>From the “Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships,” 

(1963) Vol. 2, p.150.





COLUMBUS



CA-74

Displacement:  13,600 t.

Length:  674’11”

Beam:  70’10”

Draft:  26’5”

Speed:  32.6 k.

Complement:  1,902

Armament:  9 8”; 12 5”

Class:  BALTIMORE



	The third COLUMBUS (CA-74) was launched 30 November 

1944 by Bethlehem Steel Co., Quincy, Mass.; sponsored by 

Mrs. E. G. Meyers; and commissioned 8 June 1945, Captain A. 

Hobbs in command.



	Joining the Pacific Fleet, COLUMBUS reached Tsingtao 

China, 13 January 1946 for occupation duty.  On 1 April, she 

helped to sink 24 Japanese submarines, prizes of war, and 

next day sailed for San Pedro, Calif.  For the remainder of 

the year, she operated in west coast waters, then made a 

second Far Eastern cruise from 15 January to 12 June 1947.



	After west coast operations and an overhaul at Puget 

Sound Naval Shipyard, COLUMBUS cleared Bremerton 12 April 

1948 to join the Atlantic Fleet, arriving at Norfolk, Va., 

19 May.  COLUMBUS made two cruises as flagship of 

Commander-in-Chief, Naval Forces, Eastern Atlantic and 

Mediterranean, from 13 September 1948 to 15 December 1949 

and from 12 June 1950 to 5 October 1951, and one as flagship 

of Supreme Allied Commander, Atlantic, during parts of NATO 

Operation "Mainbrace" from 25 August to 29 September 1952.  

She cruised in the Mediterranean from October 1952 through 

January 1953, serving part of that time as flagship of the 

6th Fleet.  Now flagship of Cruiser Division 6, she returned 

to the Mediterranean from September 1954 to January 1955.  

Between deployments, COLUMBUS received necessary overhauls 

and carried out training operations along the east coast and 

in the Caribbean.



	Reassigned to the Pacific Fleet, COLUMBUS cleared 

Boston 8 November 1955 for Long Beach, Calif., where she 

arrived 2 December.  Just a month later, on 5 January 1956, 

she sailed for Yokosuka, Japan, and operated with the 7th 

Fleet until she returned to Long Beach 8 July.  COLUMBUS 

made two more cruises to the Far East in 1957 and 1958.  

During the late summer of 1958, her presence was a reminder 

of American strength and interest as she patrolled the 

Taiwan Straits during the crisis brought on by the renewed 

shelling of the offshore islands by the Chinese Communists.  

On 8 May 1959, COLUMBUS went out of commission at Puget 

Sound Naval Shipyard to begin her conversion to a guided 

missile cruiser, and she was reclassified CG-12, 30 

September 1959.



	[Recommissioned as CG-12 on 1 December 1962, she was 

the second of a class of three guided missile cruisers that 

included ALBANY (CG-10) and CHICAGO (CG-11).  The three had 

Talos fore and aft and Tartar port and starboard of the 

bridge superstructure.  Asroc amidships completed the 

missile suite, while six anti-submarine torpedo tubes were 

added in 1968.  Two open 5-inch/38 guns were added later at 

the insistence of President Kennedy after he witnessed a 

Terrier missile (from another ship) fail to down an aerial 

target drone.  All but COLUMBUS were modernized in 1970 and 

it was this that lead to her being the first of the class to 

be laid up.  Decommissioned on 31 January 1975, she was 

stricken on 9 August 1976, sold on 3 October 1977 and broken 

up.



“Conway’s All The World’s Fighting Ships, 1947-1995,” .578.

K. Jack Bauer and Stephen S. Roberts, “Register of Ships of 

the U.S. Navy, 1775-1990,” p.155.

“Jane’s Fighting Ships, 1975-76,” p.444.]





Transcribed by Michael Hansen

mhansen2@home.com