page_title: USS Portland (CA-33)
section_title: 1945
hierarchical_section_title: USS Portland (CA-33) / Service history / 1945
caption_attribution_description: English: The U.S. Navy battleship USS Pennsylvania (BB-38) leading USS Colorado (BB-45) and the cruisers USS Louisville (CA-28), USS Portland (CA-33), and USS Columbia (CL-56) into Lingayen Gulf, Philippines, in January 1945.
context_page_description: USS Portland was the lead ship of the Portland class of cruiser and the first ship of the United States Navy named after the city of Portland, Maine. Launched in 1932, she completed a number of training and goodwill cruises in the interwar period before seeing extensive service during World War II, beginning with the Battle of the Coral Sea in 1942, where she escorted the aircraft carrier Yorktown and picked up survivors from the sunken carrier Lexington. She screened for Yorktown again in the Battle of Midway, picking up her survivors as well. She then supported the carrier Enterprise during the initial phase of the Guadalcanal Campaign later that year, and was torpedoed during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal. The torpedo inflicted heavy damage which put her out of action for six months as she was repaired in Sydney, Australia, and later San Diego, California.
  Returning to combat in mid-1943, Portland saw action in many of the major engagements of the Pacific War, conducting shore bombardments in support of campaigns at the Aleutian Islands, Gilbert and Marshall Islands, Mariana Islands, and New Guinea.
context_section_description: From 3 January to 1 March 1945, Portland participated in the operations at Lingayen Gulf and Corregidor. Arriving off Lingayen Gulf on 5 January, and bombarding the vicinity of Cape Bolinao, she entered the Gulf the same day and commenced bombardment of the eastern shore but discontinued immediately when a large wave of Japanese kamikaze planes approached. Portland entered Manila Bay on 15 February, and bombarded the south shore of Corregidor in preparation for landings there. She returned to Leyte Gulf on 1 March for repairs and replenishment, having seen five months of continuous action.
  From 26 March to 20 April, she joined Task Force 54 (TF 54), which conducted shore bombardments of Okinawa in support of the Allied landings during the Okinawa campaign. The Japanese air arm had been decimated by this point in the war, and the lack of trained and experienced pilots led to the most extensive deployment of the kamikaze; Portland endured 24 air raids, shot down four Japanese aircraft, and assisted in downing two others. From 8 May to 17 June, she supported ground forces on Okinawa providing artillery support for ground forces, departing on 17 June for maintenance at Leyte before returning to Buckner Bay on 6 August, where she remained conducting shore bombardments until the end of the war.
caption: Pennsylvania leading Colorado, Louisville, Portland, and Columbia into Lingayen Gulf in January 1945.
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