USS Biloxi, a 10,000-ton Cleveland class light cruiser built at Newport News, Virginia, was commissioned at the end of August 1943. Late in the year, after a training cruise along the U.S. East Coast and in the Caribbean area and post-shakedown overhaul, the new cruiser steamed to the Pacific to join the war against Japan. In 1944 she was primarily assigned to screen the carrier striking forces during their frequent attacks on Japanese-held islands and in the battles of the Philippine Sea in June 1944 and Leyte Gulf in October. She also used her guns to bombard enemy positions during the assaults on the Marshall Islands in January-February 1944, Northern New Guinea in April.
Biloxi's work with the carriers continued during the first months of 1945, as the war moved up to Japan. In addition she bombarded Iwo Jima when that island was invaded in February. During late March and the first weeks of April her guns actively supported the landings and ground operations on Okinawa. While taking part in pre-invasion bombardment there on 27 March Biloxi was hit by a Japanese suicide attack plane, but damage was relatively light and she remained in action. A West Coast shipyard overhaul kept her away from the combat zone from late April until mid-August 1945, and the end of the war came just as she arrived back in the Western Pacific. From then until early November Biloxi supported the occupation of Japan. Returning to the U.S. late in 1945, she soon began inactivation preparations, decommissioning at Bremerton, Washington, in October 1946. She was part of the Pacific Reserve Fleet for the next decade and a half. USS Biloxi was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register in September 1961 and sold for scrapping in March 1962.
This page features selected views concerning USS Biloxi (CL-80).
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 98263 USS Biloxi (CL-80) Photo is dated 19 February 1945, but was probably taken during the ship's shakedown cruise, circa October 1943. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Online Image: 120KB; 740 x 605 pixels |
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Photo #: 80-G-K-2826-A (Color) USS Biloxi (CL-80) Underway during her shakedown cruise, October 1943. She is painted in Measure 21 (overall Navy Blue) camouflage. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Online Image: 69KB; 740 x 595 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: NH 98262 USS Biloxi (CL-80) Underway off the U.S. East Coast, 20 November 1943. Photographed from a blimp of squadron ZP-14, based as Naval Air Station Weeksville, North Carolina. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Online Image: 105KB; 740 x 605 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 45698 USS Biloxi (CL-80) Underway at sea, circa late 1943. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Online Image: 186KB; 595 x 765 pixels |
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Photo #: 80-G-K-2833 (Color) USS Biloxi (CL-80) Ship's officers and crew pose on her forecastle and forward superstructure, during Biloxi's shakedown cruise, October 1943. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Online Image: 118KB; 495 x 765 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: 80-G-K-2832 (Color) USS Biloxi (CL-80) Personnel inspection on the ship's afterdeck, during her shakedown period, circa October 1943. Note her aircraft catapults, with Curtiss SO3C floatplanes on top, and her hangar hatch cover. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Online Image: 124KB; 740 x 605 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: 80-G-K-2836 (Color) USS Biloxi (CL-80) Catapults a Curtiss SO3C "Seamew" floatplane, during her shakedown period, circa October 1943. Note the plane's national insignia, with the red surround briefly used in mid-1943. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Online Image: 144KB; 740 x 505 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: 80-G-K-2850 (Color) USS Biloxi (CL-80) Firing her 6"/47 main battery guns while steaming in a turn, during her shakedown cruise, October 1943. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Online Image: 70KB; 740 x 515 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: 80-G-K-2844 (Color) USS Biloxi (CL-80) 40mm quad-mounted guns firing during battle practice while the ship was shaking down in October 1943. The view looks forward along the ship's port side, with a 5"/38 twin gun mount beyond the 40mm guns. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Online Image: 125KB; 740 x 510 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: 80-G-K-14526 (Color) USS Biloxi (CL-80) 40mm quad-mounted antiaircraft machine guns in action, during a shakedown cruise battle practice, October 1943. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Online Image: 91KB; 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 98264 USS Biloxi (CL-80) "On the morning of March 27, 1945 during Okinawa preparations four suicide planes attacked the light cruiser USS Biloxi. Three were shot down in flames but the fourth broke through the umbrella of ack-ack to smash itself against the cruiser's side. Later investigation revealed a 500-kilogram bomb which failed to explode. Rendered harmless, the bomb became the prized possession of the quarterdeck where it is shown being examined by Major Anthony V. Ragusin (right) of Biloxi, Miss., and Ensign Jack Fisher, USNR, of Natchitoches, La., both of whom are attached to the staff of the Commander in Chief Pacific Ocean Areas." (Quoted from the original caption released with this photograph on 7 September 1945.) Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Online Image: 85KB; 740 x 620 pixels |
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Photo #: 80-G-315085 USS Biloxi (CL-80) Shelling Japanese positions on Okinawa, 30 March 1945. USS Portland (CA-33) is in the left background, also taking part in the bombardment. Photographed from USS West Virginia (BB-48). Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Online Image: 80KB; 740 x 605 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
Page made 8 January 2003
Link added 31 December 2006