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USS Columbus (CG-12)

Please see below for item level images and donated collections containing photographs of USS Columbus (CG-12)

USS Columbus (CA-74) was launched 30 November 1944 by Bethlehem Steel Co., Quincy, Mass.; sponsored by Mrs. Edward G. Meyers, mother of two sons killed in the war; and commissioned at Boston on 8 June 1945, Captain Allen Hobbs in command.

Following a shakedown cruise to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in September, and a repair availability at Boston in November, the cruiser sailed for the Pacific and passed through the Panama Canal on 10 December. After brief stops at Pearl Harbor and Buckner Bay, Okinawa, USS Columbus (CA-74) reached Tsingtao, China, on 13 January 1946 for occupation duty. The warship made a second Far Eastern cruise from 15 January to 12 June 1947, again serving as cruiser flagship in Chinese waters.

After west coast operations and an overhaul at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, USS Columbus (CA-74) cleared Bremerton 12 April 1948 to join the Atlantic Fleet, arriving at Norfolk, Va., 19 May. Between deployments, USS Columbus (CA-74) received necessary overhauls and carried out training operations along the east coast and in the Caribbean. Reassigned to the Pacific Fleet, USS Columbus (CA-74) cleared Boston 8 November 1955 for Long Beach, Calif., where she arrived 2 December.

USS Columbus (CA-74) went out of commission at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard to begin her conversion to a guided missile cruiser, and she was reclassified CG-12, 30 September 1959. Recommissioned 1 December 1962, USS Columbus (CG-12) served in the Atlantic Fleet for the next fourteen years, decommissioning at Portsmouth, Virginia, on 31 January 1975. Struck from the Navy list on 9 August 1976.

For a complete history of USS Columbus (CG-12) please see its DANFS page.