USS Columbia, a 10,000-ton Cleveland class light cruiser built at Camden, New Jersey, was commissioned in late July 1942. Following shakedown and training in the Western Atlantic, she went to the South Pacific late in 1942, in time to participate in the final phases of the Guadalcanal Campaign. In late January 1943, she was one of the U.S. ships present during the Battle of Rennell Island. Columbia conducted patrol and bombardment missions in the Solomon Islands area during the next several months, as the Allies prepared for and executed the campaign to seize bases up the island chain from Guadalcanal. At the beginning of November 1943, Columbia shelled enemy targets ashore in support of landings on Bougainville and, on the night of 2 November, took part in the Battle of Empress Augusta Bay. She remained in the area to support further landings in the Green Islands during February 1944 and Emirau Island in March.
Following overhaul in the United States, Columbia returned to the war zone to cover amphibious assaults on Peleliu in September 1944 and Leyte in October. On the night of 24-25 October, she participated in the Battle of Surigao Strait, the final major gun and torpedo action of the Pacific War. Her operations in the Philippines continued in December, with the landings at Mindoro, and January 1945, with the Lingayen Gulf invasion. On 6 and 9 January, while supporting the latter operation, she was near-missed by one Japanese suicide plane and hit by two others, causing serious damage to the ship and heavy casualties among her crew.
The cruiser was under repair and in transit until June 1945, when she arrived in the Western Pacific to participate in final operations against the Japanese. During that month and the next she took part in the Borneo landings and in anti-shipping sweeps in the East China Sea. After Japan's capitulation in mid-August, Columbia supported occupation efforts in the Central Pacific and transported war veterans back to the U.S. She served on training duty during the post-war era's first year, but was decommissioned in November 1946. USS Columbia was part of the Atlantic Reserve Fleet until 1959, when she was sold for scrapping.
This page features all the views we have of USS Columbia (CL-56), plus selected views related to her activities and artifacts.
If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.
Photo #: NH 45500 USS Columbia (CL-56) Underway at sea in 1944. She is painted in Design 3d of the Measure 31-32-33 camouflage system. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the Collections of the Naval Historical Center. Online Image: 128KB; 740 x 605 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 98064 USS Columbia (CL-56) Steaming with Task Force 77.4 in Surigao Strait, Philippine Islands, on 3 January 1945 while en route to the Lingayen Gulf landings. Photographed from USS Makin Island (CVE-93). Columbia is painted in camouflage Measure 33 Design 1d. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the Collections of the Naval Historical Center. Online Image: 82KB; 740 x 555 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 78965 USS Columbia (CL-56) Track chart of the ship's first Pacific War cruise, November 1942 -- April 1944. Courtesy of John R. Henry, 1973. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 269KB; 955 x 1225 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 78971 USS Columbia (CL-56) Plaque mounted on board the ship listing her World War II actions and operations. Photographed in 1946. Courtesy of John R. Henry, 1973. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 143KB; 515 x 765 pixels |
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Photo #: 80-G-44058 Shortland Islands Bombardment, 1 November 1943 After 6"/47 gun turrets of USS Columbia (CL-56) firing, during the night bombardment of Japanese facilities in the Shortlands that covered landings on Bougainville. This photograph has been rather crudely retouched to eliminate radar antennas on gun directors and masthead. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Online Image: 49KB; 740 x 605 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: 80-G-44059 Bougainville Operation, November 1943 A Japanese plane plunges into the sea ahead of USS Columbia (CL-56), as she steams in column with other cruisers during the attack on Bougainville, 1-2 November 1943. Note 6"/47 gun turrets, with six-inch shell casings on deck below them. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Online Image: 89KB; 740 x 605 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: NH 79448 USS Columbia (CL-56) Japanese "Zeke" type Kamikaze aircraft diving on the ship during the Lingayen Gulf operation, 6 January 1945. This plane, afire from hits by the ship's guns, crashed close aboard, showering Columbia's superstructure with gasoline. Courtesy of John R. Henry, 1973. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 53KB; 740 x 605 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 79449 USS Columbia (CL-56) Japanese Kamikaze aircraft diving on the ship at 1729 hrs on 6 January 1945, during the Lingayen Gulf operation. This plane hit the main deck by the after gun turret, causing extensive damage and casualties. Courtesy of John R. Henry, 1973. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 40KB; 740 x 600 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 79450 USS Columbia (CL-56) Japanese Kamikaze hits the ship at 1729 hrs on 6 January 1945, during the Lingayen Gulf operation. The impact, on the main deck by the after gun turret, with the resulting explosion and fire, caused extensive damage and casualties. Courtesy of John R. Henry, 1973. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 64KB; 740 x 595 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 78972 USS Columbia (CL-56) "Plankowners" among the ship's officers pose with her bridge wing scoreboard and life ring, following V-J Day 1945. Courtesy of John R. Henry, 1973. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 78KB; 740 x 575 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 78970 USS Columbia (CL-56) Plaque mounted on board the ship in memory of crewmembers killed and missing during World War II. Sixty men are named on the plaque. Photographed in 1946. Courtesy of John R. Henry, 1973. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 161KB; 515 x 765 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 55296 USS Columbia (CL-56) Etching by John Taylor Arms, depicting the ship fitting out at the New York Shipbuilding Corporation shipyard, Camden, New Jersey, circa early or mid-1942. The artwork is dated 1945. Courtesy of Mr. B.N. Williams, 1966. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 96KB; 740 x 615 pixels |
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In addition to the images presented above, the National Archives appears to hold other views of USS Columbia (CL-56). The following list features some of these images:
The images listed below are NOT in
the Naval Historical Center's collections.
DO NOT try to obtain them using the procedures described in our
page "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions".
USS Columbia (CL-56) in the Delaware River, 30 August 1942. Port broadside surface view, taken by the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Pennsylvania. The ship is painted in pattern camouflage. USS Columbia (CL-56) underway in the Delaware River, 30 August 1942. Port broadside aerial view, taken by the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Pennsylvania. The ship is painted in pattern camouflage. USS Columbia (CL-56) in a South Pacific harbor, 5 August 1943. Photographed by USS Chandeleur (AV-10). Port bow surface view, taken from about the ship's upper bridge level.
Reproductions of these images should be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system for pictures not held by the Naval Historical Center. The images listed in this box are NOT in the Naval Historical Center's collections. DO NOT try to obtain them using the procedures described in our page "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions". |
If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
Page made 17 September 2002