USS Tuscaloosa (CA-37)
History of the USS Tuscaloosa Cruiser
The USS Tuscaloosa (CA-37) was ordered for the U.S. Navy between World War I and World War II. Her keel was laid down by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation in New Jersey on September 3, 1931. She was launched on November 15, 1933 and commissioned on August 17, 1934 under the command of Captain John N. Ferguson.
USS Tuscaloosa joined Cruiser Division 6 at San Diego in April 1935. After participating in Fleet Problem XVI, she proceeded to her new homeport in San Pedro, California. The next few years kept her involved in fleet exercises, the annual Fleet Problems, and a goodwill tour that brought her to many South American ports.
In August 1939, the USS Tuscaloosa carried President Franklin D. Roosevelt to New Brunswick, allowing him to witness the salvage of the USS Squalus off the coast of Portsmouth, New Hampshire along the way. After visiting several Canadian ports with the President, she sailed to Sandy Hook, New Jersey to disembark him.
When World War II broke out in Europe, USS Tuscaloosa was assigned to Neutrality Patrol and gunnery exercises. She helped shadow the German ocean liner Columbus, and she took aboard the ship’s 576 survivors when the HMS Hyperion fired upon and forced the German captain to scuttle the ship. The cruiser carried the survivors to Ellis Island before returning to Norfolk, Virginia.
After spending time in the West Indies for fleet exercises, the USS Tuscaloosa entered Norfolk Navy Yard in Virginia for fitting out as Presidential flagship. On February 15, 1940, she embarked President Roosevelt at Pensacola for a cruise to Panama and the west coast of Central America for meetings with Latin American leaders. The President disembarked at the end of the month, and the cruiser returned to Neutrality Patrol after a three-month overhaul.
President Roosevelt boarded USS Tuscaloosa again in December, formulating the idea of the lend-lease program to help the British. When he returned to Washington, the cruiser sailed for Europe to deliver Admiral William D. Leahy, Ambassador to Vichy France, to Lisbon. She then returned to Norfolk on January 11, 1941.
The USS Tuscaloosa returned to Neutrality Patrol for the next several months. In August, she carried President Roosevelt to a meeting with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill to create the Atlantic Charter. She then took up escort duty for the transports carrying Marines to Iceland. The cruiser served out of Hvalfjorour with a task group built around three American battleships.
When the United States officially entered the war in December, USS Tuscaloosa made a training cruise to Denmark Strait before returning to Boston Navy Yard in Massachusetts for overhaul from February 8 to February 20, 1942. She later joined Task Group 39.1 and proceeded to Scapa Flow, arriving there on April 4. The cruiser served with the British Home Fleet and escorted convoys to Russia. In the autumn, the cruiser headed back to the United States for another overhaul.
In November, the USS Tuscaloosa joined Allied forces to cover Operation Torch, the invasion of North Africa. She returned to the United States for refitting and covered convoys bound for North Africa. The cruiser spent the spring of 1943 conducting training exercises along the East Coast of the United States.
Over the next few months, USS Tuscaloosa returned to serve with the British Home Fleet and covered the air strikes at Norway for Operation Leader. She then covered the relief expedition to reestablish the weather station on Spitsbergen Island. Returning to Iceland in November, the cruiser proceeded to New York, where she put in for overhaul on December 3.
Once her yard work was finished on February 1944, the USS Tuscaloosa took part in exercises and bombardment practice out of Casco Bay, Maine. After an upgrade of her communications equipment and electronic countermeasures gear, she became the flagship of Rear Admiral Morton L. Deyo, Commander Cruiser Division 7. In the period leading up to D-Day, she continued to participate in practice and exercises.
D-Day arrived on June 6, and USS Tuscaloosa arrived with Task Force 125 at Normandy, firing her guns at enemy shore batteries. Three days later, she returned to Plymouth, England to replenish her ammunition before returning to provide fire support off Normandy until June 21. After returning to England, she moved on to Cherbourg.
From there, the USS Tuscaloosa supported Operation Anvil and Operation Dragoon, the invasion of southern France. In September, she headed to Philadelphia Navy Yard in Pennsylvania for refitting before her transfer to the Pacific Fleet. The cruiser sailed to Ulithi via San Diego and Pearl Harbor, arriving there to join the Third Fleet in January 1945.
USS Tuscaloosa bombarded shore targets at Iwo Jima throughout February and into March. On March 26, she moved on to bombard Okinawa. During operations off Okinawa, the cruiser splashed several kamikazes. On June 28, she departed Okinawa for Leyte Gulf, joining the Seventh Fleet. She screened the aircraft carriers as they struck at enemy shore targets and shipping.
After World War II ended, the USS Tuscaloosa proceeded to Korean and Manchurian waters, covering the landings of occupation forces at liberated ports. In November, she began Operation Magic Carpet duty, carrying American veterans home from war.
The USS Tuscaloosa was decommissioned on February 13, 1946. She was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on March 1, 1959 and sold for scrap on June 25, 1959. The cruiser earned seven 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 Tuscaloosa
