USS Raleigh, a 7,050-ton Omaha class light cruiser, was built at Quincy, Massachusetts. Commissioned in February 1924, she made a maiden cruise to Northern Europe in mid-year. After four years of operations with the Scouting Fleet in the Atlantic, Pacific and Caribbean, Raleigh returned to European waters in September 1928 for a year-long tour as the U.S. Navy's flagship there. Further Scouting Force service in 1929-36 followed, with the ship shifting her base to San Diego, California, in 1933. In 1936-38, Raleigh was flagship of Squadron 40-T, which operated off Spain during that nation's bloody civil war. She spent the rest of the 1930s and the early 1940s off the U.S. and in the Hawaiian area, taking an active part in the U.S. Fleet's exercises.
On 7 December 1941, Raleigh was moored at Pearl Harbor when the Japanese Navy raided that fleet base. She was badly damaged when hit by a torpedo and near-missed by a bomb. Repaired at the Pearl Harbor and Mare Island Navy Yards, the cruiser was again ready for service in mid-1942. Raleigh operated in the south and central Pacific for most of the rest of that year, then was sent to the Aleutians, where she was employed until June 1945. Her activities there included convoy escort, patrols in contested waters and bombardment of Japanese-held islands. Sent back to the Atlantic during the Summer of 1945, Raleigh briefly helped to train Naval Academy midshipmen. She was decommissioned in November 1945 and sold for scrapping in February 1946.
This page features selected views of USS Raleigh (CL-7).
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 77177 USS Raleigh (CL-7) At Marseille, France, during the 1920s. Courtesy of Donald M. McPherson, 1973. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 74KB; 740 x 480 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 64637 USS Raleigh (CL-7) Steaming past the bow of another light cruiser, off Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, during the later 1920s. Donation of Franklin Moran, 1967. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 75KB; 740 x 615 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 64626 USS Raleigh (CL-7) At anchor in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, 26 April 1930. Donation of Franklin Moran, 1967. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 94KB; 740 x 610 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 65298 USS Los Angeles (ZR-3) With the Navy blimps J-2 and ZMC-2, flying over USS Raleigh (CL-7) and another light cruiser, during maneuvers off Atlantic City, New Jersey, 11 October 1930. Donation of Franklin Moran, 1967. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 69KB; 740 x 615 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 64621 USS Raleigh (CL-7) Anchored in San Diego harbor, California, 21 October 1933. Donation of Franklin Moran, 1967. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 98KB; 740 x 605 pixels |
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Photo #: 80-G-19938 Pearl Harbor Attack, 7 December 1941 USS Raleigh (CL-7) is kept afloat by a barge lashed alongside, after she was damaged by a Japanese torpedo and a bomb, 7 December 1941. The barge has salvage pontoons YSP-14 and YSP-13 on board. The capsized hull of USS Utah (AG-16) is visible astern of Raleigh. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Online Image: 70KB; 740 x 605 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: 19-N-30915 USS Raleigh (CL-7) Off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 6 July 1942, following repair of combat damage and an overhaul. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives. Online Image: 68KB; 740 x 605 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: 19-N-30916 USS Raleigh (CL-7) Off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 6 July 1942, following repair of combat damage and an overhaul. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives. Online Image: 69KB; 740 x 590 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: 19-N-65901 USS Raleigh (CL-7) Off the Puget Sound Navy Yard, Bremerton, Washington, 25 May 1944, following overhaul. The ship is painted in camouflage Measure 32, Design 1d. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives. Online Image: 66KB; 740 x 560 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: 19-N-65903 USS Raleigh (CL-7) Off the Puget Sound Navy Yard, Bremerton, Washington, 25 May 1944, following overhaul. The ship is painted in camouflage Measure 32, Design 1d. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives. Online Image: 87KB; 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-66399 USS Raleigh (CL-7) In Puget Sound, Washington, 28 May 1944, with OS2U floatplanes on her catapults. The ship is painted in camouflage Measure 32, Design 1d. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives. Online Image: 105KB; 740 x 620 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: NH 97394 USS Raleigh (CL-7) In Massacre Bay, Attu Island, Aleutians, 6 September 1944. The ship is painted in camouflage Measure 32, Design 1d. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Online Image: 89KB; 740 x 600 pixels |
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If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
Page made 18 October 2000
New image added 3 January 2004