Featured Boat: USS San Francisco

 

USS San Francisco (CA-38), a New Orleans-class heavy cruiser, was the second ship of the United States Navy named after the city of San Francisco, California. Commissioned in 1934, she was one of the most decorated ships of World War II, earning 17 battle stars.

Like most of her sister ships, she saw extensive action during the Guadalcanal campaign, including the Battle of Cape Esperance and the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, during which she was heavily damaged and her captain and admiral killed. Earlier in the battle she mistakenly fired on light cruiser Atlanta, causing serious damage and many casualties.

Decommissioned immediately after the end of the war, she was sold for scrap in 1959.

Her bridge wings, damaged during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal and removed during repairs, are now mounted on a promontory in Golden Gate National Recreation Area. They are set on the great circle course from San Francisco to Guadalcanal.

Pearl Harbor Attack

On 7 December 1941, San Francisco was in Pearl Harbor and was awaiting docking and the cleaning of her heavily fouled bottom. Her engineering plant was largely broken down for overhaul. Ammunition for her 5 in (130 mm) and 8 in (200 mm) guns had been placed in storage. Her 3 in (76 mm) guns had been removed to permit installation of four 1.1 in (28 mm) quadruple mounts. The 1.1 in (28 mm) mounts had not been installed. Her .50 in (12.7 mm) machine guns were being overhauled. Only small arms and two .30 in (7.6 mm) machine guns were available. Moreover, a number of San Francisco's officers and men were absent.

At 0755, Japanese planes began bombing dives on Ford Island, and by 0800, the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor was well underway. The men in San Francisco secured the ship for watertightness and began looking for opportunities to fight back. Some crossed to New Orleans to help man antiaircraft batteries on that ship. Others began using available rifles and machine guns. Ammunition for .50 in (12.7 mm) machine guns was transferred to Tracy for use.

San Francisco was not bombed or damaged during the Japanese air raid. After the attack was over, work resumed to make San Francisco seaworthy and combat-ready.

On 14 December, the cruiser left the yard; the scaling of her keel had been postponed in favor of more necessary repairs on other ships. On 16 December, she sortied with Task Force 14 (TF 14) to relieve Wake Island. The force moved west with a Marine fighter squadron onboard Saratoga and a Marine battalion embarked in Tangier. However, when Wake Island fell to the Japanese on 23 December, TF 14 was diverted to Midway Atoll which it reinforced. On 29 December, the force returned to Pearl Harbor.

Post-War

On 28 August 1945, the cruiser departed Subic Bay for the China coast. After a show of force in the Yellow Sea and Gulf of Pohai areas, she covered minesweeping operations, and on 8 October anchored at Inchon, Korea. From 13–16 October, she participated in another show of force operation in the Gulf of Pohai area, then returned to Inchon, where Rear Admiral Jerauld Wright, Commander, CruDiv 6, acted as senior member of the committee for the surrender of Japanese naval forces in Korea.

On 27 November, San Francisco headed home. Arriving at San Francisco in mid-December, she continued on to the east coast on 5 January 1946, and arrived at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for inactivation on 19 January. Decommissioned on 10 February, she was berthed with the Philadelphia Group of the Atlantic Reserve Fleet until 1 March 1959, when her name was struck from the Naval Vessel Register. On 9 September, she was sold to the Union Mineral and Alloys Corp., New York, and scrapped at Panama City, Florida in 1961.

USS SAN FRANSICO

Heavy Cruiser

Scale: 1/125

Length: 57” Height: 19” Bredth: 8”

Price: $1500

Shipping: Free

This model was built by Vaclav Niedermertl, a master model maker. Vaclav has spent most of his life building ship models and has received numerous Bronze and Silver Medals in both his homeland of the Czech Republic and in Vienna where he won the Silver and Bronze medals of Europe from NAVGA.

The Model you see here is entirely scratch built using only Wood, Museum Board and a pulp based compound. EVERYTHING is made by scratch/hand.