USS Reno ( CL - 96 ) USS " Reno " ( CL - 96 ) was an updated " Atlanta " - class light cruiser - sometimes referred to as the " " Oakland " - class " - designed and built to specialize in antiaircraft warfare . She was the second warship to be named for the city of Reno , Nevada . The one other USS " Reno " was a destroyer named for Lt . Commander Walter E . Reno . The " Reno " was laid down by Bethlehem Steel Co . , at San Francisco , California on 1 August 1941 . She was launched on 23 December 1942 , and commissioned on 28 December 1943 , with Captain Ralph C . Alexander in command . The USS " Reno " spent her entire service life in the Pacific War , and its immediate aftermath , during 1944 though 1946 . Service history . Following a shakedown cruise off the coast of San Diego , the USS " Reno " departed from San Francisco on 14 April 1944 , steaming west to join the 5th Fleet , under the command of Admiral Raymond A . Spruance . As an active unit in Vice Admiral Marc Mitscher ' s Fast Carrier Task Force ( Task Force 58 ) , the sharp spearpoint of the 5th Fleet , the " Reno " first came in contact with the enemy while supporting minor air raid s against Marcus Island on 19 – 20 May . Three days later , she also supported air strike s on Japanese - held Wake Island . During the months of June to July 1944 , the " Reno " joined the fast aircraft carrier s in sudden air attack s against Saipan on 11 June , Pagan Island on 12 – 13 June , and against the Volcano Islands and the Bonin Islands - namely Iwo Jima , Haha Jima , and Chichi Jima on 15 – 16 June . Three days later , the " Reno " aided in repelling a large - scale Japanese Navy aircraft carrier task force attempt to defeat the American invasion of the Marianas Islands ( including Guam , Saipan , and Tinian , during the huge Battle of the Philippine Sea - the world ' s largest carrier vs . carrier battle of all time , and an overwhelming victory by the U . S . Navy . From 20 June to 8 July , the " Reno " joined in the operations covering the conquest of Saipan . Then She covered amphibious landing s on Guam from 17 to 24 July , and two days later , she took part in air strikes against the Palau Islands from 26 to 29 July . The 5th Fleet then became the 3rd Fleet , as Admiral William F . Halsey , Jr . , rotated in to command this fleet . Doubling back northward again , one more series of air strikes were made on the Bonin Islands on 4 – 5 August . Then on 7 September , TF 38 ( formerly TF 58 ) returned south to hit the Palaus again . After steaming west across the Philippine Sea , the " Reno " and TF 38 carried out some of the first American air raids against the Philippines hitting the southern island of Mindanao , and its adjacent islands , from 9 to 13 September . TF 58 supported the amphibious landings on two of the Palau from 15 to 20 September , and then on 21 – 22 September , it carrier out air strikes against the Manila area of Luzon in the northern Philippines . While striking the island of Nansei Shoto on 8 October , the " Reno " and TF 38 came closer to the Japanese Home Islands than any other major units of the U . S . Navy had been during World War II . During a huge series of air strikes by TF 38 on Japanese airfields on the previously - touched island of Formosa from 12 to 14 October - which brought out large counterattacks of Japanese warplanes , the USS " Reno " shot down at least six enemy warplanes . At the height of this aerial battle , one Imperial Japanese Navy torpedo plane crashed and exploded on the " Reno ' s " fantail . The " Reno ' s " turret number six was partially incapacitated by the explosion , but that turret ' s officer in charge succeeded in maintaining his defensive fire against the attacking Japanese planes . On 24 October , four days after the amphibious invasion of Leyte , while supporting air strikes against Japanese airfields on Luzon , TF 38 was subjected to a large - scale air attack by land - based warplanes from Clark Field , Luzon . The light aircraft carrier took the brunt of the attack ; she was hit by aerial bomb and forced to withdraw from the Task Force . The USS " Reno " was assigned to help fight the fires on board the " Princeton " by bringing her fire hoses to bear , and also to rescue her crewmen . The " Reno " drew alongside the " Princeton " five times but she could not remain on station because of the intense heat and smoke from the burning carrier . While the " Reno " was assisting " Princeton " , the carrier began listing and her flight deck struck the " Reno " , crushing one of her 40 mm cannon mounts . The efforts to save the aircraft carrier continued , but when the " Princeton ' s " torpedo warhead magazine exploded , the effort became hopeless . The " Reno " was ordered to sink the " Princeton " with her own torpedoes . The " Princeton " was the last major U . S . Navy aircraft carrier ever to be sunk by an enemy attack . On 25 October , having rejoined the TF 38 , the " Reno " and the other warships steamed northwards to engage the Japanese Northern Force , setting off the Battle off Cape Engaño , which was the final engagement of the huge , multipart Battle for Leyte Gulf . On the night of 3 November , well east of the San Bernardino Strait , as part of Admiral Sherman ' s Group 3 of TG 38 . 2 , the " Reno " two torpedoes were fired on her port side by while the US carrier Lexington that she was escorting , took several torpedoes as well . One torpedo hung in the outer hull of the " Reno " and was later defused . The other torpedo hit and exploded four decks below topside . This was the first time in almost two years that a Japanese submarine successfully attacked a ship operating with fast carriers . Fortunately , casualties were light : 2 dead , 4 injured . After a night dead in the water , she survived yet another attempt to sink her by an unknown Japanese submarine firing 3 torpedoes that missed , but was rescued by a destroyer left behind to defend her . The " Reno " was towed 1 , 500 miles ( 2 , 400 km ) to the major American base at Ulithi Atoll for some temporary repairs by fleet tug USS Zuni ( ATF - 95 ) . During this 700 mile voyage , a crew of 242 remained aboard . A total of 1250 tons of seawater was pumped from flooded compartments , a feat noted favorably by Vice Admiral Charles McMorris in his November 1944 endorsement of " Reno ' s " report on the torpedoing . She then she steamed under her own power across the Pacific , through the Panama Canal , and then to the Navy Base at Charleston , S . C . , where she steamed to the Charleston Navy Yard on 22 March for heavy repairs . She only emerged seven months later , and then she was orderd to the Texas coast , and then back to Charleston for the addition of hundreds of bunk spaces . She reported for " Operation Magic Carpet , " in which she steamed twice to Le Havre , France returning with repatriated U . S . Army troops . In early 1946 , the " Reno " steamed to Port Angeles , Washington , where she was decommissioned on 4 November 1946 , and then entered the Pacific Reserve Fleet , berthed at Bremerton , Washington . Reclassified CLAA - 96 on 18 March 1949 , she remained at Bremerton until her name was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 March 1959 , and then her hulk was sold on 22 March 1962 to the Coal Export Co . , of New York City , for scrapping . One of the USS " Reno " ' s 5 inch gun turrets was kept for display at the U . S . Navy Museum , in eastern Washington , D . C . . Awards . " Reno " earned three battle star s for World War II service .