USS Pittsburgh ( CA - 72 ) The third USS " Pittsburgh " ( CA – 72 ) , originally named USS " Albany " ( CA - 72 ) , was a " Baltimore " - class heavy cruiser laid down on 3 February 1943 by the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation ' s Fore River Shipyard at Quincy , Massachusetts ; launched on 22 February 1944 , sponsored by Mrs Cornelius D . Scully , wife of the Mayor of Pittsburgh ; and commissioned at Boston on 10 October 1944 , Capt . John Edward Gingrich in command . Service history . World War II , 1944 – 1945 . " Pittsburgh " trained along the east coast and in the Caribbean until departing Boston on 13 January 1945 for duty in the Pacific . After calling in Panama and final gunnery exercises in the Hawaiians , she joined TF 58 at Ulithi on 13 February , assigned to TG 58 . 2 formed around the aircraft carrier . Iwo Jima . The force sortied on 10 February to prepare the way for the assault on Iwo Jima . Carrier air strikes against airfields near Tokyo on 16 and 17 February limited Japanese air response to the initial landings on 19 February . That day planes from " Pittsburgh ' s " group began direct support to Marines fighting to overcome fierce Japanese resistance on the island . Final strikes against Tokyo ' s environs on 25 February and 1 March against the Nansei Shoto completed this operation . The force sailed from Ulithi on 14 March to pound airfields and other military installations on Kyūshū on 18 March , and again the next day . The Japanese struck back at dawn on the 19th , with an air raid which set the carrier ablaze , her decks utter chaos and power lost . " Pittsburgh " dashed to the rescue at . After saving 34 men from the water , " Pittsburgh " , with the light cruiser , performed an outstanding feat of seamanship in getting a tow line on board the flaming carrier . " Pittsburgh " then began the agonizingly slow task of pulling the carrier to safety , as the flattop ' s crew struggled to restore power . Twice gunning off enemy air attacks attempting to finish " Franklin " , the cruiser continued her effort until noon , on 20 March when " Franklin " was able to cast off the tow and proceed , albeit slowly , under her own power . Capt . Gingrich had remained at the conn for 48 hours during the situation . Okinawa . Between 23 March and 27 April , " Pittsburgh " guarded the carriers as they first prepared for , then covered and supported , the invasion of Okinawa . Enemy airfields were interdicted , and the troops given direct aid from the carriers . " Pittsburgh " repelled enemy air attacks and launched her scout planes to rescue downed carrier pilots . After replenishing at Ulithi , the force sortied once more on 8 May to attack the Nansei Shoto and Southern Japan in the continuing fight for Okinawa . Damaged by a typhoon . On 4 June , " Pittsburgh " began to fight a typhoon which by early next day had increased to winds and waves . Shortly after her starboard scout plane had been lifted off its catapult and dashed onto the deck by the wind , " Pittsburgh ' s " second deck buckled , her bow structure thrust upward , and then wrenched free . Miraculously , not a man was lost . Now her crew ' s seamanship saved their own ship . Still fighting the storm , and maneuvering to avoid being rammed by the drifting bow - structure , " Pittsburgh " was held quarter - on to the seas by engine manipulations while the forward bulkhead was shored . After a seven - hour battle , the storm subsided , and " Pittsburgh " proceeded at to Guam arriving on 10 June . Her bow , nicknamed " McKeesport " ( a suburb of Pittsburgh ) , was later salvaged by the tug and brought into Guam . With a false bow , " Pittsburgh " left Guam on 24 June bound for Puget Sound Navy Yard , arriving 16 July . Still under repair at war ' s end , she was placed in commission in reserve on 12 March 1946 and decommissioned on 7 March 1947 . The typhoon damage also earned her the nickname " Longest Ship in the World " as literally thousands of miles separated the bow and stern . Atlantic and Mediterranean , 1951 – 1954 . As the Korean War called for a major restoration of naval strength , " Pittsburgh " recommissioned on 25 September 1951 , Capt . Preston V . Mercer in command . She sailed on 20 October for the Panama Canal , trained out of Guantanamo Bay , Cuba , and prepared at Norfolk for a tour of duty with the 6th Fleet for which she sailed on 11 February 1952 . Returning on 20 May , she joined in the Atlantic Fleet ' s schedule of exercises and special operations in the western Atlantic and Caribbean . During her second Mediterranean cruise , for which she sailed on 1 December , she flew the flag of Vice Admiral Jerauld Wright , Commander in Chief , Naval Forces Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean for a good - will cruise to the Indian Ocean in January 1953 . She returned to Norfolk in May for a major modernization overhaul , but rejoined the 6th Fleet at Gibraltar on 19 January 1954 . Once again she carried Admiral Wright to ports of the Indian Ocean during this cruise which ended with her return to Norfolk on 26 May . During the summer of 1954 , she engaged in further operations along the eastern seaboard and in the Caribbean . On 29 July 1954 , the " Pittsburgh " collided with another ship while sailing in the Saint Lawrence River . Damage to the hull was above the waterline and the holes were quickly repaired . Pacific , 1954 – 1956 . On 21 October 1954 , she passed through the Panama Canal to join the Pacific Fleet , with Long Beach her home port . She sailed almost at once for the Far East , calling at Pearl Harbor on 13 November and reaching Yokosuka on 26 November . She joined the 7th Fleet in exercises and to cover the Chinese Nationalist defense of the Tachen Islands and their evacuation of civilians and non - essential military personnel . Leaving Japan on 16 February 1955 , she resumed west coast operations until reporting at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard on 28 October for inactivation . Decommissioning and sale , 1956 – 1974 . " Pittsburgh " went into reserve 28 April 1956 , and decommissioned at Bremerton on 28 August 1956 . The ship remained there until stricken on 1 July 1973 and sold for scrap on 1 August 1974 , to Zidell Explorations Corp . , Portland , Oregon . Awards . " Pittsburgh " received two battle star s for World War II service .