USS Memphis (CL-13)

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Career

Ordered:
Laid down:	October 14, 1920
Launched:	April 17, 1924
Commissioned:	February 4, 1925
Decommissioned:	December 17, 1945
Fate:	Scrapped in 1947
Struck:	January 8, 1946
General Characteristics
Displacement:	7,050 tons
Length:	555 ft 6 in
Beam:	55 ft 4 in
Draft:	20 ft
Propulsion:
Speed:	35 knots
Range:
Complement:	790 officers and enlisted
Armament:	12 × 6 in, 6 × 3 in guns 6 × 21 in torpedo tubes
Aircraft:
Motto:

USS Memphis (CL-13) was an Omaha-class light cruiser of the United States Navy. She was the fourth Navy ship named for the city of Memphis, Tennessee.

Memphis was laid down by William Cramp & Sons, Philadelphia, Pa., October 14, 1920; launched April 17, 1924, sponsored by Miss Elizabeth R. Paine, daughter of Mayor Rowlett Paine of Memphis; and commissioned at the Philadelphia Navy Yard February 4, 1925, Captain Henry E. Lackey in command.

Late in February Memphis got underway for a shakedown cruise in the Caribbean. On April 13 the cruiser participated in the dedication of an American memorial gateway to Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry at Port of Spain, Trinidad. Six years after the indomitable Perry had defeated the British on Lake Erie September 10, 1813, he died on board frigate John Adams at Port–of–Spain and was interred there until his remains were removed to Newport, R.I., 7 years later. In June Memphis joined ships of a scouting fleet off Honolulu, Hawaii, for a cruise to the South Pacific through September, with visits to Australia and New Zealand. From October to April 1926 she again operated in the West Indies before returning to her home port, New York City.

Memphis next sailed for Europe, arriving off St. Nazaire, France, June 26. Relieving Pittsburgh (CA-4) as flagship of Commander, U.S. Naval Forces in Europe July 4, she operated in European waters into 1927. During a stay at Santander, Spain, July 31 to August 31, 1926, the ship was visited by King Alfonso XIII.

On June 3, 1927 Memphis embarked Capt. Charles A. Lindbergh and his plane at Southampton, England, following his nonstop flight from New York to Paris. The next day the cruiser departed Cherbourg, France, arriving Washington, D.C., June 11 to debark her famous passenger at the Washington Navy Yard. For the rest of the year she performed surveillance duty along the Atlantic coast.

During January 1928, Memphis acted as part of an escort group for President Calvin Coolidge on a cruise to the West Indies. After four months of Caribbean operations, she served in the eastern Pacific.

On June 5 the cruiser arrived at Balboa, Canal Zone, for duty off Central America to May 1933. Memphis operated in a peacekeeping capacity at Corinto, Nicaragua, during the inauguration of President Juan B. Sacasa in 1932. In the next five years she alternated duty along the west coast with patrols to the troubled area of the West Indies.

After a good will cruise to Australia in January 1938, Memphis reached Honolulu April 1 to rejoin the fleet for operations until she participated in the presidential review off San Francisco July 12, 1939. In August she sailed to Alaska, operating there until early 1941.

As the time of U.S. involvement in World War II approached Memphis sailed to the east coast. She departed Newport April 24, 1941 to take part in the neutrality patrol of the ocean triangle Trinidad–Cape San Roque–Cape Verde Islands, arriving Recife, Brazil, May 10. She continued operations in the South Atlantic for most of World War II. In March 1942 the ship escorted two Army transports in convoy to Ascension Island, where the Army’s 38th Engineer General Service Regiment debarked to construct an airport as staging point for planes flying from the United States to Africa. By May she was on patrol near the entrance to Fort-de-France, Martinique.

In January 1943 the cruiser flew President Franklin Roosevelt’s flag off Bathurst, Gambia, during the Casablanca Conference January 14 to January 24. The President and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill outlined plans at that time for the invasion of Sicily and Italy. From February to September, Memphis was once more on patrol duty against blockade runners, mostly off Bahia and Recife, Brazil.

The USS Memphis (CL-13) makes a port call in San Diego, California on July 28, 1935.

President Amenzoga of Uruguay, and President Getulio Vargas of Brazil toured the ship in January 1944 while their countries continued to give valuable aid in blockading the "Atlantic Narrows." The following year Memphis sailed for Europe, arriving Naples, Italy, January 16, 1945. On the 27th, as flagship for Adm. Harold R. Stark, Commander, U.S. Naval Forces in Europe, she got underway for Valletta, Malta, scene of preliminary Allied conferences prior to the Yalta Conference in February. Before the end of January the cruiser had two important visitors: Fleet Adm. Ernest J. King and General of the Army George C. Marshall.

On February 18 Memphis arrived at Algiers for President Roosevelt’s last Allied conference before his return to the United States. The next 8 months she continued to receive distinguished leaders. She participated in the first anniversary ceremonies of the Allied landings at St. Raphael and St. Tropez, southern France, on August 15 and the Navy Day festivities at Naples, Italy, on October 27. Late in November Memphis departed Tangier for Philadelphia, Pa., where she decommissioned December 17, 1945. She was struck from the Navy list January 8, 1946 and sold to Patapsco Scrap Co., Bethlehem, Pa., December 18 for scrapping following delivery January 10, 1947.