USS Birmingham (CL-62)
History of the USS Birmingham Cruiser
The USS Birmingham (CL-62) was ordered for the U.S. Navy before the United States entered World War II. Her keel was laid down by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company in Virginia on February 17, 1941. She was launched on March 20, 1942 and commissioned on January 29, 1943 under the command of Captain J. Wilkes.
After shakedown, USS Birmingham headed to the Mediterranean for her first combat action, providing gunfire support for the invasion of Sicily from July 10 to July 26, 1943. When her assistance was no longer needed, she returned to the United States. She was then transferred to the Pacific Fleet, arriving at Pearl Harbor on September 6.
From Pearl Harbor, the USS Birmingham got underway to screen the fast carrier task force that raided Tarawa on September 18 and Wake Island on October 5-6. In November, she and five of her sister ships took part in the Battle of Empress Augusta Bay. The cruiser took two bomb hits and a torpedo hit, sending her back to Mare Island Navy Yard in California for repairs.
USS Birmingham completed her yard work on February 18, 1944. After training operations, she joined Task Force 57. In mid-June, she took part in the fighting off Saipan. On June 19-20, she was involved in the Battle of the Philippine Sea, which became known as the Marianas Turkey Shoot because of the sheer number of Japanese aircraft that were shot down by American forces. The cruiser moved on to support the attacks on Tinian, Guam, and the raids on the Philippines.
On October 15, the USS Birmingham joined Task Force 38 for the attack on Okinawa. Later that week, she took part in the raids on Luzon and Formosa. The cruiser was then involved in the Battle of Leyte Gulf, in which she sustained topside damage from explosions aboard the carrier USS Princeton as she attempted to provide firefighting aid, killing over 200 of her crewmen. She headed back to Mare Island Navy Yard for repairs that lasted until January 1945.
When she returned to the war zone, USS Birmingham provided support for operations on Iwo Jima and Okinawa. She was struck by a kamikaze on May 4, killing 51 crew members, injuring 81 others, and requiring her to retire for more repairs, this time at Pearl Harbor. Her repair work lasted until August 1, and she arrived back at Okinawa on August 26 after the war had ended. The cruiser sailed to Brisbane in November before returning to San Francisco, California the following month.
The USS Birmingham was decommissioned on January 2, 1947. She was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on March 1, 1959 and sold for scrap on November 12, 1959. The cruiser earned nine battle stars for her service in World War II.
The use of asbestos was common in shipbuilding components for much of the 20th Century because of its resistance to heat, fire, water and corrosion. Because of their asbestos exposure onboard ship and in the shipyards, seaman, shipyard workers and longshoreman are at risk for developing asbestos-related diseases like mesothelioma.
Sources include:
Asbestos and Ship-Building: Fatal Consequences, by John Hedley-Whyte and Debra R Milamed
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships – USS Birmingham
