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Photo # NH 98459:  USS Columbus off the Puget Sound Navy Yard, 14 March 1959

Online Library of Selected Images:
-- U.S. NAVY SHIPS --

USS Columbus (CA-74, later CG-12), 1945-1977

USS Columbus, a 13,600 ton Baltimore class heavy cruiser built at Quincy, Massachusetts, was commissioned in June 1945, just over two months before the end of World War II. She deployed to the Far East between January and April 1946, participating in the occupation of China and Japan. Columbus made another Western Pacific tour during the first half of 1947.

In the spring of 1948 Columbus was transferred to the Atlantic Fleet. She served as the U.S. Navy's flagship in European and Mediterranean waters from September 1948 to December 1949 and again from June 1950 to October 1951. In September and October 1952 she was flagship for Operation "Mainbrace", a major NATO exercise in the North Atlantic, and operated with the Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean for the rest of the year. The heavy cruiser made one more Sixth Fleet deployment, from September 1954 to January 1955.

Columbus returned to the Pacific Fleet in December 1955 and early in the new year began another Western Pacific cruise, which lasted until mid-1956. She also served in the Far East in 1957 and again in 1958, when she operated off Taiwan during the crisis over the islands of Quemoy and Matsu. In May 1959 Columbus was decommissioned for conversion to a guided missile cruiser. Stripped to the main deck over the next few months, she received the new hull number CG-12 at the end of September 1959 and spent the next three years being massively reconstructed at the Puget Sound Navy Yard, Bremerton, Washington.

USS Columbus' history is continued on the page: USS Columbus (CG-12, previously CA-74).

This page features all the views we have related to USS Columbus (CA-74) prior to her 1959-1962 conversion to a guided-missile cruiser.

For images concerning this ship after she became a guided missile cruiser, see:

  • USS Columbus (CG-12, previously CA-74), 1945-1977.


    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 105562

    USS Columbus
    (CA-74)

    Anchored in the Hudson River, off New York City, at the time of the Navy Day Fleet Review, circa late October 1945.
    A Ford Motor Company facility is in the background.

    Collection of Warren Beltramini, donated by Beryl Beltramini, 2007.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image size: 108KB; 740 x 625 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 81121

    USS Columbus (CA-74)


    Hosing down her starboard anchor cable, while in New York Harbor during the post-World War II Navy Day Fleet Review, circa 27 October 1945.
    Note the harbor oiler at right.

    Courtesy of Lieutenant Gustave J. Freret, USN (Retired), 1972.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 82KB; 740 x 625 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 98457

    USS Columbus (CA-74)


    Off the coast of Spain, 12 July 1948.
    Note that she still has her catapults and Curtiss SC "Seahawk" seaplanes. These were landed and replaced with helicopters within a year.

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

    Online Image: 108KB; 740 x 605 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 98459

    USS Columbus (CA-74)


    Off the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Washington, 14 March 1959.
    The ship was soon decommissioned to begin conversion to a guided missile cruiser (CG-12).

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

    Online Image: 100KB; 740 x 570 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 98458

    USS Columbus (CA-74)


    Off the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Washington, 14 March 1959.
    The original print has been signed by Admiral Arleigh A. Burke, who served in this ship while he was Commander, Cruiser Division Six from March 1954 to January 1955.

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

    Online Image: 151KB; 740 x 610 pixels

     
    Photo #: 80-G-K-16473 (Color)

    Navy Day Fleet Review, New York Harbor, 27 October 1945

    Ships of the review fleet anchored in the Hudson River, with New York City's Riverside Drive and the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial in the foreground. The George Washington Bridge is in the distance.
    Ships present are (from left to center): USS Augusta (CA-31); USS Boise (CL-47); USS Columbus (CA-74); and USS Monterey (CVL-26). An escort carrier and several destroyers are anchored beyond Monterey.

    Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.

    Online Image: 113KB; 740 x 605 pixels

    Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

     
    Photo #: 80-G-447768

    Vice Admiral Lynde D. McCormick, USN,

    Commander in Chief, Atlantic.

    Receives honors as he boards USS Columbus (CA-74) at Oslo, Norway, during Operation "Mainbrace", 20 September 1952.

    Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.

    Online Image: 67KB; 740 x 610 pixels

    Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

     


    In addition to the images presented above, the National Archives appears to hold many other views of USS Columbus (CA-74). The following list features some of these images:

    The images listed below are NOT in the Naval Historical Center's collections.
    DO NOT try to obtain them using the procedures described in our page "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions".



  • Photo #: 80-G-324430
    USS Columbus (CA-74) underway in Quincy Bay, Massachusetts, 8 June 1945. Taken from a Naval Air Station Squantum, Mass., aircraft.
    High aerial view taken from nearly directly ahead of the ship and slightly to port.


  • Photo #: 80-G-377791
    USS Columbus (CA-74) moored at Malta, 20 January 1949.
    Starboard bow view, with the ship lying with her stern near the walls of one of Malta's old fortifications.

  • Photo #: 80-G-405324
    USS Columbus (CA-74) alongside the quay at Copenhagen, Denmark, in July 1949. Photographed by PH3 P.M. Wilson.
    Port bow low aerial view, with two U.S. destroyers astern.

  • Photo #: 80-G-476416
    USS Columbus (CA-74) entering New York Harbor, 18 January 1950. Photographed by AFC Ware, of NAS Lakehurst, New Jersey.
    Starboard low aerial view, somewhat toward the bow, with a HO3S helicopter flying overhead.

  • Photo #: 80-G-423556
    USS Columbus (CA-74) anchored in Izmir Harbor, Turkey, November 1950. Photographed by PHSN D.R. Carter.
    Starboard bow surface view, rather tight on the bow.

  • Photo #: 80-G-426606
    USS Columbus (CA-74) at anchor in Augusta Bay, Sicily, 30 January 1951. Photographed by PH2 W.S. McGill.
    Starboard broadside low aerial view.

  • Photo #: 80-G-482321
    USS Columbus (CA-74) at sea in the Mediterranean area, 3 November 1952. Photographed by AFC P.R. Potts.
    Port side low aerial view, taken from somewhat toward the stern.

  • Photo #: 80-G-1078591
    USS Columbus (CA-74) on 14 January 1956.
    Port broadside surface view.

  • Photo #: 80-G-1039823
    USS Columbus (CA-74) refueling from USS Cacapon (AO-52), 18 June 1957. Photographed by J.R. Maffett of USS Philippine Sea (CVS-47).
    Port bow high aerial view, with the oiler steaming a short distance off Columbus' starboard side.


  • Photo #: USN 1042041
    USS Columbus (CA-74) off the Puget Sound Navy Yard, Bremerton, Washington, 14 March 1959.
    Starboard bow surface view.

  • Photo #: USN 1042042
    As USN 1042041, but starboard broadside surface view.

  • Photo #: USN 1042043
    As USN 1042041, but starboard quarter surface view.

  • Photo #: USN 1042045
    As USN 1042041, but port quarter surface view.

  • Photo #: USN 1042046
    As USN 1042041, but port broadside surface view.

  • Photo #: USN 1042053
    USS Columbus (CA-74) underway off the Puget Sound Navy Yard, Bremerton, Washington, 14 March 1959.
    Starboard bow high aerial view.

  • Photo #: USN 1042056
    As USN 1042053, but port quarter high aerial view.

  • Photo #: USN 1042057
    As USN 1042053, but high aerial view taken from directly astern.

  • Photo #: USN 1042059
    As USN 1042053, but port broadside high aerial view.

  • Photo #: USN 1042060
    As USN 1042053, but starboard broadside high aerial view.


    Reproductions of these images should be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system for pictures not held by the Naval Historical Center.

    The images listed in this box are NOT in the Naval Historical Center's collections. DO NOT try to obtain them using the procedures described in our page "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions".


  • For images concerning this ship after she became a guided missile cruiser, see:

  • USS Columbus (CG-12, previously CA-74), 1945-1977.


    If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."


    Return to Naval Historical Center home page.

    Page made 22 April 2003
    New image added 16 April 2008