USS Tuscaloosa (CA-37)

USS Tuscaloosa (CA 37) off the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard on 10 November 1944
History
United States
Name	Tuscaloosa
Namesake	City of Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Ordered	13 February 1929
Awarded	3 March 1931
Builder	New York Shipbuilding, Camden, New Jersey
Cost	$10,450,000 (limit of price)
Laid down	3 September 1931
Launched	15 November 1933
Sponsored by	Mrs. Thomas Lee McCann
Commissioned	17 August 1934
Decommissioned	13 February 1946
Stricken	1 March 1959
Identification	Hull symbol: CA-37 Code letters: NAJF
Honors and awards	7 × battle stars
Fate	Sold for scrap 25 June 1959
General characteristics (as built)[1]
Class and type	New Orleans-class cruiser
Displacement	9,975 long tons (10,135 t) (standard)
Length	588 ft (179 m) oa 574 ft (175 m) pp
Beam	61 ft 9 in (18.82 m)
Draft	19 ft 5 in (5.92 m) (mean) 23 ft 6 in (7.16 m) (max)
Installed power	8 × Babcock & Wilcox boilers 107,000 shp (80,000 kW)
Propulsion	4 × Parsons reduction steam turbines 4 × Propellers
Speed	32.7 kn (37.6 mph; 60.6 km/h)
Capacity	Fuel oil: 1,650 tons
Complement	103 officers 763 enlisted
Armament	9 × 8 in (200 mm)/55 caliber guns (3x3) 8 × 5 in (130 mm)/25 caliber anti-aircraft guns 2 × 3-pounder 47 mm (1.9 in) saluting guns 8 × caliber 0.50 in (13 mm) machine guns
Armor	Belt: 3–5 in (76–127 mm) Deck: 1+1⁄4–2+1⁄4 in (32–57 mm) Barbettes: 5 in (130 mm) Turrets: 1+1⁄2–8 in (38–203 mm) Conning Tower: 5 in (130 mm)
Aircraft carried	4 × floatplanes
Aviation facilities	2 × Amidship catapults
General characteristics (1945)[2][3]
Armament	9 × 8 in (200 mm)/55 caliber guns (3x3) 8 × 5 in (130 mm)/25 caliber anti-aircraft guns 2 × 3-pounder 47 mm (1.9 in) saluting guns 6 × quad 40 mm (1.6 in) Bofors anti-aircraft guns 28 × single 20 mm (0.79 in) Oerlikon anti-aircraft cannons
Aviation facilities	1 × Amidship catapult

USS Tuscaloosa (CL/CA-37) was a New Orleans-class cruiser of the U.S. Navy. Commissioned in 1934, she spent most of her career in the Atlantic and Caribbean, participating in several European wartime operations. In early 1945, she transferred to the Pacific and assisted in shore bombardment of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. She earned 7 battle stars for her service in World War II. Never damaged in battle, the ship fared better compared to her six sister ships, three of which were sunk and the other three heavily damaged.

Tuscaloosa was decommissioned in early 1946 and scrapped in 1959.