USS Houston, a 10,000-ton Cleveland class light cruiser, was built at Newport News, Virginia. She was commissioned in December 1943, shook down in the Caribbean and arrived in the Pacific war zone at the end of May 1944, in time to participate in the Marianas campaign that began in mid-June with the invasion of Saipan. During this operation Houston was part of the aircraft carrier forces that struck Japanese targets ashore and defeated the enemy's fleet in the Battle of the Philippine Sea.
In September 1944 Houston's carrier group supported landings in the Palaus and raided the Philippines. They hit Formosa in mid-October, provoking counterattacks by Japanese planes, which torpedoed the heavy cruiser Canberra on 13 October and Houston on the 14th. Both cruisers were left without propulsion and had to be taken in tow, a risky proposition so close to enemy air bases. Their vulnerable condition put them in an unwelcome role as "bait", in the hope that the enemy fleet might come out to attack them and thus be ambushed by the superior numbers of American warships operating nearby. Though this did not take place, Japanese planes did appear and scored another torpedo hit on Houston on 16 October. Her crew's effective damage control measures kept her afloat, and after nearly two weeks of towing she arrived at Ulithi, an advanced fleet base in the Caroline Islands.
Drydocking and other repair efforts over the next two months got the badly damaged cruiser into good enough shape to permit her to steam to the New York Navy Yard, where she received a complete reworking between March and October 1945. The Second World War was over when Houston returned to active duty, but she had two years of post-war Atlantic Fleet service, operating in European and Mediterranean waters during April-December 1946 and again in May-August 1947 . Decommissioned in December 1947, she was part of the Atlantic Reserve Fleet until stricken from the Navy list in March 1959. USS Houston was sold for scrapping in June 1961.
This page features selected views related to USS Houston (CL-81), and provides links to others.
For additional images concerning this ship, see:
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 #: 19-N-60240 USS Houston (CL-81) Off the Norfolk Navy Yard, Virginia, 11 January 1944. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives. Online Image: 62KB; 740 x 485 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: 19-N-60239 USS Houston (CL-81) Off the Norfolk Navy Yard, Virginia, 11 January 1944. Her camouflage is Measure 32, Design 1d. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives. Online Image: 63KB; 740 x 450 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: 19-N-60241 USS Houston (CL-81) Off the Norfolk Navy Yard, Virginia, 11 January 1944. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives. Online Image: 67KB; 740 x 475 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: 80-G-214200 USS Houston (CL-81) Off Norfolk, Virginia, 12 January 1944. She is painted in Camouflage Measure 32, Design 1d. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Online Image: 101KB; 740 x 500 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: 80-G-214194 USS Houston (CL-81) Vertical photograph of the ship underway off Norfolk, Virginia, 12 January 1944. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Online Image: 104KB; 740 x 575 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: NH 50219 USS Houston (CL-81) Underway off the U.S. East Coast, 26 January 1944 Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Online Image: 65KB; 740 x 480 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 98340 USS Houston (CL-81) Underway at sea, 3 April 1944 Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Online Image: 116KB; 740 x 610 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 98341 USS Houston (CL-81) Steaming at sea, probably in the Pacific, circa mid-1944 Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Online Image: 82KB; 740 x 615 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 98359 USS Houston (CL-81) Holding an "open house" at Lisbon, Portugal, 18 August 1946, during a visit there by units of the 12th Fleet. Taken from the harbor wall by a USS Franklin D. Roosevelt (CVB-42) photographer. Courtesy of the Naval Historical Foundation. Collection of Admiral H. Kent Hewitt, USN. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Online Image: 126KB; 740 x 570 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 75594 USS Houston (CL-81) Being prepared for launching, at the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company shipyard, Newport News, Virginia, 16 June 1943. She was launched on 19 June. Courtesy of James Russell, 1972. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 89KB; 590 x 765 pixels |
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Photo #: 19-N-47118 USS Houston (CL-81) Ship's Sponsor, Mrs. Claude B. Hamill, prepares to christen Houston during launching ceremonies at the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company shipyard, Newport News, Virginia, 19 June 1943. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives. Online Image: 73KB; 740 x 475 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: 19-N-47114 USS Houston (CL-81) Launching, at the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company shipyard, Newport News, Virginia, 19 June 1943. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives. Online Image: 129KB; 590 x 765 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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For additional images concerning this ship, see:
If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
Page made 16 February 2003
Link added 16 March 2003