USS Honolulu (CL-48)

USS Honolulu (CL-48) of the United States Navy was a Brooklyn-class cruiser light cruiser active in the Pacific War (World War II). Honolulu was launched in 1937 and commissioned in 1938. She was the only cruiser to survive the Battle of Tassafaronga undamaged. Honolulu later served in the Battle of Kula Gulf, where she wrecked the destroyer Nagatsuki and helped to sink the destroyer Niizuki, and the Battle of Kolombangara where she helped to sink the light cruiser Jintsū but was crippled by a torpedo which blew off her bow. She then bombarded shores during the Battle of Peleliu. She was taken out of action by serious torpedo damage just before the Battle of Leyte Gulf. She was repaired, but not in time to rejoin the war. She was decommissioned in 1947 and was held in reserve until she was scrapped in 1959.

Inter-war period
The second Navy ship named for the city of Honolulu, Hawaii, she was launched on 26 August 1937 at the New York Navy Yard, sponsored by Helen Poindexter (the daughter of Joseph B. Poindexter, the Governor of Hawaii), and commissioned on 15 June 1938.

After a shakedown cruise to England, Honolulu engaged in fleet problems and exercises in the Caribbean Sea. She steamed from New York on 24 May 1939 to join the Pacific Fleet, arriving at San Pedro, California, on 14 June. For the remainder of the year, she engaged in exercises along the West Coast. During the first half of 1940, Honolulu continued operations out of Long Beach, California, and after an overhaul at the Puget Sound shipyard, she steamed out of Long Beach Naval Shipyard on 5 November for duty from Pearl Harbor. She operated there through 1941.

World War II
On December 7, 1941, Honolulu was moored in the Navy Yard when the Imperial Japanese Navy attacked Pearl Harbor. Honolulu went unattached in the first wave, but in the second wave was attacked by Japanese dive bombers, but suffered only minor hull damage from a near miss from a 500-pound bomb that exploded under the water and craved in a section of Honolulu's hull, one of three cruisers to take any notable damage through the attack. Damage was quickly patched up in just 5 days.

Following repairs, she sailed on 12 January 1942 to escort a convoy to San Francisco, California, arriving on 21 January. After arriving at the Mare Island shipyards, Honolulu departed for Melbourne Australia on the 31st, arriving at her destination on February 26, where the ship would guard various Australian ports on patrol duties until the March 20 when she departed back to Pearl Harbor, arriving there a week later. On April 8, she arrived at San Diego, with the task of escorting a convoy alongside several other US cruisers departing from San Diego to bound for Bora Bora in French Polynesia, leaving on the 13th and arriving on the 28th, and after some guard duties departed back to Pearl Harbor on May 19.

With the Japanese pushing north towards Alaska, Honolulu departed on 29 May to strengthen forces in that area. After two months of continuous operations out of Kodiak, Alaska, she proceeded to Kiska in the Aleutian Islands on 7 August, to begin bombardment of the island. On 21 August, she screened the first American landings in the Aleutians at Adak Island. After shipyard work at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Honolulu departed from San Francisco on 3 November 1942, escorting a convoy to Nouméa in the South Pacific. Later that month, Honolulu sailed from Espiritu Santo in the New Hebrides Islands to intercept a Japanese Navy convoy attempting to reinforce their positions on Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands.

Battle of Tassafaronga
Main Article: Battle of Tassafaronga

Throughout the Guadalcanal campaign, the US suffered major losses in cruisers, with ten cruisers either sunk or taken out of action due to battle damage. Honolulu served in what was essentially the last of America's active cruisers operating in Guadalcanal. Rear Admiral Wright made his flagship the heavy cruiser USS Minneapolis, and alongside Honolulu he commanded the heavy cruisers USS New Orleans, USS Pensacola, and USS Northampton. The force was escorted by six destroyers. The squadron was formed on November 24.

On the 29th, American code breakers intercepted a message about a Japanese supply run. Admiral Tanaka commanded a total of eight destroyers delivering much needed supplies to Japanese troops on Guadalcanal. With Wright's force having a nearly equal number of destroyers, and the Japanese having no cruisers enroute, Wright saw an easy victory and took his ships to intercept and destroyer the enemy ships. However, the Japanese had a trick up their sleeve, the type 93 "long lance" torpedoes, which were larger and more powerful, and most importantly longer range than any other widely used torpedo of the war, with a maximum range of 44,200 yards and a designed effective range of 24,000 yards. This was unknown to the allies.

Because of this, on the night of November 30th, Honolulu and the other ships intercepted Tanaka's destroyers and opened fire within 12,000 yards, well within the long lance's effective range. Honolulu, along with Minneapolis and New Orleans, engaged the Takanami, and hit her with shells that set her aflame and rendered her a slowly sinking hulk, but not before Takanami fired her torpedoes, and it would be these torpedoes and hit both New Orleans and Minneapolis, crippling both ships and taking them out of action. Honolulu continued to charge on, but her crew realized that the remaining destroyers fired another torpedo spread as a long lance fired from the Oyashio hit Pensacola, disabling her engine and three of her four 8-inch (203 mm) gun turrets. Quick thinking by Rear Admiral Tisdale ordered Honolulu to take a hard turn to starboard, barely avoiding a torpedo in the process, allowing Honolulu to avoid any damage whatsoever. Northampton failed to do the same and continued in a straight line, and she paid the price as she was hit by two torpedoes fired from the Kawakaze which caused her to sink over two hours.

Having been the only cruiser of the battle to survive completely undamaged, Honolulu retreated from Guadalcanal, arriving at Espiritu Santo on December 2, and remained there for the rest of the month. On January 2 1942, Honolulu joined with several other allied cruisers on patrol duty, and on the 5th the force came under air attacks, where Honolulu was lightly damaged by three bomb near misses. Throughout the rest of January and into February, Honolulu took part in a series of patrol duties, then on March 7 she covered minelayers in the Blackett Strait, before taking part in even more patrol duties. On May 11, Honolulu departed Espiritu Santa, and on the 13th she bombarded Japanese shore positions in the Kula Gulf.

Battle of Kula Gulf
Main Article: Battle of Kula Gulf

On July 4, Honolulu, along with the light cruisers USS Helena and USS Saint Louis and four destroyers, departed the Soloman Islands on patrol duty. On the 5th, a Japanese torpedo hit and sank the destroyer USS Strong. This was believed to be from an enemy submarine, but this torpedo was actually launched from the destroyer Niizuki at a distance of 22,000 yards, one of the longest ranged torpedo hits in history (alongside the heavy cruiser Haguro torpedoing and sinking the destroyer Kortenaer at a similar distance). However, the presence of US ships did force the Japanese destroyer transports carrying 1,300 infantry troops to retreat.

Later that night, the Niizuki, joined by the destroyers Suzukaze and Tanikaze departed as a protection force for seven other destroyers transporting 2,400 ground troops in a second attempt to run infantry to Kula Gulf. Honolulu and the other American ships prepared to intercept and either destroy or send back this force. By 2:00, Honolulu picked up three Japanese ships on her radar, it was Niizuki, Suzukaze, and Tanikaze closing the range to attack the force with torpedoes. Honolulu, Saint Louis, and Helena all opened fire, all targeting Niizuki. A barrage of 6-inch (152 mm) and 5-inch (127 mm) shell hits quickly reduced Niizuki into a burning hulk and sank her with no survivors. However, Helena quickly expended her smokeless propellants, and the resulting gun flashes caused Suzukaze and Tanikaze to quickly fire their torpedoes and evacuate the area. One of these torpedoes first blew of Helena's bow in a potential magazine explosion. Two minutes later, two more torpedoes destroyed her engines and boilers and broke her keel. Within a few minutes, Helena capsized and sank.

Honolulu continued to fire at the Japanese ships. One of Honolulu's 6-inch (152 mm) shells hit the destroyer Nagatsuki below the waterline, wrecking her engine room and damaging her so badly she was forced to run aground. Nagatsuki was unable to be refloated, and deemed a complete wreck and abandoned. Further shelling by both Honolulu and Saint Louis hit the destroyer Hatsuyuki six times which damaged her steering and killed six men, but all hits were duds as she withdrew from the battle. However, the Japanese were still able to land 1,600 ground troops, alongside sinking far more tonnage than they lost. After the battle, Honolulu briefly visited Espiritu Santa, before departing on July 10 for additional patrol duties.

Battle of Kolombangara
Main Article: Battle of Kolombangara

The battle-proven cruiser had another opportunity to confront the Japanese fleet on 13 July, in the Battle of Kolombangara. Shortly after midnight, contact was made with an enemy cruiser-destroyer force in "The Slot". At 0110, Honolulu opened fire on the light cruiser Jintsū. After three salvos, the target burst into flames and was soon dead in the water. Honolulu shifted fire to an enemy destroyer, which was immediately hit and disappeared. At 0211, a torpedo struck the starboard side of Honolulu, blowing off her bow. The task force then retired to Tulagi for temporary repairs, and then departed for the large naval base at Pearl Harbor. On 16 August, Honolulu arrived at Pearl Harbor for major repairs. She then proceeded to the shipyard at Mare Island, near San Francisco, for more work. After the additional repairs at Mare Island, Honolulu departed from San Francisco on 17 November to continue her role in the struggle against Japan. She arrived at Espiritu Santo on 11 December, and then resumed operations in the Solomons later that month. On 27 December, she engaged in the bombardment of an enemy barge, troop, and supply concentration on Bougainville Island. In the early months of 1944, the cruiser continued bombardments and patrols in the Solomon Islands. She screened the landings on Green Island on 13 February, before retiring from the Solomons to begin preparations for the Saipan and Guam operations in the Mariana Islands.

Honolulu took part in bombardments of the southeastern part of Saipan Island in early June as the Navy and Marines leaped across the Pacific. While bombarding Guam in mid-June, Honolulu was deployed northwest to intercept the Japanese fleet. She returned to Eniwetok Atoll on 28 June for replenishments, before providing support for the invasion of Guam. She remained on station for three weeks, performing great service with her accurate gunfire, before returning to Purvis Bay on Florida Island in the Solomons on 18 August. Honolulu steamed out on 6 September to provide fire support for the landings in the Palau Islands, such as at Peleliu Island and Anguar, remaining in this area during September unopposed by the Japanese fleet. America now had decisive command of the sea, and therefore nearly full freedom of operations.

Battle of Leyte
Honolulu departed from the staging area at Manus Island in the Admiralty Islands on 12 October, and steamed towards the Philippines for the invasion of Leyte. She began a bombardment from Leyte Gulf on 19 October, and the next day she began screening the landings. At 1600, on 20 October an enemy torpedo plane was sighted as it aimed its torpedo at Honolulu. Despite the skillful maneuvering of Captain Thurber to evade, the torpedo found its mark on her port side. 64 men were killed and 35 were injured.

Honolulu sailed out the next day, arriving at Manus on 29 October for temporary repairs, and then steamed for Norfolk, Virginia, on 19 November, arriving on 20 December via Pearl Harbor, San Diego, California, and the Panama Canal. Honolulu remained at Norfolk for the duration of the war, undergoing repairs and alterations which included the installation of four twin 5in/38 gun mounts, and after a shakedown cruise in October 1945, she steamed to Newport, Rhode Island, for duty as a training ship. Honolulu arrived at Philadelphia on 8 January 1946 and was decommissioned there on 3 February 1947, and joined the Reserve Fleet at Philadelphia. Stricken on 1 March 1959, Honolulu was sold for scrapping to Bethlehem Steel, Baltimore, Maryland, on 12 October 1959. Honolulu was scrapped at Sparrow Point, Maryland, on 19 August 1960.

Awards

 * Navy Unit Commendation (three awards)
 * Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with eight battle stars
 * World War II Victory Medal ribbon.svg World War II Victory Medal

Honolulu's three Navy Unit Commendations were for the Battle of Tassafaronga on 30 November 1942; the period from 5 July to 14 July 1943, around the time of the Battle of Kula Gulf and the Battle of Kolombangara; and 12 September to 20 October 1944, around the time of the Battle of Peleliu and Battle of Leyte.