USS Portsmouth (CL-102)

For other ships with the same name, see USS Portsmouth.

USS Portsmouth (April 1948)
History
United States
Name	Portsmouth
Namesake	City of Portsmouth, New Hampshire
Builder	Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company, Newport News, Virginia
Laid down	28 June 1943
Launched	20 September 1944
Commissioned	25 June 1945
Decommissioned	15 June 1949
Stricken	15 January 1971
Identification	Hull symbol:CL-102 Code letters:NBNL
Fate	Sold for scrap on 26 February 1974
General characteristics
Class and type	Template:Sclass- Light cruiser
Displacement	11,744 long tons (11,932 t) (standard) 14,131 long tons (14,358 t) (max)
Length	610 ft 1 in (185.95 m) oa 608 ft (185 m)pp
Beam	66 ft 4 in (20.22 m)
Draft	25 ft 6 in (7.77 m) (mean) 25 ft (7.6 m) (max)
Installed power	4 × 634 psi Steam boilers 100,000 shp (75,000 kW)
Propulsion	4 × geared turbines 4 × screws
Speed	32.5 kn (37.4 mph; 60.2 km/h)
Range	11,000 nmi (20,000 km) @ 15 kn (17 mph; 28 km/h)
Complement	1,255 officers and enlisted
Armament	4 × triple 6 in (150 mm)/47 caliber Mark 16 guns 6 × dual 5 in (130 mm)/38 caliber anti-aircraft guns 4 × quad 40 mm (1.6 in) Bofors anti-aircraft guns 6 × dual 40 mm (1.6 in) Bofors anti-aircraft guns 10 × single 20 mm (0.79 in) Oerlikon anti-aircraft cannons
Armor	Belt: 3+1⁄2–5 in (89–127 mm) Deck: 2 in (51 mm) Barbettes: 6 in (150 mm) Turrets: 1+1⁄2–6 in (38–152 mm) Conning Tower: 2+1⁄4–5 in (57–127 mm)
Aircraft carried	4 × floatplanes
Aviation facilities	2 × stern catapults

USS Portsmouth (CL–102) was a Template:Sclass- light cruiser of the United States Navy, the third ship to carry the name.

Portsmouth was laid down by the Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company, Newport News, Virginia, on 28 June 1943; launched on 20 September 1944; sponsored by Mrs. Marian M. Dale and Mrs. Sarah B. Leigh, and commissioned 25 June 1945, Captain Heber B. Brumbaugh in command.

Service history

Following shakedown off Cuba, Portsmouth, based at Norfolk, was employed with the Operational Development Force until the spring of 1946. In May she departed on a goodwill cruise to Africa and after visiting Cape Town, Lagos, Freetown, Monrovia, Dakar, and Casablanca, steamed into the Mediterranean for calls at Naples, and Palermo before heading home.

On 25 November, Portsmouth got underway to return to the Mediterranean. Arriving at Naples on 7 December, she shifted around the peninsula to Trieste at the end of the month, and until February 1947 cruised in the politically turbulent Adriatic. The following month, she returned for another two weeks at Trieste and in April she sailed for the United States. The following November, she again steamed east to the Mediterranean, returning to the east coast for overhaul at Boston on 11 March 1948. On completion of overhaul, she resumed type exercises off the eastern seaboard and conducted Naval Reserve training cruises to the Caribbean. On 9 March 1949, she entered the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard for inactivation overhaul.

Decommissioned on 15 June 1949, she joined the Atlantic Reserve Fleet and into 1970 remained a unit of that fleet, berthed at Philadelphia. Two of her main engines remain in service today as part of the MARF (Modifications and Additions to a Reactor Facility) facility for the S7G nuclear reactor prototype in Ballston Spa, New York.

References

 This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.

External links

• Photo gallery of USS Portsmouth (CL-102) at NavSource Naval History