The Navy uses various ‘naming’ conventions for ships, you can see today’s current ship listing, HERE. What I wanted to do today was look at one of the ‘oddities’ in the ship naming line…
That being the USS Los Angeles…
There have been four USS Los Angeles in the Navy over the years.
The first USS Los Angeles was originally a bare boat charter from Union Oil Company of the SS Los Angeles a commercial tanker in 1917, rename USS Los Angeles in August of 1917. She served through WWI transporting POL cargo to Europe, then was released in early 1919.
U.S. Navy bureau of Ships – Official U.S. Navy photo NH 86378 from the U.S. Navy Naval History and Heritage Command
The second USS Los Angeles was ZR-3, it was a Zeppelin airship! Constructed in Germany as part of the Treaty repatriations, it was Zeppelin works number LZ 126, built as a passenger airship, and transferred to the Navy in November 1924. This was the Navy’s first rigid hulled airship, a radical departure from the previous classes of blimps.
She was 658 feet long, 90 feet in diameter, and 104 feet high when the control cab was added. Powered by five Maybach engines, she cruised at 48 kts, and sprinted at 65 kts. Her range was 5,770 nm.
She is shown here moored to USS Patoka (AO-9), off Panama during Fleet Problem XII, February 1931.
U.S. Navy bureau of Ships – Official U.S. Navy photo NH 11747 from the U.S. Navy Naval History and Heritage Command
This picture shows her control car, fully enclosed, which was a major upgrade from the earlier classes of blimps.
U.S. Navy bureau of Ships – Official U.S. Navy photo NH 67775 from the U.S. Navy Naval History and Heritage Command
For more than 7 years USS Los Angeles served as an aerial laboratory and testing station for numerous experiments in the development of coordinated naval air and sea tactics, including the first use of the ‘trapeze’ for airplanes. In addition she trained practically all airship crews for the Navy, and operations with the fleets sent her to the Pacific, the Canal Zone, and the Caribbean. She decommissioned 30 June 1932; recommissioned for a time after the Akron disaster 3 April 1933; and was struck from the Navy list 24 October 1969.
The third USS Los Angeles, CA-135 was a Baltimore Class Heavy Cruiser, commissioned 22 July 1945, Capt. John A. Snackenberg in command.
U.S. Navy bureau of Ships – Official U.S. Navy photo NH 97386 from the U.S. Navy Naval History and Heritage Command
In 1946 and 1957, she operated with the 7th Fleet along the coast of China and in the western Pacific to the Marianas. She returned to San Francisco, Calif., 21 January 1947; decommissioned at Hunter’s Point 9 April 1948.
This is her ships emblem. Not for self, but for country was their motto.
U.S. Navy bureau of Ships – Official U.S. Navy photo USN 1067142 from the U.S. Navy Naval History and Heritage Command
She was recommissioned 27 January 1951, she joined naval operations off the eastern coast of Korea 31 May as flagship for Rear Adm. Arleigh A. Burke’s CRUDIV 5. During the next 6 months she ranged the coastal waters of the Korean Peninsula from Hungnam in the east to Haeju in the west while her guns pounded enemy coastal positions.
In one of those truly odd situations, LT General Van Fleet (8th Army) and RADM Burke were flying out to the Los Angeles and the helicopter crashed on landing!
U.S. Navy bureau of Ships – Official U.S. Navy photo NH 66526 from the U.S. Navy Naval History and Heritage Command
None of the people on the helicopter were injured and Van Fleet and Burke went ahead with their planned meeting!
U.S. Navy bureau of Ships – Official U.S. Navy photo NH 93208 from the U.S. Navy Naval History and Heritage Command
After returning to the United States 17 December for overhaul and training, she made her second deployment to Korean waters 9 October 1952. While participating in the bombardment of Wonsan late in March and early in April 1953, she received minor damage from enemy shore batteries, but continued operations until sailing for the west coast in mid‑April.
Between November 1953 and June 1963 Los Angeles made eight more deployments to the Far East where she served as a cruiser division flagship with the 7th Fleet.
She returned to Long Beach from her final Far East deployment 20 June 1963.
The fourth and last (for now) USS Los Angeles is SSN-688 launched on 6 April 1974 sponsored by Anne Armstrong, and commissioned on 13 November 1976 with Commander John E. Christensen in command. 361 feet long, 32 foot beam, drawing 30 feet at full load, she was capable of ‘in excess’ of 30 kts… 🙂
U.S. Navy bureau of Ships – Official U.S. Navy photo USN 1167880 from the U.S. Navy Naval History and Heritage Command
She hosted President Jimmy Carter and the First Lady on 27 May 1977 for an at-sea demonstration of her capabilities.
U.S. Navy bureau of Ships – Official U.S. Navy photo USN 1170345 from the U.S. Navy Naval History and Heritage Command
Bonus points if you recognize the old guy in the middle of the three… No, not Jimmy Carter.
http://www.navsource.org/archives/08/08688.htm
Her armament consisted of 4- 21 in bow tubes (no current US sub has stern tubes and she could fire MK48 torpedoes, Harpoon Missiles and later the Tomahawk Cruise Missile.
Whe she was decommissioned on 23 January 2010, in the Port of Los Angeles, she held the record for the longest serving submarine at 34 years!
One of the ‘oddities’ of the submarine service is that the wardroom of the oldest submarine in the fleet carries Richard O’Kane’s personal cribbage board from WWII. The board was transferred to the next oldest boat, USS Bremerton (SSN-698) when the USS Los Angeles was decommissioned…
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