Louisville (CA 28) - Naval Cruise Book

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N 1 ? E 1 v N i I I I a 1 .

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212 berthing in the Philadelphia Navy Yard, and now the time had come for her to take her retirement. The cruise turned out to be one of the most pleasant the Lou had experienced in many a year. lt seemed as if the elements had combined to make bright and pleas- ant to memory this last voyage of the Louisville. Like Prospero, we were borne by calm seas and auspicious galesv on the long voyage home. The Canal Zone provided its customary break in the voyage, with cafes, c'Blue Moon Girls, and the whole gamut of a sailor's recreation. When we pulled out of Colon on the first day of February, our seabags were filled with souvenirs, and our pockets empty of pay money. lt had been a great and traditional Bacchanalia. Even the Atlantic, much want in winter- time to stir up trouble for mariners, be- haved admirably and with great consider- ation for the solemnity of our voyage. We made Overfalls Light Ship late on the morning of February sixth, and because of heavy fog, crept up the Delaware River and were forced to anchor off Wilming- ton for the night. The next afternoon we aighiad the Philadelphia Navy Yard. There, to our pleasure, we greeted many old battle friends of the Japanese war, preparing as were we, for a long and dig- nified rest. There were the Portland, the Chester, the San Francisco, Minneapolis, Tuscaloosa, and New Orleans. Ships that had fought the war and survived from the first gunfire at Pearl Harbor to the last at Okinawa and in Japanese home waters: each one a vessel more storied, more filled with gallant traditions, than was the case with whole fleets in other times: each one a heroine of surface battles, air battles and shore bombardments in countless numbers: each one in herself a full-length history of the greatest war this country ever fought at sea. And so it was, on the afternoon of February 6, 1946, that the last active duty cruise of the Louisville in World War ll was completed. The record of duties that had covered a period of 15 years and one month, and that had taken her into almost every sea, on every type of mis- sion, from humble to heroic, had ended. Like all things genuine, and in their man- ner great, her deeds stand as the justifica- tion of her glory. Some part of the record that here has been set down is remembered, and some part of the spirit of the ship is carried, by hundreds of men now scattered over every part of our land and over all the seas, serving in all branches of the Navy in all ranks and rates, or else turned civilian, and following occupations as diverse as the stars. lt was they, who by their daily thoughts and actions while serving aboard, made that record, and created that spirit. As his reward, each man now bears with him a small part of the Louisville, which he will pass on to his friends and bequeath to his descend- ants, as part of the legend of the people. The beautiful old Lady Lou, quietly gathered together with her sisters of bat- tle, and with her great memories, is appropriately moored in Philadelphia, where patriot guns once established, what her guns thundered so often to defend and maintain in victory: the United States of America.

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In Philadelphia Navy Yard The Louisville is Laid to Best