Figure 1: USS Los Angeles (CA-135) photographed 21 March 1951 by PH1c Cooper. Collection of Admiral Arleigh A. Burke, USN. Official US Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 2: Sikorski HO3S-1 helicopter on board USS Los Angeles (CA-135) after it crashed while landing on the ship with Rear Admiral Arleigh A. Burke, Commander Cruiser Division Five, and Lieutenant General James A. Van Fleet, Commanding General, Eighth Army, aboard, circa June-July 1951. Amazingly, no one was injured in the accident. Donation of Admiral Arleigh A. Burke, USN (Retired), 1969. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 3: USS Los Angeles (CA-135) operating off Korea with Task Force 77, August 1951. Official US Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 4: USS Los Angeles (CA-135) "Returns to the Korean theater for its second tour of combat duty with UN Naval Forces.” Text quoted from the original picture caption, released by Commander Naval Forces Far East under date of 13 October 1952. Note that the ship's Jack and National Ensign are flying at half-mast. Official US Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 5: USS Los Angeles (CA-135), "Officers and men of USS Los Angeles honor US dead at Midway" (quoted from the original photo's caption). Photo was presumably taken off the Midway Islands. The original print bears a stamped date of 27 April 1959. Official US Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 6: USS Los Angeles (CA-135) "At anchor off Beppu, Japan. Beppu is a health resort city famous for natural hot baths." Quoted from the original photo caption. The original print bears a stamped date of 12 February 1962. Official US Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 7: "The first phase of reactivation work began today (Tuesday, December 5) aboard the heavy cruiser USS Los Angeles (CA-135) at the San Francisco Naval Shipyard. Today, yard workmen removed the ship's gun covers and prepared for all-out reactivation. When the ship is re-commissioned, probably during mid-January 1951, special ceremonies will be held and it is hoped by local Navy officials that the Honorable Fletcher Bowrow, Mayor of Los Angeles, will be present." Text quoted from the original photo caption, which was released on 5 December 1950. The ship re-commissioned on 27 January 1951, following reactivation work at Hunter's Point, San Francisco, California, where this photograph was taken. Official US Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 8: USS Los Angeles (CA-135) fires her forward 8-inch guns during a night bombardment of the North Korean coast. Photograph is dated 8 June 1951. Official US Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 9: USS Los Angeles (CA-135) fires a 5-inch gun during a bombardment of Wonsan harbor, Korea, circa mid-1951. Note smoke ring, a feature frequently seen when firing 5-inch guns. Some of the cruiser's 40-mm guns are in the foreground. Official US Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 11: USS Los Angeles (CA-135), "West Coast Cruisers Capable of Nuclear Assault -- A Regulus I boils white smoke from booster charges as it roars away from its launcher aboard the heavy cruiser USS Los Angeles off San Diego. The launch, a routine evaluation 'shoot,' was conducted during the time that 600 members of the Institute of Aeronautical Science were embarked aboard the attack carrier USS Ticonderoga (CVA-14), right. The demonstration, which included a 'Terrier' guided missile interception of the Regulus, power exhibition, carrier operations, and a HUK exercise, was highlighted by the Regulus launching. The Terrier was fired at the Regulus from the USS Norton Sound (AVM-1), background, on August 7." Text quoted from the original photo caption, which was released by Commander, Cruiser-Destroyer Force, US Pacific Fleet, on 9 August 1957. Official US Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.
Named after the city in California, the 13,600-ton USS Los Angeles was a Baltimore class heavy cruiser that was built by the Philadelphia Navy Yard at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and was commissioned on 22 July 1945. The ship was approximately 674 feet long and 70 feet wide, had a top speed of 33 knots, and had a crew of 1,142 officers and men. Los Angeles was armed with nine 8-inch guns, 12 5-inch guns, 48 40-mm guns, and 28 20-mm guns.
After her shakedown cruise off Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Los Angeles left on 15 October 1945 for the Far East. She transited the Panama Canal and, after making a brief stop on America’s west coast, sailed to Shanghai, China, arriving there on 3 January 1946. Throughout the next year, Los Angeles was part of the US Seventh Fleet and steamed along the coast of China and patrolled the western Pacific. The ship returned to the United States and arrived at San Francisco, California, on 21 January 1947. Los Angeles was decommissioned on 9 April 1948 and entered the Pacific Reserve Fleet.
In response
to the urgent need for ships with heavy guns during the Korean War, Los Angeles was re-commissioned on 27
January 1951. The ship completed two combat tours with the US Seventh Fleet,
from May to December 1951 and from October 1952 to May 1953. While off the
coast of Korea, Los Angeles’ 8-inch
and 5-inch guns were used to pound Communist positions on land, from Hungnam in
the east to Haeju in the west. During her second tour of duty, Los Angeles’ guns were of particular
value in destroying enemy bunkers and observation posts at Koji-ni. When
needed, Los Angeles also provided
off-shore gunfire support for American ground operations and patrolled the Sea
of Japan with the fast carriers of the Seventh Fleet. While participating in
the bombardment of Wonsan late in March and in early April 1953, Los Angeles received minor damage from
Communist shore batteries, but continued operations until she sailed back to
the United States in mid-April 1953. The heavy cruiser arrived at Long Beach,
California, on 15 May.
From November
1953 to June 1963, Los Angeles made
eight deployments to the Far East where she served as the flagship for the
cruiser division of the Seventh Fleet. This was a tense time during the Cold
War and ships like Los Angeles were
assigned to “keep the peace” and “show the flag” in a very troubled part of the
world. Los Angeles patrolled the
coast of Japan, the Sea of Japan, the Yellow Sea, and the East and South China
Seas, and assisted in the defense of American bases in the Philippines and
South Korea. She also assisted in the defense of Allied bases in Hong Kong,
Australia, and Taiwan. During the Quemoy-Matsu crisis of 1956, Los Angeles patrolled the Taiwan Strait
to help protect Taiwan from possible invasion from Communist China.
When not
deployed in the Far East, Los Angeles
was based at Long Beach and patrolled areas between America’s west coast and
the Hawaiian Islands. The ship was modernized in the late 1950s and received
the capability of launching “Regulus” surface-to-surface guided missiles. In
the early 1960s, Los Angeles also was
modernized and given a heavier foremast and long-range radar, both useful when
the heavy cruiser was used as a flagship.
Los Angeles returned to Long Beach from her final
deployment in the Far East on 20 June 1963. She was decommissioned at Long
Beach on 15 November 1963 and entered the Pacific Reserve Fleet at San Diego,
California, until she was sold for scrapping in May of 1975. USS Los Angeles received five battle stars
for her service during the Korean War.
