The ships of the "Omaha" class spent most of the war deployed to secondary theaters and in less vital tasks than those assigned to more recently built cruisers. The "Omaha" class were sent to places where their significant armament might be useful if called upon, but where their age and limited abilities were less likely to be tested. These secondary destinations included patrols off the east and west coasts of South America, convoy escort in the South Pacific far from the front lines of battle, patrols and shore bombardment along the distant and frigid Aleutians and Kuril Islands chains, and bombardment duty in the invasion of Southern France when naval resistance was expected to be minimal. The most significant action that any of the ships of the class saw during the war was s participation in early war actions around the Dutch East Indies (most notably, the Battle of Makassar Strait), and s engagement in the Battle of the Komandorski Islands.