USS Providence (CL-82)
History of the USS Providence Cruiser
The USS Providence (CL-82) was ordered for the U.S. Navy during World War II. Her keel was laid down by the Bethlehem Steel Corporation in Massachusetts on July 27, 1943. She was launched on December 28, 1944 and commissioned on May 15, 1945 under the command of Captain Thomas John Ryan.
Commissioned too late to fight in World War II, USS Providence served in a training capacity for prospective cruiser and aircraft carrier crews out of Newport, Rhode Island until October 6, 1945. She departed for a Mediterranean cruise in November, making ports of call at Greece, Istanbul, and Alexandria before her return home to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on June 25, 1946.
For the next several months, the USS Providence trained out of Guantanamo Bay before making another Mediterranean cruise from February until May 1947. She would make several more Mediterranean cruises with the Sixth Fleet before she was decommissioned on June 14, 1949.
USS Providence was reclassified as CLG-6 on May 23, 1957 as she underwent conversion as a guided missile light cruiser, the lead ship in her class. She was recommissioned on September 17, 1959 under the command of Captain Kenneth L. Veth. After shakedown, she proceeded to her new homeport at Long Beach.
During the 1960s, the USS Providence made several deployments with the Seventh Fleet in support of Vietnam War operations. She served as the flagship of the Seventh Fleet in 1962 and 1966. During her time in Vietnam, she delivered materials to humanitarian organizations, bombarded North Vietnamese shore targets, and provided fire support for amphibious operations. The cruiser took part in the Tet Offensive in February 1968, helping the Marines to break the stalemate during the Battle of Hue.
In 1969, USS Providence operated along the West Coast with the First Fleet. She was decommissioned on August 31, 1973, struck from the Naval Vessel Register on September 30, 1978, and sold for scrap on July 15, 1980. The cruiser earned 18 battle stars, a Navy Unit Commendation, and a Vietnam Navy Gallantry Cross for her service in the Vietnam War. The Navy Unit Commendation was earned for participating in combat operations off the coast of Vietnam, as part of the containment of North Vietnamese invasion and in the successful raid on Haiphong Harbor.
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. Ed Rice, a Gunner’s Mate aboard the USS Providence from 1972 to 1973, recalled:
The asbestos that I remember was on the steam pipes. It was
used as an insulating wrapping. We also used asbestos gloves to extract hot shell casings when they jammed in the guns.
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 Providence
Ed Rice, Gunner’s Mate
