Louisiana's Military Heritage:
Vessels named USS NEW ORLEANS
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Louisiana's Military Heritage: Vessels named USS NEW ORLEANS |
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USS NEW ORLEANS
Five ships have had the honor to bear the name of NEW ORLEANS, the largest city in Louisiana and site of the last major battle fought in the War of 1812. Of these, three have been commissioned in the U.S. Navy, one never saw completion, and one is currently under construction. Click on the links below to learn more about each of these vessels.
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The First NEW ORLEANS (1815 ~ September 24, 1883):
The first NEW ORLEANS, a ship-of-the-line, along with a sistership by the name of CHIPPEWA, was authorized by an act of Congress on March 03, 1813, during the War of 1812. This act authorized the President ". . . to have built, or procured, such a number of sloops of war, or other armed vessels, to be manned, equipped, and commissioned, as the public service may require, on the lakes. . . ."
NEW ORLEANS and CHIPPEWA were laid down in January of 1815 at Sackett's Harbor, Lake Ontario, New York, under terms of a contract let on December 15, 1814, to Henry Eckford and Adam and Noah Brown. The contract provided that the "master shipbuilders . . . will build or cause to be built as is hereafter set forth, two ships-of-the-line to carry from 74 to 100 guns each as Commodore Chauncey may direct, and one frigate of the largest class for use of the said United States, viz: Said vessels to be built at some proper place at Sackett's Harbor or its vicinity—and said Henry Eckford and Adam and Noah Brown do hereby promise to use every exertion in their power to have the said vessels ready to be launched in the spring or as early as the ice will permit and if possible by the 15th of May next. . . ."
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The warships were nearly complete (said to have been run up in 42 days) by the time peace with England was proclaimed in March of 1815. According to records kept in the Office of the Board of Navy Commissioners, NEW ORLEANS and CHIPPEWA were "building at Sackett's Harbor when peace was concluded in consequences of which their further progress was arrested. Their extreme length of keel was recorded as 204 feet, breadth of beam from outside to outside, 56 feet; tonnage, 2,805; number of guns 87-to mount 63 long 32-pounders and twenty-four 32-pounder carronades." |
Built to face the British during the War of 1812, ship-of-the-line USS
NEW ORLEANS was never completed. She remained incomplete on the stocks for
nearly 70 years. Ships. Contributed to DANFS by the Jefferson County, NY Historical Society.
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The "Niles Weekly Register" of March 18, 1815 described NEW ORLEANS and CHIPPEWA by reporting that "six hundred carpenters at Sackett's Harbor had made great progress in the building of a ship to carry 98 guns and another of 74 when the building was arrested by news of peace." A week later, the same publication described the ships as "two lake monsters to carry 102 and 110 guns, now planked over."
NEW ORLEANS remained on the stocks, housed over, until she was sold on September 24, 1883, to H. Wilkinson, Jr. of Syracuse, New York. Her name had been carried on the Navy list for almost 70 years.
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Ship's Statistics
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The Second NEW ORLEANS (March 18, 1898 ~ November 13, 1929):
The second NEW ORLEANS (CL-22), a protected cruiser, was laid down in 1895 as AMAZONAS for the Brazilian Navy by Armstrong, Mitchell, and Company in Newcastle-on-Tyne, England. She was launched on December 04, 1896 and purchased by the U.S. Navy during completion on March 16, 1898. She was commissioned on March 18, 1898 at Gravesend, England, with Lieutenant Commander Arthur P. Nazro in command. |
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USS NEW ORLEANS (CL-22), seen here in 1898, was built in England for the Brazilian Navy, but was purchased by the United States. Photo courtesy of the Naval Historical Center.
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NEW ORLEANS sailed on March 27, 1898, to fit out at New York for service in the Spanish-American War. She left Norfolk, Virginia, on May 17 and joined the Flying Squadron off of Santiago de Cuba on May 30. On the following afternoon with the battleships MASSACHUSETTS (BB-2) and IOWA (BB-4) in company, she reconnoitered the harbor, exchanging fire with Spanish ships and shore batteries. After joining in the bombardment of the batteries at the entrance to the harbor on June 06 and 16, NEW ORLEANS sailed to coal at Key West, Florida, and was thus absent during the Battle of Santiago on July 03, 1898. |
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Through the summer of 1898, NEW ORLEANS cruised on blockade between San Juan, Puerto Rico and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. She captured the French blockade runner OLINDE RODRIGUES on July 17. Following the end of the war, she arrived in Philadelphia on October 20 for the Peace Jubliee and then prepared at New York to launch her peacetime service with a visit to New Orleans on May 16-29, 1899.
After summer exercises off the Atlantic seaboard, NEW ORLEANS sailed from New York on October 21, 1899 to join the Asiatic Fleet. She called at the Azores and Port Said, passing through the Suez Canal, before reaching Manila in the Philippines on December 21. For the next five years, as flagship of the Cruiser Squadron, U.S. Asiatic Fleet, she cruised off of the Philippines and the China coast. Relieved by USS BALTIMORE (C-3), she departed Cavite on December 27, 1904 for Mare Island, California, arriving on January 27, 1905. She was decommissioned on February 06, 1905. |
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Brought back into commission on November 15, 1909, NEW ORLEANS returned to Asiatic duty at Yokohama, Japan on April 25, 1910. She cruised the Orient until returning to Bremerton, Washington on February 14, 1912 and going into reserve status.
Brought back once again into full commission on December 31, 1913, NEW ORLEANS patrolled off the western coast of Mexico during the tense spring of 1914. She then trained the Washington State Naval Militia through the summer months before returning to Mexican waters in the fall. Upon American entry into World War I, she was overhauled at Puget Sound and then sailed for the East Coast via the Panama Canal, arriving in Hampton Roads, Virginia on August 27, 1917. |
The protected cruiser USS NEW ORLEANS (CL-22) participated in the blockade of Cuba during the Spanish-American War before later providing armed escort for Atlantic convoys during World War I. Photo courtesy of NavSource.
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NEW ORLEANS escorted convoys from New York City to ocean rendezvous with destroyer escorts off the British Isles and the French coast until January 16, 1918 when she cleared New York for the Asiatic Station. She reached Yokohama from Honolulu and Panama on March 13 and then cruised to China and the Philappines. From July 17 to December 20, 1919, NEW ORLEANS was station ship at Vladivostok, Russia supporting the Allied force in Siberia.
After repairs at Cavite, NEW ORLEANS returned to Vladivostok to resume her service for the Allied Expeditionary Force from May 20 to September 27, 1920. During further cruising with the Asiatic Fleet, she was redesignated CL-22 on August 08, 1921 and completed her service at Vladivostok from February 14 to August 17, 1922.
NEW ORLEANS returned to Mare Island on September 23, 1922 and was decommissioned there on November 16. She was struck from the Navy list on November 13, 1929 and sold for scrapping on February 11, 1930. |
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Ship's Statistics
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The Third NEW ORLEANS (February 15, 1934 ~ March 01, 1959):
The third NEW ORLEANS (CL-32/CA-32), a heavy cruiser and the lead ship of her class, was laid down on March 14, 1931 by New York Navy Yard. She was launched on April 12, 1933 and sponsored by Miss Cora S. Jahncke, daughter of the Assistant Secretary of the Navy. She was commissioned on February 15, 1934 with Captain Allen B. Reed in command.
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USS NEW ORLEANS (CA-32) was one of the last U.S. heavy cruisers designed under the limitations imposed by the terms
of the Washington Treaty for naval disarmament.
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NEW ORLEANS made a shakedown cruise to Northern Europe in May and June of 1934, returning to New York on June 28. On July 05, she sailed to rendezvous with USS HOUSTON (CA-30), on which President Franklin D. Roosevelt was embarked, for a cruise through the Panama Canal and an exercise with airship MACON and her brood of aircraft off of California. The cruise ended at Astoria, Oregon on August 02, and NEW ORLEANS sailed at once for Panama and Cuba. |
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NEW ORLEANS exercised off of New England into 1935 and then visited her namesake city while en route to join Cruiser Division 6 in operations in the eastern Pacific for over a year. She returned to New York from August 20 to December 07, 1936 and was once more in the Pacific in early 1937. Aside from winter training in the Carribean in early 1939, she served out of California ports until joining the Hawaiian Detachment on October 12, 1939 for exercises, training, and—as war drew close—vigilant patrol.
Moored in Pearl Harbor on December 07, 1941, NEW ORLEANS was taking power and light from the dock, her engines under repair. With yard power out during the attack, NEW ORLEANS' engineers fought to raise steam, working by flashlight, while on the deck above, men fired on the Japanese attackers with rifles and pistols. Though guns had to be worked by hand, within ten minutes, all of her anti-aircraft batteries were in action. A number of her crew were injured when a fragmentation bomb exploded close aboard.
Following the attack, the cruiser convoyed troops to Palmyra and Johnston; she then returned to San Francisco on January 13, 1942 for engineering repairs and installation of new search radar and 20mm guns. She sailed on February 12, commanding the escort for a troop convoy to Brisbane. From Australia, she screened a convoy to Noumea and returned to Pearl Harbor to join Task Force 11.
Task Force 11 sortied on April 15, 1942 to join USS YORKTOWN (CV-5) task force southwest of the New Hebrides. It was this joint force, together with a cruiser-destroyer group, which won the great Battle of the Coral Sea on May 07-08, driving back a southward thrust of the Japanese which threatened Australia and New Zealand and their seaborne lifelines. This mighty duel of carrier aircraft was not without price. USS LEXINGTON (CV-2) was mortally wounded and NEW ORLEANS stood by, her men diving overboard to rescue survivors and her boat crews closing the burning carrier, oblivious to the dangers of flying debris and exploding ordnance as they saved 580 of LEXINGTON's crew who were then landed at Noumea. NEW ORLEANS then patrolled the eastern Solomons until sailing to replenish at Pearl Harbor.
NEW ORLEANS sailed on May 28, 1942, screening USS ENTERPRISE (CV-6), to surprise the Japanese in the Battle of Midway. On June 02, she made rendezvous with the YORKTOWN force and joined battle two days later. Three of the four Japanese carriers were sunk by hits scored in the dive bomber attacks. The fourth went down later, but not before her dive bombers had damaged YORKTOWN so badly that she had to be abandoned. NEW ORLEANS, veteran of the battle that halted Japan's expansion southward, had now played a significant role protecting her carrier in the great victory that turned back Japan's eastward movement and heavily crippled her naval air arm in a decisive battle.
NEW ORLEANS replenished at Pearl Harbor once again, sailing on July 07, 1942 to rendezvous off of Fiji for the invasion of the Solomons during which she screened USS SARATOGA (CV-3). Fighting off vicious enemy air attacks on August 24-25, she aided the Marines holding the precious toehold on Guadalcanal, as a Japanese landing expedition was turned back in the Battle of the Eastern Solomons. When SARATOGA was torpedoed on August 31, NEW ORLEANS guarded her passage to Pearl Harbor. They arrived in port on September 21. |
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With the repaired SARATOGA in company, NEW ORLEANS sailed to Fiji in early November, 1942, and then proceeded to Espiritu Santo, arriving on November 27 to return to action in the Solomons. With four other cruisers and six destroyers, she fought in the Battle of Tassafaronga on the night of November 30, engaging a Japanese destroyer-transport force. When flagship USS MINNEAPOLIS (CA-36) was struck by two torpedoes, NEW ORLEANS—located next astern—was forced to sheer away to avoid collision and thus ran into |
USS NEW ORLEANS (CA-32) as seen as Espiritu Santo in November of 1942, with the cruiser USS MINNEAPOLIS (CA-36) in the background. Both cruisers would
be severely damaged just days later at the Battle of Tassafaronga.
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the track of a torpedo which ripped off her bow. Bumping down the ship's port side, the severed bow punched several holes in her hull. A fifth of her length gone, slowed to a speed of two knots, and blazing in her forward section, the cruiser fought for survival. Individual acts of heroism and self-sacrifice along with skillful seamanship kept her afloat and, under her own power, she entered Tulagi Harbor near daybreak on December 01.
Camouflaging their ship from air attack with jungle growth, the crew jury-rigged a bow of coconut logs. Eleven days later, NEW ORLEANS sailed to replace a damaged propellor and make other repairs in Sydney, Australia, arriving on Christmas Eve, December 24. On March 07, she was underway again for Puget Sound Navy Yard in Washington, where a new bow was fitted and all battle damage repaired.
NEW ORLEANS returned to Pearl Harbor on August 31, 1943 for combat training. She next joined a cruiser-destroyer force to bombard Wake Island on October 05-06, repulsing a Japanese torpedo plane attack. Her next sortie from Pearl Harbor came on November 10 when she sailed to fire pre-invasion bombardments in the Gilbert Islands on November 20. She then screened carriers striking the eastern Marshall Islands on December 04. In aerial attacks that day, the new USS LEXINGTON (CV-16), namesake of the carrier whose men NEW ORLEANS had pulled from the water at the Battle of the Coral Sea, was torpedoed. The cruiser guarded the damaged carrier's successful retirement to repairs at Pearl Harbor, arriving on December 09.
Starting January 29, 1944, NEW ORLEANS fired on targets in the Marshall Islands, hitting air installations and shipping as the Navy took the island of Kwajalein. She fueled at Majuro and then sailed on February 11 to join the fast carrier in a raid on Truk, the Japanese bastion in the Carolines island chain on February 17-18. While air strikes were flown, NEW ORLEANS—with other warships—circled the atoll to catch escaping ships. The task force's combined gunfire sank a light cruiser, a destroyer, a trawler, and a submarine chaser. The force sailed on to hit the Marianas island chain before returning to Majuro and Pearl Harbor.
The carriers, with NEW ORLEANS in escort, again heaped destruction on targets in the Carolines late in March. In April, they sailed south to support Allied landings at Hollandia, New Guinea. There, on April 22, a disabled YORKTOWN (CV-10) plane flew into NEW ORLEANS' mainmast, hitting gun mounts as it fell into the sea. The ship was sprayed with gasoline as the plane exploded on hitting the water. One crew member was lost and another badly injured, but the cruiser continued in action, patrolling and plane guarding off of New Guinea. She then joined in further raids on Truk and Satawan, which she bombarded on April 30. She returned to Majuro on May 04.
Preparations were made in the Marshall Islands for the invasion of the Marianas, for which NEW ORLEANS sortied from Kwajalein on June 10. She bombarded the island of Saipan on June 15-16 and then joined the picket screen protecting the carriers as they prepared to meet the Japanese Mobile Fleet in the Battle of the Philippine Sea. In this last major carrier combat that the Japanese were able to mount, American naval aviators and submariners sank three enemy carriers and destroyed almost every aircraft launched against them; 395 in all. The few enemy planes which penetrated the protective screen to reach the American carriers were shot down by NEW ORLEANS and other escorts. The Marianas operation continued and Japanese naval aviation was virtually nonexistent after this great victory of June 19-20.
NEW ORLEANS made patrols and bombardments on Saipan and Tinian into August of 1944. She returned to Eniwetok on August 13 and sailed on August 23 for carrier raids on the Bonins. She conducted bombardments of Iwo Jima on September 01-02 and direct air support for the invasion of the Palaus. After reprovisioning at Manus, her task force assaulted Okinawa, Formosa, and northern Luzon, destroying Japanese land-based aviation which otherwise would have threatened the landings on Leyte on October 20.
The carriers continued to send raids, aiding troops ashore, as they prepared to meet the Japanese, who were sending almost every surface ship left afloat in their navy in one great effort to break up the Philippines operation. NEW ORLEANS guarded her carriers as they joined in the great Battle for Leyte Gulf. The carriers first attacked the Japanese Southern Force on October 24 and then raiding the Center Force in the Sibuyan Sea. They next destroyed the Japanese Northern Force of decoy carriers in the Battle off of Cape Engano. The carriers then sped southward to the aid of th gallant escort carriers holding off the powerful Japanese battleship-cruiser force in the Battle off Samar. A stunning American victory was followed by strikes against the retreating Japanese remnant.
After replenishing at Ulithi, NEW ORLEANS guarded carriers during raids throughout the Philippines in preparation for the invasion of Mindoro. She sailed for Mare Island, California, for overhaul late in December of 1944. The overhaul was followed by training in Hawaii. She returned to Ulithi on April 18, 1945 and, two days later, she departed to give direct gunfire support at Okinawa, arriving there on April 23. Here, she dueled with shore batteries and fired directly against the enemy lines. After nearly two months on station, she sailed to replenish and repair in the Philippines and was at Subic Bay when hostilities ceased.
NEW ORLEANS sailed on August 28, 1945 with a cruiser-destroyer force to ports of China and Korea. She covered the internment of Japanese ships at Tsingtao, the evacuation of liberated prisoners-of-war, and the landing of troops in Korea and China. She sailed from the mouth of the Peking River on November 17, carrying veterans homeward bound. More returning troops came aboard at Sasebo, Japan, and all were disembarked at San Francisco on December 08. After similar duty took her to Guam in January of 1946, the cruiser sailed through the Panama Canal for a ten-day visit to her namesake city. She then steamed to Philadelphia Navy Yard, arriving on March 12. There, she decommissioned on February 10, 1947 and lay in reserve until struck from the Navy list on March 01, 1959. She was sold for scrapping on September 22, 1959 to Boston Metals Company of Baltimore, Maryland.
NEW ORLEANS received sixteen battle stars for World War II service.
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Ship's Statistics
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The Fourth NEW ORLEANS (November 16, 1968 ~ October 31, 1997):
The fourth NEW ORLEANS (LPH-11), an Iwo Jima-class amphibious assault helicopter carrier, was laid down on March 01, 1966 at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She was launched on February 03, 1968 and sponsored by Mrs. Arthur A. De la Houssaye. She was commissioned on November 16, 1968 with Captain G.M. Even in command.
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NEW ORLEANS made her first appearance in the Western Pacific in August of 1969 as flagship for Amphibious Ready Group Bravo. Her embarked Marine helicopter squadron and battalion leading team were ready to be landed within hours. In October, she hosted the Eighth Vietnamese Awards. Later that month, she participated in Keystone Cardinal Operation, a retrograde movement of Marines out of Vietnam. The ship's first deployment terminated in March of 1970. After having participated in five amphibious exercises, conducted many weeks of Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) maneuvers in the South China Sea, and visiting such ports as Hong Kong, Manila, Subic Bay, Okinawa, and Taipei, NEW ORLEANS returned to San Diego. |
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Two other interesting assignments were given to NEW ORLEANS prior to her next Western Pacific deployment. In August of 1970, she became flagship for Commander First Fleet and provided support for President Richard Nixon's visit to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, and made a port call to Acapulco. Then, in late 1970, she prepared for the recovery of Apollo 14. On February 09, 1971, she picked up astronauts Alan Shepard, Stuart Roosa, and Ed Mitchell some 900 miles south of American Samoa.
In May of 1971, NEW ORLEANS made her second Western Pacific appearance, conducting various contingency exercises, a multi-national cruising exercise simulating a convoy under combat conditions, and a simulated assault with the Marines on the island of Mindoro, Republic of the Philippines. This deployment was completed in November of that same year.
Following a rather extensive yard period, NEW ORLEANS began her next Western Pacific deployment on July 17, 1972 under the command of Captain R.W. Carius. She became flagship for Amphibious Squadron Three and later Amphibious Ready Group Alfa under Commodore W.H. Ellis. During late July and early August, NEW ORLEANS and her embarked units participated in the Philippine flood relief operations, earning the Philippine Presidential Unit Citation.
The helicopter carrier became engaged in contingency operations again with the ready group off the coast of Vietnam until early February of 1973, at which time she became the flagship for Commander Task Force 78 and the control ship for Operation End Sweep. CTF 78, headed by Rear Admiral Brian McCauley, was tasked with de-mining operations for the coast and harbors of North Vietnam. She ceased operations in Haiphong Harbor on April 17, 1973.
NEW ORLEANS next participated in recovery operations for the Skylab II and Skylab III missions. She was also present for the recovery of astronauts Stafford, Slayton, and Brand during the joint American-Soviet Apollo-Soyuz mission of July 05, 1975. |
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The
amphibious assault helicopter carrier USS NEW ORLEANS (LPH-11) arrives
home following a deployment.
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In 1980, the ship deployed and spent several months in the Indian Ocean during the Iran hostage crisis. She completed a major overhaul at Bremerton Naval Shipyard in 1981. Deployments and exercises in 1982 and 1983 included RIMPAC '82, Exercise Kernel Usher '83-1, and WESTPAC '83. From May to December of 1984, NEW ORLEANS sailed the Indian Ocean and Western Pacific, participating in eight major amphibious operations. While on WESTPAC in 1986, she served in an alert status off the Philippine coast during that country's national elections. She also served as the medical and communications support ship for President Ronald Reagan's trip to Bali, Indonesia. |
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Upon her return to home port, NEW ORLEANS participated in two major exercises leading to her thirteenth deployment to the Western Pacific. During this time, she participated in four amphibious exercises, including Cobra Gold '88, Valiant Usher '89-1, and Valiant Blitz '89-1. The ship called on the port of Perth, Australia, during that country's bicentennial. In 1989, she made port visits to Mazatlan, Mexico, and Seattle, Washington, for the Seattle Sea Fair. She also conducted a humanitarian relief effort in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.
Following completion of a phased maintenance availability in January of 1990, NEW ORLEANS sailed the Western Pacific, Indian Ocean, and Persian Gulf in support of Operations Desert Storm and Desert Shield from December 01, 1990 to August 28, 1991. She served as a member of CTG-36/CTF-156, the largest amphibious task force to deploy from the West Coast of the United States in 25 years. Significant accomplishments included the off-load of 1,700 Marine combat troops on G-Day and aviation mine countermeasures in the North Arabian Gulf, ten nautical miles off the coast of Kuwait. |
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In November of 1991, NEW ORLEANS returned to San Diego for a six month overhaul. In October of 1992, she hosted festivities at Fleet Week '92 in San Francisco. After returning to San Diego, she was the first LPH to go through Afloat Training Group Pacific's "Tailored Ship's Training Availability" and was instrumental in developing a training track for LPH-class ships. In September of 1993, NEW ORLEANS deployed on her fifteenth WESTPAC cruise where she participated in Exercise Valiant Usher '93 and was a member of the Amphibious Ready Group that conducted operations in support of Operation Restore Hope at Mogadishu, Somalia. |
An overhead view of USS NEW ORLEANS (LPH-11) during
flight operations.
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LPH-11 next sailed onto the movie screen in November of 1994 when astronaut Captain Jim Lovell, USN, director Ron Howard, and actors Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon, and Bill Paxton came aboard to film several portions of the Oscar-winning movie "Apollo 13."
June of 1995 saw NEW ORLEANS underway again for WESTPAC operations. She was present to support the Marine raid on the Al Hamra Facility on October 24 of that year. She returned to San Diego on December 22, 1995, after embarking 198 Sea Scouts as part of a "Tiger Cruise" during the last leg of her journey from Pearl Harbor to San Diego. The ship got underway again on January 31, 1997, for another WESTPAC cruise before returning to port on May 02.
NEW ORLEANS was decommissioned and placed in reserve in San Diego,California, in November of 1997. She was the proud recipient of the Navy Unit Commendation, four Battle Efficiency Awards, the Meritorious Unit Commendation, the Navy Expeditionary Medal, the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, the Southwest Asia Campaign Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal, and the Kuwait Liberation Medal.
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Ship's Statistics
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The fifth NEW ORLEANS (LPD-18), a San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock, was laid down at Northrop Grumman Ship Systems' Avondale shipyards in her namesake city on October 14, 2002. She was christened on November 20, 2004, and launched one month later on December 20. NEW ORLEANS was in the midst of final outfitting when Hurricane Katrina made landfall on the Mississippi Gulf coast on the morning of August 29, 2005. The massive destruction caused by the storm and subsequent breaking of the levees in New Orleans has resulted in an understandable delay in her preparations to join the fleet. |
USS NEW ORLEANS (LPD-11) as seen in Northrup Grumman's Avondale shipyards in New Orleans, Louisiana, during her christening.
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USS NEW ORLEANS (LPD-18) is commanded by CDR John B. Skillman, USN, and is scheduled to commission into the active fleet on March 10, 2007. |
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Ship's Statistics
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All
information listed above taken from the Dictionary of American Naval
Fighting Ships. USS
NEW ORLEANS (LPD-18) courtesy of U.S. Navy.
**Copyright 1997-2006 by Louisiana Naval War Memorial Commission** |
