Construction and World War II The
keel for
Duluth was
laid down in November 1942 at the
Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company in
Newport News, Virginia, with the
hull number CL-87. Her completed hull was
launched on 13 January 1944, and
fitting-out work was completed by September. The ship was
commissioned on 18 September and thereafter began
sea trials.
Duluth operated as a
training cruiser based in
Newport, Rhode Island, from 14 December to 2 March 1945 as her crew familiarized themselves with the ship. She thereafter steamed to
Norfolk, Virginia, for a short refit. On 7 April,
Duluth got underway to join the war effort in the Pacific. After transiting the
Panama Canal, she arrived in
Pearl Harbor on 29 April.
Duluth left Pearl Harbor on 8 May to join
5th Fleet, which she met on 27 May. While cruising with the fleet off
Okinawa on 5 June,
Duluth was damaged by a severe
typhoon, along with a number of other vessels. She had to sail south to
Guam for repairs, which lasted for more than a month. She returned to the
Fast Carrier Task Force on 21 July, which had by that time passed to
3rd Fleet, being renamed Task Force 38.
Duluth was assigned to the subordinate unit Task Group 38.1, along with five
aircraft carriers, three
fast battleships, four other cruisers, and several
destroyers. She served as part of the anti-aircraft screen that protected the carriers as they carried out a series of air strikes on various targets in Japan. These operations continued until the end of the war on 14 August. During this period, on 18 July,
Duluth was temporarily transferred to Task Group 35.4, along with the cruisers , , and and eight destroyers. The unit carried out a sweep for Japanese coastal shipping that night, but failed to locate any significant targets.
Duluth thereafter returned to TG 38.1 and remained with it for the next month during the initial occupation operations. The ships entered
Sagami Bay on 27 August with the rest of TF 38 to begin preparations for the formal surrender of Japan, which took place aboard the battleship on 2 September.
Duluth moved to
Tokyo Bay on 16 September as part of the occupation effort. The ship got underway on 1 October to return home, arriving in
Seattle, Washington, on 19 October, where she took part in
Navy Day celebrations. The ship received two
battle stars during her brief service during the war.
Postwar career in 1947 The ship was thereafter based in
San Pedro, California, and was sent on a deployment to East Asian waters that lasted from 3 January 1946 to 27 September. The ship sailed to Pearl Harbor on 24 February 1947 for a lengthy visit to the port.
Duluth went on a major cruise to the southern and western Pacific between May and July. During the voyage, she visited
Melbourne and
Sydney, Australia;
Truk and Guam in the central Pacific, and
Manila in the
Philippines. During the latter visit,
Duluth cruised with the aircraft carrier and a
division of destroyers, and it was timed for the first anniversary of the Philippines' independence. The ship was then sent to the coast of China to patrol the region during the
Chinese Civil War. Her deployment lasted from 22 September 1947 to 19 May 1948, which concluded with the transfer of
Duluth to
Long Beach, California, where she was based for the remainder of her career. In mid-1948, she embarked on a training cruise for
NROTC midshipmen that included a visit to
British Columbia. The ship took part in cold-weather training exercises held off
Kodiak, Alaska, in February 1949, before being decommissioned on 25 June and assigned to the
reserve fleet. She remained there for more than a decade, before being sold to
ship breakers on 14 November 1960. During her tour in Japan during the occupation, the crew had discovered a 17th century
temple bell slated to be melted down for scrap metal, and decided to save it by taking it as a war prize. Upon her decommissioning, the bell was donated to her
namesake where it was discovered by a visiting Japanese academic who recognized its significance and asked for it back. Then return of the bell began a relationship between Duluth and
Ōhara, Japan, where the bell was originally from. The
Duluth is remembered to this day for saving the bell in both cities, where the original is proudly displayed along with a replica donated to Duluth as a symbol of peace and friendship between the two countries to this day. ==Footnotes==