy and the Louisville? first captain assumed command. The shipps clocks were set, the initial entry made in her log, and thus it was, on January 15, 1931, that the Lady Lou was commissioned. ln March she departed on her maiden voyage. During the 12,000-mile Hshake- downi' cruise which carried her to the equator, the Hawaiian Islands and back to Puget Sound, she was put to severe and exacting tests, all of which she successfully - :Qs e T 6' 3 x passed. With only six of her eight boilers she steamed at almost thirty-two knots. Her other accomplishments satisfied the oilicers and crew, the Navy Department, and the Navy Yard. A few days after her return to Puget Sound she again left Bremerton for San Pedro for final acceptance tests. The years that followed were prepara- tory ones. Fleet maneuvers, intensive drills in each department, and good-will cruises, kept her crew busy, well trained and ready for the eventuality that is theacause behind all naval organization. Her efforts were rewarded on many occasions by com- mendations. In July 1934 Secretary of Navy Swanson awarded the Louisville a trophy for the best engineering perform- ance of the year. During the summer fleet maneuvers in 1938, she had the highest score in the heavy cruiser communications competition. Throughout those years her gunnery department proudly displayed its Navy c'E9s,' for excellence in performance. Turret Two, with her MEM and four hash marks, was acclaimed the outstanding tur- ret of the entire fleet. 9

Page 25 text:

Two thrilling rescues at sea highlighted the shipis pre-war days. A gay week-end crowd was enjoying itself aboard the liner S. S. Harvard on Saturday morning, May 30, 1931. Groping through a soupy fog, the vessel grounded on the treacherous shoals of Point Arguello off the coast of Southern California. A major disaster was averted when the Louisville, steaming only twenty miles away, raced to the scene in response to the Harvard's S. O. S. and arrived in time to save every person aboard. The carefree survivors made the most of the adventure. Number one Mess Hall quickly became a dance floor with the steamship's band, which had managed to save all instruments, blaring forth with Dixie-land jazz. The Louisville had all the aspects of a pleasure cruise ship as it car- ried its passengers through the night to Los Angeles, their original destination. If anyone of the 41-97 passengers, spirits were temporarily dampened by the near tragedy, the packaged spirits brought aboard in their luggage served as ample stimulus. Everybody was happy. Some years later, in 1937, a burning freighter and the fast-moving Louisville furnished the Mid-Pacific with maritime drama. The Lady sped to rescue passen- gers of the vessel in distress, a British ship, the Silverlarch. Covering 350 miles in less than twelve hours, she rescued eight passengers adrift in lifeboats. The crew of the Silverlarch had remained aboard successfully combating the fires. That same month the Louisville returned to Bremerton for an overhaul. The citi- zens of Bremerton, through their Mayor, presented the ship on March 27 with a bronze plaque commemorating the two notable rescues. Appreciatively received in a presentation ceremony held aboard the ship, the plaque was mounted with the rest of the Louisville's trophies. In these ways the Lady Lou was pre- paring herself for the rigors of war. And meanwhile her five sisters, all to become famous in the vast naval struggle that was to try their strength, were similarly guard- ing the nation,s sea lanes and making ready for an unknown but threatening future. The Northampton, Houston and Chicago were all to be lost in the early disasters of the South Pacific, the Augusta was to play host to Churchill and Roosevelt when the Atlantic Charter was signed in her wardroom, to cover the Normandy landings and to carry President Truman to Potsdam, and the Chester and Louis- ville, assigned to the Pacific, were to fight the Japanese in every major operation from the ,lava Sea and the Solomons to Okinawa. it li ,f V is , X