USS Omaha (CL-4)
History of the USS Omaha Cruiser
The USS Omaha (CL-4) was ordered for the U.S. Navy during the World War I era. Her keel was laid down by Todd Shipyards of Tacoma, Washington on December 6, 1918. She was launched on December 14, 1920 and commissioned on February 24, 1923 under the command of Captain David C. Hanrahan.
In her early career, USS Omaha served with the Atlantic Fleet. Her operations involved mostly training exercises, for which she earned fleet awards for communications and gunnery. The cruiser sailed to the Mediterranean and Caribbean to show the flag at her ports of call.
While on Neutrality Patrol, the USS Omaha encountered a suspicious vessel on November 6, 1941. The freighter flew an American flag and displayed the name Willmoto of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The cruiser sent a boarding party; the crew from the freighter climbed into lifeboats and sent up a signal that the ship was sinking. Explosions were heard from the hull, and one of the freighter’s crew members was heard to shout, “This is a German ship and she is sinking!” The crew of the USS Omaha was able to salvage the ship and get her underway for Puerto Rico, where it was determined that the freighter was the German commerce raider Odenwald.
When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, USS Omaha was ordered to continue her patrol of the South Atlantic and stop German blockade runners, a duty she continued throughout most of World War II.
On January 4, 1944, the USS Omaha discovered a German blockade runner that was being scuttled. She found another the next day, using her gunfire to help sink the ship. These two vessels had been carrying large shipments of rubber that were desperately needed by the Germans.
USS Omaha sailed for Naples in March in preparation for the troop landings in Southern France. She screened the bombardment units at Toulon on August 19 and helped secure the surrender of the German installation on Porquerolles three days later. The cruiser was also present for the surrender of Gien the next day.
After bombarding shore targets at Toulon on August 25, the USS Omaha was detached to resume her patrol duties in the South Atlantic. She was on patrol when the war ended on August 15, 1945.
The USS Omaha was decommissioned on November 1, 1945. She was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on November 28, 1945 and scrapped at the Philadelphia Navy Yard in Pennsylvania in February 1946. The cruiser was awarded one battle star 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
