USS Memphis, a 7050-ton Omaha class light cruiser, was built at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A few months after her February 1925 commissioning, she made a shakedown cruise to the Caribbean, then went to the Pacific to accompany the Battle Fleet on its voyage to New Zealand and Australia. Memphis returned to the Atlantic area later in the year, and in 1926-1927 served as flagship of U.S. Naval Forces in European waters. She transported pilot Charles A. Lindbergh back to the United States in June 1927, following his historic trans-Atlantic flight.
During the remainder of the 1920s and all of the 1930s, Memphis operated in the Atlantic and Caribbean regions, and in the Pacific. She was stationed off Nicaragua in 1932-1933, made a cruise to Australia in 1938 and served in Alaskan waters in 1939-1941. In April 1941, the cruiser was transferred to the South Atlantic, where she patrolled in defense of American neutrality and other interests as tensions steadily increased with Germany during the next eight months. Memphis' South Atlantic service continued after the United States entered World War II in December 1941. She supported airfield construction, guarded interned French forces in the West Indies, searched for German blockade runners and took part in several diplomatic missions.
Memphis was sent to the Mediterranean early in 1945 to serve as regional flagship during the last months of the war with Germany and the first part of the post-War era. This duty ended in November 1945 with her departure for home. Shortly after her arrival at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USS Memphis was decommissioned and stricken from the Navy list. She was sold for scrapping in January 1947.
This page features selected views of USS Memphis (CL-13).
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 46210 USS Memphis (CL-13) Arrives at the Washington Navy Yard, D.C., with Charles A. Lindbergh on board, upon his return from Europe to the United States after his pioneering trans-Atlantic flight, 11 June 1927. The stern of USS Mayflower (PY-1) is at right. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 75KB; 565 x 765 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 46209 USS Memphis (CL-13) Photographed circa the later 1920s. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 54KB; 740 x 525 pixels |
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Photo #: 80-G-455864 USS Memphis (CL-13) Catapults an O2U "Corsair" floatplane, during fleet maneuvers on 10 May 1933. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Online Image: 157KB; 740 x 590 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: NH 640 USS Memphis (CL-13) Underway off New York City during the Fleet Review, 31 May 1934. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 84KB; 740 x 605 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 64627 USS Memphis (CL-13) In San Diego harbor, California, 10 January 1935. Photographed from USS Dobbin (AD-3). Donation of Franklin Moran, 1967. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 101KB; 740 x 610 pixels |
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Photo #: 19-N-38615 USS Memphis (CL-13) Off New York City, 2 November 1942, with a barge and harbor tug alongside. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives. Online Image: 100KB; 740 x 610 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: 19-N-38614 USS Memphis (CL-13) Off New York City, 2 November 1942, with a barge and harbor tug alongside. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives. Online Image: 94KB; 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 46206 USS Memphis (CL-13) In drydock at Kiel, Germany, circa 1926-1927, while she was serving as flagship for Commander U.S. Naval Forces, Europe. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 93KB; 740 x 540 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 48168 Charles A. Lindbergh Prepares to disembark from USS Memphis (CL-13) at the Washington Navy Yard, D.C., upon his return from Europe to the United States after his pioneering trans-Atlantic flight, 11 June 1927. Officer standing behind him, to right, is the ship's Commanding Officer, Captain Henry E. Lackey. Behind Capt. Lackey is Commander Eugene E. Wilson, of the Bureau of Aeronautics. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 99KB; 740 x 590 pixels |
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Photo #: 80-G-10535 USS Memphis (CL-13) View on deck, looking aft from the bow while the ship was underway in the South Atlantic, circa 1941-1942. Note 6"/53 guns in her forward turret and casemate mountings, 3"/50 anti-aircraft gun behind the turret, rangefinders and other fire control equipment on the foremast. Crewmen are wearing the short "Whites" popular in the tropics. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Online Image: 123KB; 585 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-21927 USS Memphis (CL-13) A Curtiss SOC "Seagull" scout-observation aircraft hooks onto the recovery mat, in preparation for being hoisted on board, circa early 1942. Note flags marking the mat's front edges, and men watching from the whaleboat in the lower right. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Online Image: 141KB; 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-21925 USS Memphis (CL-13) A Curtiss SOC "Seagull" scout-observation aircraft is lowered onto the cruiser's starboard catapult, after recovery, circa early 1942. Note crewmen wearing tropical white uniforms, searchlights alongside smokestacks, 3"/50 anti-aircraft guns in front of the catapult and .50 caliber machine guns behind it. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the 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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If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
Page made 3 September 2002