USS New Orleans (CA-32)

Heavy Cruiser Warship [ 1934 ]

A Pearl Harbor survivor, USS New Orleans CA-32 went on to have one of the most storied wartime careers for the United States Navy in World War 2.

Authored By: Staff Writer | Last Edited: 05/30/2017 | Content ©www.MilitaryFactory.com | The following text is exclusive to this site.

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USS New Orleans (CA-32) became one of the most decorated warships of World War 2 (1939-1945). Her wartime career began at the Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941 where the vessel survived with only minor damage. This then led her to have a storied ocean-going career that saw the Japanese Empire pay for its surprise assault and lose all of its territory leading up to the final surrender of 1945. New Orleans sailed until given up in the late 1940s as her services no longer required in the Cold War period.

USS New Orleans made up the lead ship of the New Orleans-class. The group numbered seven and were in commission from 1934 to 1947. In the whole of the war, three of the lot were lost and four survived to see retirement. Sister ships included Astoria, Minneapolis, Tuscaloosa, San Francisco and Vincennes.

Ordered on February 13th, 1929 as the light cruiser USS New Orleans (CL-42), she saw her keel was laid down on March 14th, 1931 by Brooklyn Navy Yard in New York. On July 1st, 1931, the warship was reclassified as "CA-32" to serve as a heavy cruiser. She was then launched on April 12th, 1933 and formally commissioned into USN service on February 15th, 1934.©MilitaryFactory.com

As built, the vessel was required to adhere to the 10,000 displacement limit set forth by the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922. Her length reached 588 feet with a beam out to 61.8 feet and a draught down to 23,5 feet. Power came from 8 x Babcock & Wilcox boilers feeding 4 x Westinghouse geared turbines driving 107,000 horsepower to 4 x shafts. Maximum speed was nearly 33 knots in ideal conditions.

The warship housed a crew of 915 including nearly 100 officer-level personnel and over 1,650 tons of fuel oil could be stored. Two catapults positioned at midships to allow for four reconnaissance-minded floatplanes to be launched. Armor protection about her design ranged from 5" at the belt to 8 inches at the turrets. Armament consisted of 9 x 8" main guns in three, three-gunned primary turrets (two held fore and one positioned aft of midships), 8 x 5" Anti-Aircraft (AA) guns, 2 x 3-pounder saluting guns and 8 x 0.50 caliber heavy machine guns for close-in defensive work. Her profile included two smoke funnels at midships, two main masts and a forward-set superstructure containing the bridge and communications equipment.

After Pearl, USS New Orleans was a direct participant of some of the greatest battles of World War 2. Beginning in 1942 there was the Battle of Coral Sea (May 8th), the Battle of Midway (June 3rd - June 7th), the Battle of the Eastern Solomons (August 24th - 25th) and the Battle of Tassafaronga (November 30th). In the latter engagement, the warship was the recipient of a Japanese torpedo which claimed her entire bow section and forced major repairs to be enacted. For 1943, there were engagements at Wake, Gilbert and Marshall islands spanning from October to December. Then came more actions in 1944 that included stops at Truk, New Guinea and Satawan before supporting the Marianas campaign. Her air defense guns were used to protect American carriers during the Battle for Leyte Gulf (October 23rd - 26th) in the Philippines campaign. Her final wartime actions were in support of the amphibious landings at Okinawa (April 1st - June 22nd) and she ended her World War 2 career while berthed in the Philippines during the Japanese surrender. In the period immediately following, she was used on various assignments that involved landing troops abroad and bringing troops home.

By the end of the war, her armament scheme had changed to 9 x 8" main guns, 8 x 5" secondary guns, 2 x 3-pounder saluting guns, 6 x 40mm Bofors AA quad-gunned emplacements and 28 x 20mm Oerlikon single-gunned AA emplacements. Also, by this time, she carried only one catapult amidships as the emphasis was now on self-defense and defense of more important capital ships.

In March of 1946 USS New Orleans arrived at the Philadelphia Navy Yard to be decommissioned and this order followed in February of 1947. The vessel was held in reserve until March of 1959 to which point she was removed from the Naval Register and sold off for scrapping in September.

During her time afloat, USS New Orleans earned seventeen Battle Stars for her service in World War 2. She was known by the nickname of the "NO Boat".©MilitaryFactory.com

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Specifications

Service Year

1934

Origin

United States

Complement

915
PERSONNEL

Class

New Orleans-class

Number-in-Class

7
VESSELS

Ships-in-Class

USS New Orleans (CA-32); USS Astoria (CA-34); USS Minneapolis (CA-35); USS Tuscaloosa (CA-37); USS San Francisco (CA-38); USS Quincy (CA-39); USS Vincennes (CA-44)

United States

(OPERATORS list includes past, present, and future operators when applicable)

✓ Offshore Bombardment
Offshore bombardment / attack of surface targets / areas primarily through onboard ballistic weaponry.

✓ Land-Attack
Offshore strike of surface targets primarily through onboard missile / rocket weaponry.

✓ Maritime Patrol
Active patroling of vital waterways and maritime areas; can also serve as local deterrence against airborne and seaborne threats.

✓ Airspace Denial / Deterrence
Neutralization or deterrence of airborne elements through onboard ballistic of missile weaponry.

✓ Fleet Support
Serving in support (either firepower or material) of the main surface fleet in Blue Water environments.

Length

588.1 ft
179.25 m

Beam

61.8 ft
18.84 m

Draught

19.4 ft
5.91 m

Displacement

10,000
tons

Installed Power: 8 x Babcock & Wilcox boilers feeding 4 x Westinghouse geared turbines developing 107,000 horsepower to 4 x Shafts.

Surface Speed

32.7 kts
(37.6 mph)

ORIGINAL:

9 x 8" main guns in three three-gunned turrets

8 x 5" secondary guns

8 x 0.50 caliber heavy machine guns

2 x 3-pounder saluting guns

FOLLOWING REFIT:

9 x 8" main guns in three three-gunned turrets

8 x 5" secondary guns

6 x 40mm Bofors Anti-Aircraft (AA) guns in quad-gunned emplacements.

28 x 20mm Oerlikon AA guns in single-gunned installations.

2 x 3-pounder saluting guns

Supported Types

Graphical image of a historical warship turreted main gun armament

Graphical image of an aircraft medium machine gun

Graphical image of an aircraft heavy machine gun

Graphical image of an aircraft automatic cannon

(Not all weapon types may be represented in the showcase above)

4 x Floatplane aircraft (catapult-launched, crane-recovered).

Military lapel ribbon for the Cold War period

Military lapel ribbon for early warship designs

Military lapel ribbon for the Falklands War

Military lapel ribbon for the 1991 Gulf War

Military lapel ribbon for the Korean War

Military lapel ribbon representing modern aircraft

Military lapel ribbon for the Attack on Pearl Harbor

Military lapel ribbon for the Russian Invasion of Ukraine

Military lapel ribbon for the Vietnam War

Military lapel ribbon for the World War 1

Military lapel ribbon for the World War 2

Ribbon graphics not necessarily indicative of actual historical campaign ribbons. Ribbons are clickable to their respective naval campaigns / operations / periods.

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