USS San Diego (CL-53)
USS San Diego, 8 March 1944 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| United States | |
| Name | San Diego |
| Namesake | City of San Diego, California |
| Builder | Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation's Fore River Shipyard, Quincy, Massachusetts |
| Laid down | 27 March 1940 |
| Launched | 26 July 1941 |
| Sponsored by | Grace Legler Benbough |
| Commissioned | 10 January 1942 |
| Decommissioned | 4 November 1946 |
| Reclassified | CLAA-53, 18 March 1949 |
| Stricken | 1 March 1959 |
| Identification |
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| Honors & awards | 18 × battle stars |
| Fate | Sold for scrap December 1960 |
| General characteristics (as built) | |
| Class & type | Atlanta-class light cruiser |
| Displacement |
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| Length | 541 ft 6 in (165.05 m) oa |
| Beam | 53 ft (16 m) |
| Draft |
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| Installed power |
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| Propulsion |
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| Speed | 32.5 kn (37.4 mph; 60.2 km/h) |
| Complement | 796 officers and enlisted |
| Armament |
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| Armor |
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| General characteristics (1945) | |
| Armament |
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| Service record | |
| Part of: | Fast Carrier Task Force |
| Operations: | |
| Awards: | 18 battle stars |
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The USS San Diego (CL-53) was an Atlanta-class light cruiser of the United States Navy, commissioned just after the US entry into World War II, and active throughout the Pacific theater. Armed with 16 5 in (127 mm)/38 cal DP anti-aircraft guns and 16 Bofors 40 mm AA guns, the Atlanta-class cruisers had one of the heaviest anti-aircraft broadsides of any warship of World War II.
San Diego was one of the most decorated US ships of World War II, being awarded 18 battle stars, and was the first major Allied warship to enter Tokyo Bay after the surrender of Japan. Decommissioned in 1946, the ship was sold for scrapping in December 1960.