- USS Topeka (CL-67)
USS "Topeka" (CL-67), a "Cleveland"-class
light cruiser was the second ship of theUnited States Navy to be named after the city ofTopeka, Kansas .Construction and commissioning
She was laid down on
21 April 1943 by theBethlehem Steel Company yard located atQuincy, Massachusetts , launched on19 August 1944 , sponsored by Mrs. Frank J. Warren, and commissioned at theBoston Navy Yard on23 December 1944 , Captain Thomas L. Wattles in command.ervice
1940s
After shakedown in the
West Indies and post-shakedown repairs, "Topeka" departedBoston on10 April 1945 for duty with the Pacific Fleet. The following day she joined "Oklahoma City" (CL-91), and the two ships steamed viaCulebra Island andGuantánamo Bay to thePanama Canal . They transited the canal on19 April and reported for duty with the Pacific Fleet on the 20th. The next day, "Topeka" and her steaming mate headed forPearl Harbor , where they arrived on2 May . Following almost three weeks of gunnery exercises in theHawaiian Islands , the cruiser sailed west from Pearl Harbor as theflagship of Cruiser Division 18. She enteredUlithi Atoll in the WesternCarolines on1 June and, after three days in the anchorage, put to sea with "Bon Homme Richard" (CV-31), "Oklahoma City", "Moale" (DD-693), and "Ringgold" (DD-500) to rendezvous withTask Force 38 .On her first cruise with the fast carriers, she screened them against enemy air attack while their planes made three raids against targets in the enemy's home islands and the
Ryūkyūs . On8 June , TF 38 aircraft hitKanoya onKyūshū — the home ofJapan esenaval aviation . The next day, they struck the Ryukyu Islands — specificallyOkino Daito , located a little over 200 miles west ofOkinawa . The third and final strike of her first combat cruise came on10 June and provided the cruiser with her initial opportunity to join the fray. While TG 38.1 aircraft bombed and strafed the airfield onMinami Daito , the ships in the screen — "Topeka" among them — moved in and took the other installations under fire. At the conclusion of that action, "Topeka" moved off with the rest of TG 38.1 bound for San Pedro Bay, Leyte.After spending the latter half of June at Leyte for relaxation and replenishment, the light cruiser returned to sea on
1 July with TF 38 for the final six-week carrier sweep of the Japanese home islands. The task force made a fueling rendezvous on the 8th and then began a run-in towardTokyo which the American planes bombed on10 July . Next, the ships moved north toHonshū andHokkaidō for a two-day antishipping sweep of the area around Hakodate and Muroran. They retired from the area for another fueling rendezvous on the 16th, but returned to the vicinity of southern Honshū and resumed the aerial blitz of Tokyo on the 17th and 18th. On the night of the latter date, "Topeka" had another opportunity to strike the enemy directly when she joined "Atlanta" (CL-104), "Duluth" (CL-87), "Oklahoma City", and the destroyers of DesRon 62 in an antishipping sweep of the entrance toSagami Nada near the sea approaches to Tokyo. During that sweep, she fired her guns at Japanese installations located onNojima Zaki , the point of land which marks the eastern terminus of the entrance into Sagami Nada. Completing another replenishment retirement between19 July and23 July , the task force resumed its air raids on central Japan with two extensive forays against shipping in theInland Sea on the 24th and the 28th, respectively.A
typhoon at the end of July forced the task force to take evasive action and postpone further air operations until the second week in August. At that time, "Topeka" steamed north with TF 38 while the carriers moved into position to sendsortie after sortie against heavy concentrations of enemy aircraft on northern Honshū. Those raids — launched on9 August and10 August — proved eminently successful, wiping out what was later learned to be the transportation for 2,000 shock troops being assembled for a one-way, suicide mission to destroy theB-29 bases onTinian . The carrier planes paid return visits to Tokyo on the 12th and 13th and were taking off to repeat those attacks when a message arrived on the 15th, telling of Japan's capitulation."Topeka" patrolled Japanese waters until mid-September, at which time she entered
Tokyo Bay . She remained there until1 October , the day she began her homeward voyage to the United States. The cruiser stopped briefly at Okinawa on the 4th to embark 529 veterans and resumed her eastern progress on the 5th. On19 October , she arrived inPortland, Oregon , and disembarked her passengers. Ten days later, she steamed south toSan Pedro, California , for overhaul. On3 January 1946 , the warship put to sea to return to the Far East. She reachedYokosuka , Japan, on the 24th and began duty supporting American occupation forces in Japan,China , and in the Central Pacific islands. During that tour of duty, which lasted until the following fall, she called at Sasebo, Japan, Tsingtao andShanghai in China;Manila in thePhilippines ; andGuam in theMarianas . The cruiser returned to San Pedro on20 November .Following an overhaul and operations along the west coast, she headed back to the Orient on
22 September 1947 . Upon her arrival at Yokosuka, Japan, on10 October , she became a unit of TF 71. Operating from bases at Shanghai and Tsingtao. the warship patrolled the north China coast while civil war raged on shore betweenNationalist andcommunist factions. She concluded that duty early in March and entered Nagasaki, Japan, on the 8th. Following visits to Sasebo and Kure, "Topeka" sailed for the United States on25 April and arrived inLong Beach, California on7 May . Later that month, she moved to Pearl Harbor for a four-month overhaul at the completion of which she returned to the west coast. Late in October, the warship resumed local operations out of Long Beach and out ofSan Diego . She remained so occupied until February 1949. On25 February , she arrived inSan Francisco to prepare for inactivation. "Topeka" was decommissioned there on18 June 1949 and berthed with the local group of thePacific Reserve Fleet .1950s
Early in 1957, "Topeka" was towed from San Francisco to the
New York Naval Shipyard which she entered on15 April to begin conversion to a "Providence"-class guided missile light cruiser. On23 May she was officially redesignated CLG-8. During the almost three years it took to convert her, the cruiser was extensively modified. She retained only half her original gun battery, losing her two after 6 inch triple turrets and her three after 5 inch double mounts. The removal of these guns made room for the installation of her twin Terriersurface-to-air missile launcher and related ancillary equipment.1960s
On
26 March 1960 , "Topeka" was recommissioned, Capt. Frank L. Pinny, Jr., in command. In July, she made the passage from New York to the west coast. From August to October, the refurbished cruiser conducted shakedown training in the southern California operating area and then reported for duty at her home port, Long Beach. During the ensuing three years, "Topeka" alternated two peacetime deployments to the western Pacific with repair periods and local operations on the west coast. Her two tours in the Orient were characterized by visits to such places asHong Kong , the Philippines, Okinawa, and a number of ports in Japan as well as exercises with other ships of the7th Fleet and of Allied navies. When not deployed to the Far East, she conducted training operations, upkeep, and repairs.In March 1964, she embarked upon her third deployment to the western Pacific since being recommissioned. That deployment began routinely enough with fleet exercises in May and calls at Japanese, Taiwanese, Malaysian, and Philippine ports. However, in August,
North Vietnam esetorpedo-boat s attacked "Maddox" (DD-951) on the 2d and then returned to attack "Maddox" and "Turner Joy" (DD-731). This action — known as the Gulf of Tonkin incident — gave the remaining part of "Topeka's" deployment a more wartime character. "Topeka" cruised the waters of theGulf of Tonkin while American involvement in theVietnam War began to gather momentum. It was more than a year, though, before she steamed into war in earnest. Late in October, she started for home and reentered Long Beach near the end of the second week of November. For the next 12 months, she viewed the developing war from afar-operating out of west coast ports, undergoing repairs and modifications, and conducting exercises with the1st Fleet .On
29 November 1965 , however, she headed back to the western Pacific for the first deployment during which her primary mission was to support the American andSouth Vietnam ese forces fighting the communists. On that tour of duty, she served as the flagship for theCommander Cruiser-Destroyer Group , 7th Fleet. In that capacity the ship operated in theSouth China Sea and in the Gulf of Tonkin providing naval gunfire support for the troops ashore and supporting carrier air operations by conducting search and rescue missions for downed aircrews. She punctuated tours of duty in the combat zone with port visits to Yokosuka, Japan, Hong Kong, and the Philippine ports of Manila and Subic Bay. Her six-month deployment ended on28 May 1966 when Topeka reentered Long Beach.Five months of normal west coast operations — upkeep, training exercises, and the like — followed. On
31 October , the guided missile cruiser entered the naval shipyard for an overhaul during which her weapons systems were updated, and her engineering plant was overhauled. On13 March 1967 , she completed the yard overhaul and began sea trials and, later refresher training. She finished those evolutions early in June and resumed local operations. On1 August , the warship put to sea from Long Beach for her first deployment to theMediterranean Sea . She stopped at Norfolk on12 August and13 August to embark the Commander,Cruiser-Destroyer Flotilla 12 , and his staff and then sailed forPalma de Majorca on the 14th. On the 20th, "Topeka" joined the6th Fleet and, on the 22d, relieved "Galveston" (CLG-3) as flagship for TG 60.2. During her five months with the 6th Fleet, she ranged the length of the "middle sea." In late September and early October, the warship participated inNATO exercise Eager Beaver , conducted in the eastern end of the Mediterranean. In mid-October, she conducted operations in the Ionian andTyrrhenian Sea s on her way back to the western end. In January 1968, she concluded her first tour of duty in the Mediterranean with another NATO exercise — this one an amphibious operation. On the 12th, she was relieved by "Columbus" (CG-12) atRota, Spain . The cruiser then headed back to the United States. After stops atPuerto Rico and in thePanama Canal Zone , "Topeka" reentered Long Beach on29 January .On
2 February , the warship began a five-week availability at theLong Beach Naval Shipyard . The guided missile cruiser departed Long Beach again on15 March , bound for her new home port,Mayport, Florida . After arriving at her destination on21 March , "Topeka" remained in port for upkeep until6 May when she returned to sea for refresher training at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. Returning to Mayport on the 26th, the ship began preparations for another deployment to the Mediterranean — the last deployment of her career."Topeka" departed Mayport on
29 June and, after gunnery exercises at Culebra Island near Puerto Rico, she headed across the Atlantic. On9 July , she relieved "Columbus" atMálaga ,Spain , and began 6th Fleet operations. The warship's final deployment proved to be routine in nature. She visited ports all along the Mediterranean littoral and conducted operations in all portions of the middle sea from the Aegean and Ionian Seas in the east to theFrench Riviera ports in the west. Spain,Italy ,Greece ,Turkey , andFrance — as well as the islands ofMalta ,Crete , and Majorca — provided her with interesting ports of call. "Topeka" concluded her assignment with the 6th Fleet on9 December at Rota when she was relieved once again by "Columbus". That same day, she headed for Mayport, arriving 10 days later.On
30 January 1969 , "Topeka" steamed out of Mayport and proceeded north for inactivation. After a stop atYorktown, Virginia , to off-load her ordnance, she arrived in Boston on5 February . There, she completed inactivation preparations; and, on5 June , "Topeka" was placed out of commission. The warship was towed toPhiladelphia and was berthed with the reserve fleet group there.Decommissioning
On
1 December 1973 , her name was struck from theNavy List , and on20 March 1975 she was sold to the Southern Scrap Material Company, Ltd., for scrapping.Awards
"Topeka" was awarded two
battle star s for her World War II service and three battle stars for her Vietnam service.External links
* [http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-usn/usnsh-t/cl67.htm Navy photographs of "Topeka" (CL-67)]
* [http://www.usstopekaclg8.org USS Topeka Assoc. Website]
* [http://www.hullnumber.com/CLG-8 CLG-8 Personnel Roster at HullNumber.com]
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