USS Astoria

Click on one of the icons below to purchase my book.

The US Navy commissioned the USS Astoria (CA-34), the second heavy cruiser of the New Orleans-class, in April 1934. Built at the Puget Sound Navy Yard, Washington, she displaced 10,136 tons or 12,463 tons fully loaded. Her power plant had eight steam turbines driving four shaft turbines. With a rated top speed of 32.7 knots, she could cruise 10,000 nautical miles at 15 knots. The cruiser carried four scout planes, nine 8-inch guns mounted in three 3-gun turrets, eight single-mounted 5-inch guns, and eight .50-caliber machine guns. Her normal crew complement was 868 men.

During the summer of 1934, the cruiser’s shakedown cruise covered the Pacific from the United States west coast to Australia. During the rest of 1930s, she participated in fleet exercises in the eastern Pacific and Caribbean. She took the late Japanese Ambassador’s remains back to Japan in early 1939. While in Far Eastern waters, the ship called on ports in China, the Philippines, and Guam. She was at sea with a task force taking aircraft to Midway when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. After the attack, the Astoria escorted a task force trying to take planes to Wake Island, but the US Navy canceled the mission.

The cruiser was part of the Yorktown (CV-5) task force during the first half of 1942. She screened the carrier in May 1942 when the task force went to the Coral Sea for that momentous carrier battle there and managed to return to Pearl Harbor in time to become part of task force that engaged the Japanese Navy at Midway in June. When the Yorktown sustained fatal damage, Radm. Jack Fletcher shifted his flag to the cruiser.

In July 1942, the Japanese had been building air bases in the southern Solomon Islands. For the first time in the war, the Americans went on the offensive and invaded Guadalcanal and Tulagi to capture the airfield on Guadalcanal before the Japanese could put bombers on it.

The Astoria was part of Radm. Kelly Turner’s invasion fleet. She bombarded the shore to provide fire support for the Marines going ashore. The Americans successfully landed on the two islands. But, the Japanese came calling with bombers to wreak havoc on the American invasion fleet and inflicted slight damage by sinking one transport. The unloading of men and supplies continued uninterrupted.

The Japanese were not quite through. Japanese Vadm. Gunichi Mikawa led a force of cruisers and destroyer down the Slot and totally caught the Americans and Australian Navies completely by surprise. During the Battle of Savo Island, the American Navy suffered the worst defeat thus far. One of the casualties of that battle was the Astoria. Although she survived the battle itself, the damage to her from the battle was too severe for the gallant cruiser to remain afloat. Just after noon on the day after Savo, the Astoria sank into the waters of Iron Bottom Sound.