USS Memphis ( CL - 13 ) USS " Memphis " ( CL - 13 ) was an " Omaha " - class light cruiser of the United States Navy . She was the fourth Navy ship named for the city of Memphis , Tennessee . " Memphis " was laid down by William Cramp and Sons , Philadelphia , Pennsylvania on 14 October 1920 ; launched on 17 April 1924 , sponsored by Miss Elizabeth R . Paine , daughter of Mayor Rowlett Paine of Memphis ; and commissioned at the Philadelphia Navy Yard on 4 February 1925 , Captain Henry E . Lackey in command . Inter - war period . Late in February , " Memphis " got underway for a shakedown cruise in the Caribbean . On 13 April , the cruiser participated in the dedication of an American memorial gateway to Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry at Port of Spain , Trinidad . Six years after the indomitable Perry had defeated the British on Lake Erie on 10 September 1813 , he died on board frigate " John Adams " at Port – of – Spain and was interred there until his remains were removed to Newport , R . I . seven years later . In June , " Memphis " joined ships of a scouting fleet off Honolulu , Hawaii , for a cruise to theSouth Pacific through September , with visits to Australia and New Zealand . From October 1925 to April 1926 , she again operated in the West Indies before returning to her home port , New York City . " Memphis " next sailed for Europe , arriving off St . Nazaire , France on 26 June 1926 and relieved as the flagship of Commander , US Naval Forces in Europe on 4 July . The new Commander , US Naval Forces in Europe was Vice - Admiral Guy Burrage . Vice - Admiral Burrage served as Commander , US Naval Forces in Europe from 1926 to 1928 . The " Memphis " operated in European waters into 1927 . During a stay at Santander , Spain from 31 July to 31 August 1926 , the ship was visited by King Alfonso XIII . On 3 June 1927 , " Memphis " embarked Captain Charles A . Lindbergh and his plane at Southampton , England , following his nonstop flight from New York to Paris . The next day the cruiser departed Cherbourg , France , arriving Washington , D . C . on 11 June to debark her famous passenger at the Washington Navy Yard . For the rest of the year she performed surveillance duty along the Atlantic coast . In January 1928 , " Memphis " acted as part of an escort group for President Calvin Coolidge on a cruise to the West Indies . After four months of Caribbean operations , she served in the eastern Pacific . On 5 June , the cruiser arrived at Balboa , Canal Zone for duty off Central America to May 1933 . " Memphis " operated in a peacekeeping capacity at Corinto , Nicaragua , during the inauguration of President Juan Bautista Sacasa in 1932 . In the next five years she alternated duty along the west coast with patrols to the troubled area of the West Indies . After a good will cruise to Australia in January 1938 , " Memphis " reached Honolulu on 1 April to rejoin the fleet for operations until she participated in the presidential review off San Francisco on 12 July 1939 . In August , she sailed to Alaska , operating there until early 1941 . World War II . As the time of US involvement in World War II approached , " Memphis " sailed to the east coast . She departed Newport on 24 April 1941 to take part in the neutrality patrol of the ocean triangle Trinidad – Cape San Roque – Cape Verde Islands , arriving Recife , Brazil on 10 May . She continued operations in the South Atlantic for most of the war . In March 1942 , the ship escorted two Army transports in convoy to Ascension Island , where the Army ' s 38th Engineer General Service Regiment debarked to construct an airport as staging point for planes flying from the United States to Africa . By May , she was on patrol near the entrance to Fort - de - France , Martinique . In January 1943 , the cruiser flew President Franklin Delano Roosevelt ' s flag off Bathurst , Gambia , during the Casablanca Conference from 14 – 24 January . The President and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill outlined plans at that time for the invasion of Sicily and Italy . From February – September , " Memphis " was once more on patrol duty against blockade runners , mostly off Bahia and Recife , Brazil . President Amenzoga of Uruguay , and President Getúlio Vargas of Brazil toured the ship in January 1944 while their countries continued to give valuable aid in blockading the " Atlantic Narrows " . The following year " Memphis " sailed for Europe , arriving Naples , Italy on 16 January 1945 . On the 27th , as flagship for Admiral Harold R . Stark , Commander , US Naval Forces in Europe , she got underway for Valletta , Malta , scene of preliminary Allied conferences prior to the Yalta Conference in February . Before the end of January the cruiser had two important visitors : Fleet Admiral Ernest J . King and General of the Army George C . Marshall . On 18 February , " Memphis " arrived at Algiers for President Roosevelt ' s last Allied conference before his return to the United States . For the next eight months , she continued to receive distinguished leaders . She participated in the first anniversary ceremonies of the Allied landings at St . Raphael and St . Tropez , southern France on 15 August and the Navy Day festivities at Naples , Italy on 27 October . Late in November , " Memphis " departed Tangier for Philadelphia , Pa . , where she decommissioned on 17 December . She was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 8 January 1946 and sold to Patapsco Scrap Co . , Bethlehem , Pa . on 18 December for scrapping following delivery on 10 January 1947 .