37°16′06″N 79°56′26″W / 37.2682992°N 79.9404797°W / 37.2682992; -79.9404797

USS Roanoke underway, circa the early 1950s
History
United States
NameRoanoke
NamesakeRoanoke, Virginia
BuilderNew York Shipbuilding Corporation
Laid down15 May 1945
Launched16 June 1947
Commissioned4 April 1949
Decommissioned31 October 1958
Stricken1 December 1970
Identification
Motto
  • Nunc Parati Sumus
  • (Now we are prepared)
Honors and
awards		See Awards
FateScrapped, 22 February 1972
Badge
General characteristics
Class and typeWorcester-class light cruiser
Displacement
Length
  • 664 ft (202 m) wl
  • 679 ft 6 in (207.11 m) oa
Beam70 ft .5 in (21.3 m)
Draft25 ft (7.6 m)
Propulsion
Speed33 knots
Boats & landing
craft carried		2-4 × lifeboats
Complement1,560 officers and enlisted
Sensors and
processing systems
Armament
  • Early:
  • 6 × dual 6"/47cal guns
  • 11 × dual 3"/50 caliber Mark 33 guns
  • 2 × single 3"/50 caliber Mark 34 guns
  • Later:
  • 6 × dual 6"/47cal guns
  • 10 × dual 3"/50 caliber Mark 33 guns
  • 2 × single 3"/50 caliber Mark 34 guns
Armor
Aviation facilities2 × aircraft catapults

USS Roanoke (CL-145) was the second ship of the Worcester-class light cruisers completed for the U.S. Navy shortly after the end of World War II. Commissioned in 1949, she served in the Atlantic, Mediterranean and Pacific before being decommissioned in 1958. She was sold for scrap in 1972.

Construction and Commissioning

Roanoke in early 1949

Roanoke was laid down on 15 May 1945 by the New York Shipbuilding Corp., Camden, New Jersey; launched on 16 June 1947; sponsored by Miss Julia Ann Henebry; and commissioned at Philadelphia on 4 April 1949.

Following a shakedown cruise in the Caribbean, Roanoke undertook maneuvers in the Atlantic as a unit of the Battleship-Cruiser Force and on 6 January 1950 got underway to join the 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean for her first extended deployment. Returning to the United States in May, she alternated 6th Fleet deployments with operations in the western Atlantic until the summer of 1952 when she added a midshipman's cruise to Europe and the Caribbean to her schedule. Continuing to operate in the Battleship-Cruiser Force, U.S. Atlantic Fleet until the fall of 1955, Roanoke completed her sixth Mediterranean deployment in May, then prepared for transfer to the Pacific Fleet.

On 22 September 1955, Roanoke departed Norfolk, Va., for the Panama Canal. Homeported at Long Beach, she conducted nine Naval Reserve cruises and completed three WestPac cruises, May to December 1956, September 1957 to March 1958, and September to October 1958, before decommissioning on 31 October 1958.

Decommissioning

She was berthed at Mare Island in 1963 until sold to the Levin Metals Corporation of San Jose, California on 22 February 1972.

Her bell can be seen on display outside of Elmwood Park which is inside Roanoke Public Library.[1] Roanoke’s model is on display in the Virginia Museum of Transportation, Roanoke, Virginia.[2]

Awards

References

  1. ↑ "CL-145 U.S.S. Roanoke - FineScale Modeler - Essential magazine for scale model builders, model kit reviews, how-to scale modeling, and scale modeling products". cs.finescale.com. Retrieved 2020-05-27.
  2. ↑ "Roanoke, VA". www.roanokeva.gov. Retrieved 2020-05-27.

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.

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