Newport News (CA 148) - Naval Cruise Book

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BIRTH OF RECIN A MARIS Racing to aid the victims of a stricken city, serving as flagship during a shipping quarantine, sharing in the preservation of peace in cold war crises, and demonstrat- ing her awesome firepower in combat are vivid entries in the log of the World,s Largest Heavy Cruiser, USS NEWPORT NEWS. Now in her 21st year of service, the 20,950 ton NEW- PORT NEWS bears the proud name of the city in which she was built. She is also the last of 18 cruisers con- structed by Newport News shipbuilders between 1902 and 1949. Her first keel plates were lowered into Shipway 11 signaling start of construction on October 1, 1945. Seven- teen months later, the 71636 foot vessel was christened in a ceremony witnessed by 20,000 people, including resi- dents of the namesakes city and employees of the com- an . P Cyommissioned as a unit of the SALEM class on an uary 29, 1949, the USS NEWPORT NEWS has fashioned a career of indefatigable service to her nation in both war and peace. Today her chief role is support of operations directed by the Commander of the Seventh Fleet. She can direct her guns at inland targets, provide gunfire support for Marines ashore, or back up task force groups and other ships in fleet operations. The armament of the heavy cruiser, featuring the fastest firing major caliber guns in the world, has been proven repeatedly. It includes three turrets, each housing three rapid-fire, eight-inch 55 caliber guns. Secondary and anti-aircraft batteries are composed of 12 dual- purpose, five-inch 38 caliber guns and four three inch 50 caliber rapid-fire guns.

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On March 6, 1947 USS NEWPORT NEWS was christened Queen of the Sean 8

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LAST GF THE LE IATH S CHINA MORNING POST The hearts of old Navy hands must beat a little faster when they cross the harbor these days. For rare indeed it is that they can test their gaze on the powerful beauty ofa ship carrying big guns. The USS NEWPORT NEWS, now moored in the naval anchorage, is one of the last of her breed, an anachronistic reminder of the days when ships with big guns ruled the seas and proudly showed the flag on goodwill cruises round the world. Gone are the days when the cruiser was the navy,s maid of all work, the symbol in distant ports of nation's strength and ability to maintain its rights anywhere on the high seas. Now that the battleship has gone the way of the ship of the line Qwith the single exception of the recently reactivated USS NEW IERSEYJ, the mantle of sea- borne power has passed from aircraft carriers to missile carrying submarines. But neither class of vessel can match the eye appeal of a ship carrying big guns. They were designed to awe, and awe they could and did when necessary. They could hit hard and travel far and fast. FRIDAY MARCH 28, 1969 It was their long lean barrels that bespoke a nation's will. And while they no longer match the destructive power of carrier-borne jets or a missilelaunched from under the sea, it was guns that carried the flag to victory in battles from the Armada to Surigao Strait. When the gun went into decline, so did the ships that carried them. Electronics took over and today's men o, war carry a tangle of aerials in their fighting tops, helicopters amid- ships, and missilelaunchers on quarter decks. None of these modern marvels gives to a fighting ship that special arrogance that big guns did. Those ships are almost gone and soon the last of them will go out of commission and end in the breaker,s yards. Till then, men who love the sea and repect that sea power won and exercised by the authority of big guns, will relish the rare glimpse of such ships as NEWPORT NEWS. All too soon they will live only in the minds of old sailors and on the dry pages of history books. 'IO