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NavSource Online: Cruiser Photo Archive

USS ASTORIA (CL 90)


     
Flag Hoist/Radio Call Sign: November - Bravo - Xray - Golf

CLASS - CLEVELAND
Displacement 10,000 Tons, Dimensions, 610' 1" (oa) x 66' 4" x 25' (Max)
Armament 12 x 6"/47, 12 x 5"/38AA, 28 x 40mm, 10 x 20mm, 4 Aircraft
Armor, 5" Belt, 6" Turrets, 2" Deck, 5" Conning Tower.
Machinery, 100,000 SHP; Geared Turbines, 4 screws
Speed, 32.5 Knots, Crew 1255.
Operational and Building Data
Ordered 29 OCT 1940
Keel laid on 06 SEP 1941 by the William Cramp and Sons Shipbuilding Co., Philadelphia, PA
Launched 06 MAR 1943
Commissioned 17 MAY 1944
Decommissioned 01 JUL 1949
Stricken 01 NOV 1969
Fate: Sold for scrap to Nicolai Joffe Corp. of Beverly Hills, CA on 12 JAN 1971

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons



Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Navy Combat Action Ribbon - China Service Medal
Second Row - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic Pacific Campaign Medal (5) - WWII Victory Medal
Third Row - Navy World War II Occupation Medal w/JAPAN Clasp - Philippine Presidential Unit Citation - Philippine Liberation Medal(3)



Click On Image
For Full Size Image
Size Image Description Contributed
By And/Or Copyright
Astoria
0409021
NR America Strengthens Sea and Air Arm.
Pictured at left is a view of the keel laying for the new 10,000-ton cruiser, Wilkes-Barre (CL-90), at the recently re-opened century-old Cramps shipyards, near Philadelphia. Upper right: Widely heralded new flying fortress, probably world’s deadliest instrument of destruction, emerges from the Boeing plant in Seattle for first test flight. Lower right: The U. S. cruiser San Juan (CL-54), after being launched at the Fore River yard of the Bethlehem Steel company, Quincy, Mass.
Photo & text I.D. via Theodore Leverett.
Image and text provided by University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
Photo from The Frontier. (O'Neill City, Holt County, Neb.) 1880-1965, 25 September 1941, Image 3, via chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.
Astoria
0409017
204k Christening of Astoria by Mrs. Robert Lucas, wife of the editor of the Astoria-Budget. Dale Hargrave
Astoria
0409018
66k Astoria sliding down the ways, 6 March 1943, William Cramp and Sons Shipbuilding Co., Philadelphia, PA. Dale Hargrave
Astoria
0409019
280k Astoria sliding down the ways, 6 March 1943, William Cramp and Sons Shipbuilding Co., Philadelphia, PA. Dale Hargrave
Miami
0408927
573k

William Cramp & Sons Shipbuilding Company facilities, 15 March 1943. Cruisers visible in this photo:

Far right - Miami (CL 89) - Furthest along; aft turrets and catapults in place.
Left of Miami is Astoria (CL 90) - she is about a month behind Miami..
Left of Astoria, in the large shipway, is Oklahoma City (CL 91) - a significant portion of hull has been built.
Left of Oklahoma City is Little Rock (CL 92) - Keel was just been laid on 6 March, which is visible under crane structure.

Note the 8 submarines in various stages of construction to the left of the Little Rock (4 per shipway). They are most likely:

Devilfish (SS 292)
Dragonet (SS 293)
Escolar (SS 294)
Hackleback (SS 295)
Lancetfish (SS 296)
Ling (SS 297)
Lionfish (SS 298)
Manta (SS 299)

The shipyard's submarine construction program was not especially successful. Poor management hindered the delivery of the boats.? The first delivery was made two years after keel laying, and fitting out was then done by? Portsmouth Navy Yard. The best construction time for a submarine was 644 days.

Tracy White
Miami
0408928
411k The same view as the previous image taken from the opposite direction. Tracy White
Astoria
0409015
255k Shells from an unseen ship land off the stern during gunnery practice, date and location unknown. From the collection of Herman Schnipper. Ed Mackiewicz
Astoria 89k

USS Astoria (CL 90) Underway at sea, 22 July 1944, while en route to the Philadelphia Navy Yard for post-shakedown overhaul. Her camouflage is Measure 33, Design 24d.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center #NH 98413.

USNHC
Astoria 86k

USS Astoria (CL 90) Off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 21 October 1944. Her camouflage is Measure 33, Design 24d.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center #NH 98414.

USNHC
Astoria 85k

USS Astoria (CL 90) Off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 21 October 1944.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center #NH 98415.

USNHC
Astoria 81k

USS Astoria (CL 90) Off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 21 October 1944. She carries two 0S2U "Kingfisher" floatplanes on her catapults.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center #NH 98416.

USNHC
Astoria 65k

USS Astoria (CL 90) Bow view, taken off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 21 October 1944.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center #NH 98417.

USNHC
Astoria 71k

USS Astoria (CL 90) Stern view, taken off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 21 October 1944. She carries two 0S2U "Kingfisher" floatplanes on her catapults.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center #NH 98418.

USNHC
Astoria 134k

USS Astoria (CL 90) Plan view, forward, taken at the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 21 October 1944. Note railway cars full of scrap in the foreground, and the dredge YM-12 (bearing the name "Endicott" on a board atop her pilothouse) at left.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center #NH 98419.

USNHC
Astoria 142k

USS Astoria (CL 90) Plan view amidships, looking forward, taken at the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 21 October 1944. Note life rafts stowed between the ship's smokestacks, and antennas for SK-1 and SG radars atop her foremast. A tractor-trailer "bus" is passing by ashore, to the left of Astoria's pilothouse.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center #NH 98420.

USNHC
Astoria 157k

USS Astoria (CL 90) Plan view amidships, looking aft, taken at the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 21 October 1944. Note the searchlights mounted on the ship's after smokestack.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center #NH 98421.

USNHC
Astoria 164k

USS Astoria (CL 90) Plan view aft, taken at the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 21 October 1944. Note 40mm quad gun mount at left, with battle helmets and a life raft mounted on the bulkhead beyond, and 5"/38 twin gun mount in left center.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center #NH 98422.

USNHC
Astoria
0409016
352k Refueling at Ulithi, 26 November 1944. From the collection of Herman Schnipper. (Date corrected by Eick E. Davis) Ed Mackiewicz
LCI(G)-464
1015046306
100k USS Astoria (CL 90) sailors load aboard USS LCI(G) 463 for a brief liberty at Mog Mog Fleet Recreation Center at Ulithi Atoll, 28 January 1945.

Photo courtesy Herman Schnipper

Marc Levine
LCI(G)-464
1015046307
79k USS LCI(G) 463 loaded with a recreation party from USS Astoria (CL 90) sailors headed for the Fleet Recreation Center at Mog Mog, Ulithi Atoll, 28 January 1945.

Photo courtesy Herman Schnipper

Marc Levine
Astoria
NS0209bw
352k As seen from USS Essex (CV 9), USS Astoria (CL 90), USS Randolph (CV 15), and other units of Task Force 58 steam in the Pacific, circa May 1945. Carrier in the background might be USS Bunker Hill (CV 17). Ed Mackiewicz
Astoria
0409020
675k

USS Astoria (CL 90) moored at Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada on 1 June 1946. The ship carries Measure 22 camouflage scheme.

City of Vancouver Archives, Photo #AM1506-S3-3-: CVA 447-3358, by Walter E. Frost.

Mike Green
Astoria 87k

USS Astoria (CL 90) Underway, circa 1947, probably while leaving San Diego, California.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center #NH 98423.

USNHC

Commanding Officers
Name/Rank Final Rank Dates
Dyer, George Carroll, CAPT VADM 05/17/1944 - 06/09/1945
Hamilton, William Van, CAPT RADM 06/09/1945 - 03/19/1946
Walker, Frank Robinson, CAPT   03/19/1946 - 11/1946
Jarrett, Harry Bean, CAPT VADM 11/1946 - 09/1947
Hoffheins Jr., William Lenhart, CAPT   09/1947 - 08/1948
Miller, Louis Newcomb, CAPT   08/1948 - 06/30/1949

(Courtesy of Brent Jones and The Mighty Ninety website)


USS ASTORIA (CL 90) History
View This Vessels DANFS History Entry on the U.S. Navy Historical Center website.

Crew Contact And Reunion Information
CA 34 - CL 90

Contact Name: Mr. Don A Yeamans
Address: 19030 SE Hwy 212 Clackamas, OR, 97015-8704
Phone: 503-658-5001
E-mail: None

Note About Contacts.

The contact listed, Was the contact at the time for this ship when located. If another person now is the contact, E-mail me and I will update this entry. These contacts are compiled from various sources over a long period of time and may or may not be correct. Every effort has been made to list the newest contact if more than one contact was found.


Additional Resources
Hazegray & Underway Cruiser Pages By Andrew Toppan.
Mighty Ninety By Brent Jones.

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