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DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER
805 KIDDER BREESE SE -- WASHINGTON NAVY YARD
WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060

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

USS Rochester (CA-124), 1946-1973 --
Ship Portrait Views and Historical Overview.

USS Rochester, a 13,700-ton Oregon City class heavy cruiser, was built at Quincy, Massachusetts. Commissioned in December 1946, She performed her first three years' service in the Atlantic, making one deployment to the Mediterranean in 1948. Early in 1950, Rochester shifted to the Pacific, and was soon sent to the Far East to become Seventh Fleet flagship. She served there until January 1951, taking an active part in Korean War operations and the Formosa Straits patrol.

Rochester made two more Korean War combat tours during 1951-53. She was then modernized, receiving new anti-aircraft guns and other equipment. The rest of the 1950s saw her return to the Far East for five more Seventh Fleet deployments. Rochester's ninth, and final, Western Pacific cruise took place in April-October 1960. She was decommissioned in August 1961 and spent the next dozen years in reserve at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. USS Rochester was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register in October 1973 and was subsequently sold for scrapping.

This page features portrait views of USS Rochester.

For other images of and on board this ship during and after her Korean War tours, and of her insignia, see:

  • USS Rochester (CA-124) Korean War Activities; and
  • USS Rochester (CA-124) Post-Korean War On Board Views and Ship's Insignia.

    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 96882

    USS Rochester (CA-124)


    Photographed in Boston Harbor, Massachusetts, 19 December 1946, the day before her commissioning ceremonies.

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

    Online Image: 97KB; 740 x 615 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 96883

    USS Rochester (CA-124)


    Photograph dated 27 June 1950. However, radar antenna on foremast is of a type that was replaced prior to the ship's 1950 Western Pacific deployment, indicating that this view was taken during the later 1940s.

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

    Online Image: 100KB; 740 x 615 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 96884

    USS Rochester (CA-124)


    En route to the Shimonoseki Strait, Japan, after operations off the east coast of Korea. Probably taken during her December 1952 -- March 1953 Korean War combat tour.

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

    Online Image: 106KB; 740 x 610 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 96885

    USS Rochester (CA-124)


    Photographed in 1951-53, prior to her May-September 1953 overhaul.

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

    Online Image: 98KB; 740 x 615 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 84584

    USS Rochester (CA-124)


    Departing the Mare Island Naval Shipyard, California, 20 September 1953, following overhaul. She has been fitted with 3"/50 twin automatic gun mounts, replacing the 40mm guns she carried from 1946 to 1953.
    Tugs Dekaury (YTB-178) --at left-- and Awatobi (YTB-264) -- alongside her starboard side, forward-- are assisting her.

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

    Online Image: 99KB; 740 x 584 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 74136

    USS Rochester (CA-124)


    En route to Saigon, Vietnam, 17 February 1954.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 129KB; 740 x 565 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 94306

    USS Rochester (CA-124)


    Underway in San Francisco Bay, California, at the time of Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz' review of the First Fleet, 13 June 1957.

    Courtesy of Robert M. Cieri, 1982.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 101KB; 740 x 595 pixels

     

    For other images of and on board this ship during and after her Korean War tours, and of her insignia, see:

  • USS Rochester (CA-124) Korean War Activities; and
  • USS Rochester (CA-124) Post-Korean War On Board Views and Ship's Insignia.

    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.

    1 August 1999