The USS TOLEDO (CA-133) was a heavy cruiser, of the Baltimore class, built by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation in Camden, New Jersey.
It was the second ship to bear the name TOLEDO, following the USS TOLEDO (PF-33), a patrol frigate, which was renamed Dearborn, on August 8, 1943. The heavy cruiser TOLEDO was named in recognition of cities with the same name in the states of Ohio, Illinois, Iowa and Oregon.
The keel for the USS TOLEDO was laid down on September 13, 1943 and she was launched/christened, on May 6, 1945.
VINTAGE VIDEO OF USS TOLEDO (CA-133)
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TOLEDO was commissioned at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard on October 27, 1946,
with Captain August J. Detzer as its first commanding officer.
TOLEDO displaced 13,600 tons, with a length of 674 feet, 11 inches, a beam of 70
feet, 10 inches and a draft of 20 feet, 6 inches. It was capable of speeds up to
33 knots and carried a crew of 1,142 officers and enlisted men. Its armament
included a main battery of nine 8" guns, a secondary battery of twelve 5" guns
and an anti-aircraft battery, which included forty 40mm guns (replaced by 3"
guns in 1953) and twenty-eight 20mm guns (which were subsequently removed).
Incidentally, the newly installed 3" guns proved effective as both an
anti-aircraft battery and for shore bombardment.
On January 6, 1947, the heavy cruiser TOLEDO got under way for a two-month
training cruise off the balmy waters of the West Indies. After completing
shakedown training out of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, she visited St. Thomas in the
Virgin Islands; Kingston, Jamaica and Port-au-Prince, Haiti before returning
north to Philadelphia and a three-week post-shakedown availability.
On April 14, she departed Philadelphia and shaped a course across the Atlantic.
TOLEDO steamed through the Mediterranean, transited the Suez Canal, crossed the
Indian Ocean, and arrived in Yokosuka, Japan on June 15th. Port
visits during this cruise included; the island of Gibraltar; Port Said, Egypt;
Bahrain, Persian Gulf; Ras at Tanura, Saudi Arabia; Bombay, India; Colombo, Ceylon;
Manila, PI; and Singapore, Malaya. While at Bahrain and Ras at Tanura, TOLEDO flew
the flag of Admiral Conolly, Commander Naval Forces, Eastern Atlantic and
Mediterranean. She arrived at Yokosuka, Japan on June 15,1947, and relieved USS
FALL RIVER as flagship of Rear Admiral A.M.Bledsoe, Commander Support Group,
Naval Forces, Far East. After June 16, 1947, she operated out of Tokyo Bay and
visited ports of Shiogama, Honshu; Otaru, Hokkaido; Kobe, Kyushu; Kogashima,
Nagasaki, Sasebo, Jinsen, Korea, Saishi, Quelpart Island. TOLEDO remained in the
Far East visiting Japanese and Korean ports in support of occupation forces
until October. On October 21st she steamed out of Yokosuka for her
first trans-Pacific voyage and steamed via Pearl Harbor to Long Beach,
California, where she arrived on November 5th.
TOLEDO made two more peacetime deployments to the western Pacific before the
outbreak of the Korean War in 1950. On April 3, 1948, she departed Long Beach in
company with USS Helena (CA-75) and shaped a course for Japan. She arrived in
Yokosuka on April 24th and began her second tour of occupation duty
patrolling for contraband smugglers. Later that spring, the cruiser made a
goodwill cruise to the Indian Ocean during which she stopped at Karachi,
Pakistan; Singapore, Malaya; Trincomalee, Ceylon; and Bombay, India. After her
return to the northwestern Pacific, in early summer, TOLEDO operated out of
Tsingtao, China, during evacuation of Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalist Chinese
forces to Taiwan. On September 16th, the warship departed the China
coast and headed for Yokosuka, Japan before heading for Bremerton, Washington.
She entered the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard on October 5th for her
first major overhaul.
The cruiser's refurbishment was completed on February 18, 1949; and she headed
back to Long Beach for six months of training along the coasts of California,
Mexico, and the Isthmus of Panama. The training cruises included NROTC
(Midshipman) training cruises to Acapulco, Mexico and to Balboa, Canal Zone via
the Galapagos Islands and Equator. Among exercises, she participated in
Operation "Miki", a simulated air-sea assault on Pearl Harbor. On October 14th,
TOLEDO stood out of Long Beach to participate in Operation "Miki", on completion
of that exercise; she resumed duty in the Far East. For eight months she cruised
the waters between Japan, China, the Philippines, and Marianas.
TOLEDO
returned to Long Beach on June 12, 1950. Less than two weeks later, at 0400
hours in the morning of June 25th, forces of North Korea's communist
regime burst across the 38th parallel and streamed south to engulf
the Republic of Korea (ROK). Ten days later, TOLEDO pointed her bow west once
more and embarked upon her fourth cruise to the Orient and her first tour of
combat duty.
TOLEDO was one of the first United States warships to arrive on the scene from
the mainland. She and Helena departed Long Beach for Pearl Harbor on July 6,
1950. TOLEDO commanded by Richard F. Stout, forged on alone to Sasebo, where on
July 18th, Rear Admiral J.M. Higgins Commander Cruiser Division 5 and
Commander Korean Support Group, Task Group 96.5, shifted his flag aboard from
the anti-aircraft cruiser Juneau. On July 26, 1950 she departed for Korea. The
cruiser took up station off the eastern coast of Korea a few miles north of
Pohang, near Yongdok. She teamed up with Destroyer Division 91 to form one of
the two alternating East Coast Support Elements of Task Group (TG) 95.5. From
July 27th to 30th, TOLEDO, Mansfield (DD-728), Lyman K.
Swenson (DD-729), and Collett (DD-730) bombarded North Korean communication
arteries, which started at Yongdok and ran north between the mountains and the
sea to the 38th parallel. At about noon on August 4, 1950, Communist
troops and horses could clearly be seen on the beach, and TOLEDO opened fire,
starting so many blazes in a native village that the troops were lost in the
smoke. Two hours later, they could be seen fighting fires. TOLEDO’s guns barked
again. “The first salvo landed in the middle of the troops. The results were
bigger fires and no more troops.” The following day, her 8-inch guns, directed
by airborne controllers, rendered call-fire for the front-line troops.
TOLEDO then moved some 70 miles north to the area around Samchok where she
cruised along a 25 mile stretch of coastline and shelled a number of targets.
During that interdiction run, she demolished a bridge, chewed up highway
intersections, and generally wreaked havoc on communist supply lines. On August
6th, Helena relieved TOLEDO, enabling her to return to Sasebo for
upkeep.
The warship resumed station off the Korean coast on August 15th and
operated with Rochester (CA-124), Mansfield, Collet, and Lyman K. Swenson, along
a 40-mile length of coast from Songjin south to Iwon. After a number of
bombardment missions, she returned to Sasebo again on August 26th and
remained there until August 31st when she headed for a week of duty
off Pohang Dong.
TOLEDO's next important mission was the landing at Inchon in mid-September. The
heavily armed and fortified island, Wolmi Do, located in the harbor, threatened
the success of the operation. Therefore, TOLEDO and her previous consorts,
augmented by Gurke (DD-783), DeHaven (DD-727) and Royal Navy warships HMS
Jamaica, and HMS Kenya, entered the harbor to silence the islands guns on
September 13th. The destroyers led the way through the mine-infested
channel and moved in close to draw enemy fire while the cruisers stood off
waiting for the North Koreans to betray their positions. By early afternoon, the
artillery duel had begun, and the enemy suffered most. That evening the cruisers
and destroyers retired for the night. They returned the next day to finish the
job. Then after two days of preparatory bombardment the marines of the 3rd
Battalion Landing Team, 5th Marines, stormed Wolmi Do's defenses.
Meanwhile, TOLEDO redirected her fire to support the 1st Marines who
were about to land on Blue Beach just south of Inchon proper. After reportedly
destroying three gun emplacements and a number of machine gun nests, closing two
tunnels, hitting trenches and mortar positions, TOLEDO shifted to support troops
mopping up bypassed pockets of enemy resistance. On October 5th the
Commanding General of the 10th Corps, U.S. Army, sent the following
message: “I desire to express my appreciation for the outstanding support
rendered the Tenth Corps by the gunfire support ships of your command. The
effective and accurate fire greatly assisted the advance of the troops ashore.
The USS Rochester and the USS TOLEDO provided the only heavy fire support
available to them in the capture of Kurnod Peninsula, and in order to provide
maximum range and support, placed themselves in highly vulnerable positions.
Their fire was of great assistance and undoubtedly hastened the advance of UN
Forces and prevented many casualties.” On October 6th, TOLEDO left
for Sasebo.
USS TOLEDO (CA-133) IN ACTION
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The cruiser returned to the Korean coast at Chaho Han on October 13th, conducted shore bombardment in preparation for the amphibious operation at Wonsan, and re-entered Sasebo the following day. The warship got underway again a little before midnight on the 18th and arrived off Wonsan early the next morning. For the next three days, she supported the Marines during their advance inland from Wonsan.
On October 22nd, TOLEDO departed Korea and after stops at Sasebo and
Yokosuka, headed to the United States on the 27th. Steaming via Pearl
Harbor, she arrived in Long Beach on November 8th and remained there
until the 13th when she headed for San Francisco. The following day
she entered the Hunter's Point Naval Shipyard and began a three-month overhaul.
Refurbishment completed, TOLEDO left the yard on February 24, 1951 and returned
to Long Beach the next evening. Following a round-trip voyage to San Diego, the
warship weighed anchor on April 2nd to return to the western Pacific.
She stopped at Pearl Harbor from the 7th to the 9th and
then continued on to Sasebo, where she arrived on the 18th.
TOLEDO began her second tour of duty in the Korean combat zone on April 25th.
For the next month, she cruised off the coast near Inchon where she provided
gunfire support for the front-line troops of the I Corps, guarding the Han River
line during the communist spring offensive of 1951. Throughout that month,
however, the enemy generally remained well beyond the river, out of range of the
cruiser's 8-inch batteries.
On May 26th, she steamed north to Kansong and joined Task Element
95.28 to conduct an interdiction bombardment of the area. Then, between May 28th
and 30th, the enemy did venture close enough to the Han to allow
TOLEDO to bring her main battery to bear, but only at extreme range. The cruiser
spent the first ten days of June at Yokosuka, and then returned to the Korean
coast on the 12th. On June 18th, she teamed up with Duncan
(DD-874) and Everett (PH-8) to pummel the important enemy logistics junction
located at Songjin, a conversion point with the coastal railroad for roads from
Siberia.
The warship made a brief visit to Sasebo before heading back to Wonsan. At Pusan,
June 27, 1951, a special task element was formed with the TOLEDO and Bradford
for firing missions in Wonsan. On the evening of the 28th, while
carrying out this mission, TOLEDO received her first enemy fire, when shore
batteries scored several near misses. During the first part of July she moved to
within a few miles of the Russian border to hit Songjin.
Her helicopter picked up a downed Boxer pilot from within enemy territory on July 2, 1951, and on the same day shore batteries again took her under fire, but scored no hits.
The helicopter from TOLEDO went into Wonsan harbor again on August 7, 1951 to pick up a pilot from Boxer, who turned out to be the same one rescued on July 2nd. TOLEDO continued gun strikes at Wonsan and along the coast with various units, and October 23, 1951, provided gun support for the First Marine Division at Kansong. Her helicopter rescued an Antietam pilot from Wonsan on November 8, 1951 in the face of enemy fire and two days later picked up an Air Force pilot from deep inside enemy territory.
TOLEDO's
tour of duty along the eastern coast of Korea lasted until late November. She
bombarded Wonsan, Songjin, and Chongjin in addition to rescuing the several
downed pilots. On September 25th, aboard the TOLEDO, flagship for
Task Force 95, in Pusan Harbor, President Syngman Rhee, President of the Peoples
Republic of Korea presented the Korean Presidential Unit Citation to Commander
Task Force 95, Rear Admiral George C. Dyer, on behalf of the officers and
enlisted men attached to Task Force 95.
While conducting shore bombardment on
November 11th, TOLEDO again came under fire from an enemy shore battery, which
scored some near misses.
On November 24th, TOLEDO completed her deployment to the western
Pacific and stood out of Yokosuka to return to the United States. After a pause
at Pearl Harbor, December 1st to 3rd, she continued on to
Long Beach, where she arrived on the 8th. After a month of leave and
upkeep, TOLEDO began seven months of duty operating out of Long Beach,
conducting drills and training exercises along the west coast of the United
States until mid-August. During this period TOLEDO was afforded the opportunity
to again display her expertise in the rescue of downed airmen. On May 13, 1952
while operating 10 miles from San Clemente, TOLEDO and her crew witnessed a
mid-air collision between a U.S. Marine Corps Corsair and a U.S. Air Force B29.
TOLEDO steamed at high speed to the location of the collision wreckage. The
TOLEDO was able to recover five survivors and one body. There were a total of
eight lives lost, including the Marine pilot of the Corsair during this tragedy.
On August 16, 1952, the cruiser stood out of Long Beach to return to the western
Pacific. After the customary stop at Pearl Harbor, she arrived in Yokosuka on
September 8th.
TOLEDO embarked on her third combat tour along the coast of Korea on September
12th when she stood out of Yokosuka. During the latter part of the
month, her 8-inch guns aided the American 10th Corp and the ROK I
Corp. She supported the United Nations forces limited offensives and holding
actions while armistice talks dragged on. Periodically, she departed that area
to concentrate on gun strikes near Wonsan and in the coastal patrol areas.
TOLEDO arrived at Long Beach on December 8, 1951. Shortly thereafter, Captain
George G. Crissman took command. On August 16, 1952 she steamed from Long Beach
for Korea.
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In
mid-September 1952, TOLEDO arrived off Nan Gang on the Korean East Coast to
provide support for the First ROK and the Tenth U.S. Corps, who were engaged in
holding operations, with limited offensive action against North Korean and
Chinese forces. This duty, interrupted by patrols and gunstrikes, along the
coast and at Wonsan, continued until September 29, 1952. An attack by the enemy
during the early morning hours of September 24th resulted in the loss
of several front line positions. TOLEDO provided continuous illumination and
fired on 122 millimeter howitzer batteries until the positions were recaptured.
One shell was fired at her on September 28th, but missed by 1,000
yards. She made an overnight port call at Sasebo on the 29th and 30th,
visited the Bonin Islands from October 2nd to 4th, stopped
at Yokosuka on the 5th and 6th, before taking up station
on the bomb line once more on the 8th. On October 11th she
joined the carriers of Task Force 77 and, for the next three months, frequently
alternated between that duty and shore bombardment assignments. On October 12th
an enemy 75mm gun managed to straddle her with eight rounds before 48 rounds
from her 5-inch battery silenced it. Just before 0200 on the 14th, a gun opened
fire from the same spot, scoring three near misses but no hits.
Other than those instances and some long range snooping by MIG 15's, little
action came TOLEDO's way during her third and final Korean War deployment. In
December of 1952, Captain F.B.C. Martin, USN relieved Captain George G. Crissman,
USN. In mid-January, TOLEDO visited Hong Kong for rest and relaxation before
resuming patrols off Wonsan and Songjin and fire support duties for the American
X Corp and ROK I Corp. On February 28, 1953, TOLEDO departed Yokosuka and shaped
a course to the United States, following a brief stop at Oahu on March 10th
and 11th, the cruiser moored at Long Beach on St. Patrick's Day,
1953. She departed Long Beach on April 13th and, after a two-day call
in San Diego, arrived in San Francisco, for a five-month overhaul. Upon
completion of the overhaul on September 10th and, after operations
along the coast, headed for Pearl Harbor on October 20th.
The cruiser
reached Yokosuka on November 7th and began her seventh deployment to
the Far East. Though the Korean conflict had ended the previous summer, American
forces continued to patrol the waters along the Korean peninsula, and TOLEDO
joined them in the endeavor. In fact, she spent the next six months operating
out of Sasebo and Yokosuka in the waters between Japan and Korea and in the East
China Sea. She visited Pusan, Inchon, and Pohang as well as Okinawa and Hong
Kong. In addition to patrolling the neutral waters off the Korean coast, she
periodically conducted exercises with the carriers of Task Force 77.
On April 13, 1954, the warship entered Yokosuka for upkeep following exercises
in the Sea of Japan and preparatory to her return home. Three days later, she
began her trans-Pacific passage. She made the usual call at Pearl Harbor and
tied up at Long Beach on May Day.
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With one exception, TOLEDO's eighth deployment to the Far East set the pattern
for all those that followed. After almost five months of normal operations along
the western coast of the United States, the cruiser cleared Long Beach on
September 14th flying the flag of Rear Admiral Ralph E. Wilson,
Commander Cruiser Division Three. She stopped at Pearl Harbor on the 21st
for five days of rest and relaxation and then continued her voyage to Yokosuka
where she arrived on November 7th. For the most part, her deployment consisted
of training operations, goodwill calls at a number of ports, and general patrol
and show-the-flag duties. Shortly thereafter she joined the Seventh Fleet as a
unit of Task Force 75. During the first three months of this cruise, TOLEDO made
visits to the Japanese ports of Kobe, Nagasaki and Beppu; and, to the British
Crown Colony of Hong Kong. On December 10, 1953, Captain W. A. Cockell, USN,
relieved Captain F.B.C. Martin, USN, as commanding officer.
After
spending Christmas 1954 and New Years 1955 in Yokosuka, TOLEDO visited Subic Bay
and Manila, Philippine Islands. The single exception: In January 1955, while in
waters off Korea, TOLEDO was ordered to rejoin Task Force 77 and in February
1955, in company with the fast carrier Task Force 77, she steamed into the
Tachen Islands to take positions for the evacuation of Chinese Nationalist
personnel. Taking a position 1,500 yards from the Islands, TOLEDO served as
flagship for the Naval Gunfire Support Group, which provided close-in support to
the amphibious craft engaged in the evacuation. She then sailed to conduct shore
bombardment exercises off Okinawa.
On March 5, 1955, she departed Japan in company with USS Pittsburgh (CA-72) to
return to the United States and arrived in Long Beach 17 days later.
During
April and May 1955, TOLEDO conducted operations off the coast of Southern
California. On May 6, 1955, Captain Theodore A. Torgeson, USN, relieved Captain
W.A. Cockell, USN, as commanding officer. In June 1955, TOLEDO visited Portland,
Oregon, for the annual Rose Festival and on June 16, 1955, arrived Puget Sound
Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Washington, for a four-months period of overhaul.
TOLEDO's active Navy career lasted four more years. During that period, she made
four more deployments to the western Pacific. All except one consisted of
routine operations, conducted out of bases in Japan and in the Philippines. The
one exception came early in 1958. The cruiser cleared the west coast on February
and reached Japan early in March. However, after visiting Sasebo and Yokosuka,
she headed south to Australia, rather than to normal 7th Fleet
operations. She reached Sydney on April 30th and remained there for
five days as a guest of the Australian government during the anniversary
celebration of the Battle of the Coral Sea. After Sydney, TOLEDO also visited
Melbourne before returning north to Japan via Okinawa to resume 7th
Fleet operations. The deployment ended on August 26th, 1958, when TOLEDO steamed
back into Long Beach.
After various training and shakedown cruises plus visits to various cities on the West Coast of the United States, the TOLEDO departed Long Beach on June 9, 1959 for the Far East (WestPac) and duty with the 7th Fleet. A few of the jobs assigned to TOLEDO and TOLEDO men during the cruise was to guard the seaways, “show the flag,” and carry the friendship of the United States to our Asian allies.
While in the Western Pacific, TOLEDO visited Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; Buckner Bay, Okinawa; in Japan visited Yokosuka, Nagasaki, Sasebo, Toyama, Hakodate, Sendai, Yokohama; Hong Kong, B.C.C.; Subic Bay, Philippine Islands; Saigon, South Viet Nam in Indo China and Guam. The TOLEDO arrived back in her home port of Long Beach, California on November 25, 1959.
On January
5, 1960, she entered Long Beach Naval Shipyard to begin inactivation overhaul.
TOLEDO completed preparations and was placed out of commission at Long Beach on
May 21, 1960, after 14 years of service in the cause of world peace. The TOLEDO
was replaced by a light cruiser that carried 6” guns and a more modern missile
system. She was moved to San Diego soon thereafter and remained there, in
reserve, for the next 14 years. On January 1, 1974, her name was struck from the
Navy list, and she was sold to the National Metal and Steel Corporation on
October 30, 1974. National Metal and Steel Corporation started the actual
dismantling and cutting up of the heavy cruiser USS TOLEDO (CA-133) on April 25,
1975, just two weeks short of the 30th anniversary of TOLEDO's
christening.
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