USS Honolulu, a 9650-ton Brooklyn class light cruiser, was built at the New York Navy Yard. Commissioned in June 1938, she made her shakedown cruise to England, then operated for nearly a year in the Atlantic and Caribbean. Honolulu was transferred to the Pacific in May 1939 and had her base moved to Pearl Harbor in November 1940. Damaged by a Japanese bomb in the 7 December 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, repairs allowed her to begin wartime operations in January 1942.
After several months of escort duties between the United States and the south Pacific, in late May 1942 Honolulu was sent to the Aleutians to counter enemy advances into that area. During August, she bombarded Kiska and supported the occupation of Adak. Following an overhaul, the cruiser returned to the south Pacific, where she participated in the final months of the Guadalcanal Campaign. In the Battle of Tassafaronga at the end of November 1942, Honolulu was the only U.S. cruiser present that was not torpedoed. During the first half of 1943, she was part of the surface striking forces that spearheaded the push up the Solomons. In May she bombarded the Japanese bases at Munda and Vila and in July assisted in the Rendova-New Georgia invasion. Honolulu engaged enemy warships in the Battle of Kula Gulf on 6 July and the Battle of Kolombangara on 13 July. Torpedo damage to her bow, received in the latter action, forced her to return to the U.S. for repairs.
Honolulu was back in the south Pacific by early December 1943. For the rest of that year and into 1944, she took part in the Bougainville operation and other actions intended to isolate the Japanese strongpoint at Rabaul. In June 1944, she steamed northwards to participate in the Marianas invasion, during which she bombarded Saipan and Guam. Honolulu also covered the landings in the Palaus in September and at Leyte in October. While off Leyte on 20 October 1944, she was the victim of a aerial torpedo attack. Hit amidships, Honolulu again required repairs in the United States. This work, which included extensive updating of her secondary battery and an increase in her beam, was not completed until after the end of the Pacific War. After brief duty as a training ship, Honolulu was decommissioned at the Philadelphia Navy Yard in February 1947. She remained in the Reserve Fleet there for twelve years and was sold for scrapping in late 1959.
This page features selected views of USS Honolulu (CL-48).
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 53562 USS Honolulu (CL-48) Underway at sea, 9 February 1939. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 109KB; 740 x 600 pixels |
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Photo #: 80-G-451205 USS Honolulu (CL-48) In Honolulu Harbor, Hawaii, 14 July 1939. The Aloha Tower is in the right background. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the U.S. National Archives. Online Image: 111KB; 740 x 600 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: 80-G-279383 USS Honolulu (CL-48) Operating off Hawaii on 5 November 1941, with her aircraft recovery mat draped over her stern. The ship is painted in dark Measure 1 camouflage, but her boats are still in peacetime light grey. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Online Image: 99KB; 740 x 620 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: 19-N-36362 USS Honolulu (CL-48) Off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 26 October 1942. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives. Online Image: 76KB; 740 x 620 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: 80-G-K-1637 (Color) USS Honolulu (CL-48) In a south Pacific port, probably during the spring of 1944. Her camouflage is Measure 32, Design 2c. This image was received by the Naval Photographic Science Laboratory on 10 July 1944. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Online Image: 84KB; 740 x 605 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: NH 76498 Munda-Vila Bombardment, 13 May 1943 USS Honolulu (CL-48) firing during the night bombardment of Japanese positions at Vila, on Kolombangara, and Munda, on New Georgia. Collection of Vice Admiral Walden L. Ainsworth. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Online Image: 44KB; 590 x 765 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 83012 USS Honolulu (CL-48), at left Returning from the Battle of Kula Gulf, at 0810 hrs on 6 July 1943. Also visible are USS St. Louis (CL-49), at right, and a Fletcher class destroyer. Photographed from USS Nicholas (DD-449). The original photograph came from Rear Admiral Samuel Eliot Morison's World War II history project working files. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Online Image: 89KB; 635 x 675 pixels |
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Photo #: 80-G-259446 Battle of Kolombangara, 13 July 1943 USS Honolulu (CL-48) in Tulagi Harbor, Solomon Islands, for temporary repair of damage received when she was torpedoed in the bow during the Battle of Kolombangara. USS Vireo (AT-144) is assisting the damaged cruiser. Note billboard on the hillside beyond Honolulu's collapsed bow. See Photo # 80-G-259446 (cropped) for a close-up view of this sign. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Online Image: 95KB; 740 x 615 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: 80-G-259422 Battle of Kolombangara, 13 July 1943 Collapsed bow of USS Honolulu (CL-48), after she was torpedoed in the Battle of Kolombangara. Photographed while she was under repair at Tulagi on 20 July 1943. Note anchor chain and other foredeck details. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the U.S. National Archives. Online Image: 123KB; 740 x 610 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: 80-G-342777 USS Honolulu (CL-48) Crewmen resting on deck on 7 August 1943. Their ship was then at Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides, undergoing repairs for torpedo damage received in the Battle of Kolombangara, 13 July 1943. Note inflatable life belts and shoes in use as pillows. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the U.S. National Archives. Online Image: 101KB; 595 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-259466 USS Honolulu (CL-48) Underway near Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides, on 7 August 1943, en route to Pearl Harbor for battle damage repairs. She has been fitted with a short false bow as a temporary replacement for that lost in the Battle of Kolombangara, 13 July 1943. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the U.S. National Archives. Online Image: 79KB; 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-289685 Invasion of Leyte, October 1944 USS Honolulu (CL-48) beached off Leyte on 21 October 1944, after she had been torpedoed. A fleet tug (ATF) is alongside. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the U.S. National Archives. Online Image: 90KB; 740 x 610 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 5 March 2002