USS Topeka, a 10,000-ton Cleveland class light cruiser, was built at Quincy, Massachusetts. She was commissioned in December 1944, shook down in the Caribbean area and, in April 1945, transited the Panama Canal to join the Pacific Fleet. Between early June and mid-August, Topeka took part in attacks on the Japanese home islands, screening aircraft carriers, making anti-shipping sweeps and firing her guns in bombardments of enemy facilities ashore. She remained in the area for a month after Japan's surrender, and October 1945 steamed back to the United States, transporting over five hundred servicemen home from Okinawa.
In January 1946, following an overhaul, Topeka began the first of her post-war tours of Far Eastern duty. This lasted until November and included visits to Japan, China, the Philippines and Guam. A second Western Pacific cruise took place between September 1947 and May 1948. After operations along the West Coast, Topeka was prepared for inactivation at San Francisco, California, where she decommissioned in June 1949.
Topeka was towed through the Panama Canal in early 1957 to undergo conversion to a guided missile cruiser at the New York Naval Shipyard. Redesignated CLG-8 in May 1957, she was in the yard for nearly three years, recommissioning in March 1960 with a greatly altered appearance, especially aft of amidships where her guns had all been replaced by a large superstructure, a launcher for "Terrier" anti-aircraft guided missiles, and an extensive suite of new radars. She soon returned to the Pacific, where she made four more "WestPac" cruises in the next six years. Topeka's November 1965 - May 1966 Far Eastern tour included Vietnam War combat duty, during which she fired her guns "in anger" for the first time in more than two decades.
Though still based in California, Topeka's next overseas deployment was made to the Mediterranean Sea between August 1967 and January 1968. After shifting her homeport to Mayport, Florida, in March 1968, the cruiser again operated with the Sixth Fleet in the "Med" from July into December. Early in 1969 Topeka was sent to Boston, Massachusetts, where she was decommissioned in June. Laid up at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, she remained in the Reserve Fleet until stricken from the Naval Vessel Register in December 1973. USS Topeka was sold for scrapping in March 1975.
This page features, or provides links to, all the views we have related to USS Topeka (CL-67, later CLG-8).
For more images related to this ship, see:
If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.
Photo #: NH 42045 USS Topeka (CL-67) Underway, circa early 1945. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the Collections of the Naval Historical Center. Online Image: 80KB; 740 x 580 pixels |
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Photo #: 80-G-313910 USS Topeka (CL-67) Underway at sea, March 1945. She is painted in Camouflage Measure 32 or 33, Design 24d. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Online Image: 101KB; 740 x 610 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: NH 98231 USS Topeka (CL-67) In Manila Bay, Philippine Islands, July 1946. A Baltimore class heavy cruiser is in the background. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the Collections of the Naval Historical Center. Online Image: 127KB; 740 x 605 pixels |
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The following views show USS Topeka after her conversion to a guided-missile cruiser (CLG-8):
Photo #: KN-3632 (Color) USS Topeka (CLG-8) Fires a "Terrier" guided-missile on 18 November 1961, during weapons demonstrations for the Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral George W. Anderson. Photographed from on board USS Kitty Hawk (CVA-63). Planes preparing for launch on the carrier's flight deck are a F8U "Crusader" jet fighter, at left, and an AD-6 "Skyraider" attack plane (Bureau # 137588), in the lower center. Official U.S. Navy Photograph. Online Image: 73KB; 740 x 600 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: NH 98232 USS Topeka (CLG-8) At sea, circa the early 1960s. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the Collections of the Naval Historical Center. Online Image: 103KB; 740 x 605 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 98233 USS Topeka (CLG-8) Underway on 9 July 1964. Photographed by Bradford. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the Collections of the Naval Historical Center. Online Image: 98KB; 740 x 610 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 98234 USS Topeka (CLG-8) Steaming in the South China Sea, 6 September 1964. Photographed by PH2 R.D. Fennell. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the Collections of the Naval Historical Center. Online Image: 87KB; 740 x 600 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 98235 USS Topeka (CLG-8) During Sixth Fleet exercises in the Mediterranean Sea, 1968, seen from the bridge of USS Bang (SS-385). This photograph was received on 6 November 1968. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the Collections of the Naval Historical Center. Online Image: 70KB; 740 x 520 pixels |
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Photo #: K-31264 USS Topeka (CLG-8) Fires her forward turret's 6"/47 guns at the Viet Cong, while steaming slowly in the South China Sea on an in-shore fire support mission, April 1966. Official U.S. Navy Photograph. Online Image: 77KB; 740 x 520 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system as Photo # 428-K-31264. NOTE: Though reproductions of this photo from the Naval Historical Center's collections are available in black & white only, those from the National Archives should be available in color. |
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Photo #: NH 98236 Secretary of the Navy Paul R. Ignatius (center) On board USS Topeka (CLG-8) to observe shipboard and fleet operations, 1968. With him are Captain G.G. Halvorson, Topeka's Commanding Officer (left), and Rear Admiral V.P. Healey, Commander, Cruiser-Destroyer Flotilla SIX (right). This photograph was received on 22 July 1968. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the Collections of the Naval Historical Center. Online Image: 107KB; 590 x 765 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 69546-KN (Color) USS Topeka (CLG-8) Jacket patch of the insignia used in 1961. Courtesy of Captain G.F. Swainson, USN, 1969. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 151KB; 650 x 675 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 69547-KN (Color) USS Topeka (CLG-8) Jacket patch of the insignia used in 1967. Courtesy of Captain G.F. Swainson, USN, 1969. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 144KB; 650 x 675 pixels |
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For more images related to this ship, see:
If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
Page made 7 December 2002