USS Toledo ( CA - 133 ) USS " Toledo " ( CA - 133 ) was a " Baltimore " - class heavy cruiser of the United States Navy active during the Korean War . " Toledo " was laid down on 13 September 1943 at Camden , New Jersey , by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation , launched on 6 May 1945 , sponsored by Mrs Edward J . Moan , and commissioned at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard on 27 October 1946 , Captain August J . Detzer , Jr . , in command . Service history . 1947 . On 6 January 1947 , the heavy cruiser got underway for a two - month training cruise in the waters of the West Indies . After completing shakedown training out of Guantanamo Bay , she visited St . Thomas in the U . S . Virgin Islands ; Kingston , Jamaica ; and Port - au - Prince , Haiti , before returning north to Philadelphia and a three - week post - shakedown availability . On 14 April , she departed Philadelphia and shaped a course across the Atlantic . " Toledo " steamed through the Mediterranean , transited the Suez Canal , crossed the Indian Ocean , and arrived at Yokosuka , Japan , on 15 June . " Toledo " remained in the Far East visiting Japanese and Korean ports in support of occupation forces until October . On the 21st , she stood out of Yokosuka for her first transpacific voyage and steamed via Pearl Harbor to Long Beach , California , where she arrived on 5 November . 1948 . On 3 April 1948 , she departed Long Beach in company with the heavy cruiser and shaped a course for Japan . She arrived in Yokosuka on the 24th and began her second tour of occupation duty patrolling for contraband smugglers . Later that spring , the cruiser made a goodwill cruise to the Indian Ocean during which she stopped at Karachi , Pakistan ; Singapore , Malaya ; Trincomalee , Ceylon ; and Bombay , India . After her return to the northwestern Pacific in early summer , " Toledo " operated out of Tsingtao , China , during the evacuation of Chiang Kai - shek ' s Nationalist Chinese forces to Taiwan . On 16 September , the warship departed the China coast and headed for Bremerton , Washington , entering the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard on 5 October for her first major overhaul . 1949 – 1950 . The cruiser ' s refurbishing was completed on 18 February 1949 ; and she headed back to Long Beach for six months of training along the coasts of California , Mexico , and the Isthmus of Panama . Among other exercises , she participated in Operation Miki , a simulated air - sea assault on Pearl Harbor . On 14 October , " Toledo " stood out of Long Beach to resume duty in the Far East . For eight months , she cruised the waters between Japan , China , the Philippines , and the Marianas . " Toledo " returned to Long Beach on 12 June 1950 , less than two weeks before North Korean forces invaded the Republic of Korea ( ROK ) , beginning the Korean War . Ten days later , " Toledo " pointed her bow west once more and embarked upon her fourth cruise to the Orient and her first tour of combat duty . Korean War . 1950 . " Toledo " made a brief stop at Pearl Harbor en route and continued on to Sasebo , where Rear Admiral J . M . Higgins , Commander , Cruiser Division 5 , broke his flag in her on 18 July 1950 . Eight days later , the cruiser took up station off the eastern coast of Korea a few miles north of Pohang , near Yongdok . She teamed up with Destroyer Division 91 to form one of the two alternating East Coast Support Elements of Task Group 95 . 5 . From 27 July to 30 July , " Toledo " , , and bombarded North Korean communication arteries which started at Yongdok and ran north between the mountains and the sea to the 38th parallel north . On 4 August , the task element joined Air Force fighters in a combined air - sea strike on an enemy - held village near Yongdok . The following day , her 8 inch guns , directed by airborne controllers , rendered call - fire for the front - line troops . " Toledo " then moved some 70 miles north to the area around Samchok where she cruised along a 25 - mile stretch of coastline and shelled a number of targets . During that interdiction run , she demolished a bridge , chewed up highway intersections , and generally wreaked havoc on communist supply lines . On the 6th , " Helena " relieved " Toledo " , enabling her to return to Sasebo for upkeep . The warship resumed station off the Korean coast on 15 August and operated with , " Mansfield " , " Collett " , and along a 40 - mile length of coast from Songjin south to Riwon . After a number of bombardment missions , she returned to Sasebo again on the 26th and remained there until 31 August when she headed for a week of duty off Pohang Dong . " Toledo ' s " next important mission was the landing at Inchon in mid - September . The heavily armed and fortified island of Wolmi - do — located in the harbor — threatened the success of the operation . Therefore , " Toledo " and her previous consorts — augmented by , , and Royal Navy light cruiser s , and — entered the harbor to silence the island ' s guns on 13 September . The destroyers led the way through the mine - infested channel and moved in close to draw enemy fire while the cruisers stood off waiting for the North Koreans to betray their positions . By early afternoon , the artillery duel had begun ; and the enemy suffered most . That evening , the cruisers and destroyers retired for the night . They returned the next day to finish the job . Then , after two days of preparatory bombardment , marines of the 3rd Battalion Landing Team , 5th Marines , stormed Wolmi - do ' s defenses . Meanwhile , " Toledo " redirected her fire to support the 1st Marines who were about to land on " Blue Beach " just south of Inchon proper . After reportedly destroying three gun emplacements and a number of machine gun nests , closing two tunnels , hitting trenches and mortar positions , " Toledo " retired for the night at 1525 . " Toledo " continued fire - support missions until early October . However , after the 18th , the marines had advanced beyond the range of her 8 inch guns ; and " Toledo " shifted to support troops mopping up bypassed pockets of enemy resistance . On 5 October , she departed the area and steamed for Sasebo . The cruiser returned to the Korean coast at Chaho Han on 13 October , conducted shore bombardments in preparation for the amphibious operation at Wonsan , and reentered Sasebo the following day . The warship got underway again a little before midnight on the 18th and arrived off Wonsan early the next morning . For the next three days , she supported the marines during their advance inland from Wonsan . On 22 October , " Toledo " departed Korea and , after stops at Sasebo and Yokosuka , headed for the United States on the 27th . Steaming via Pearl Harbor , she arrived in Long Beach on 8 November and remained there until the 13th when she headed for San Francisco . The following day , she entered the Hunter ' s Point Naval Shipyard and began a three - month overhaul . 1951 . Refurbishment completed , " Toledo " left the yard on 24 February 1951 and returned to Long Beach the next evening . Following a round - trip voyage to San Diego , the warship weighed anchor on 2 April to return to the western Pacific . She stopped over at Pearl Harbor from the 7th to the 9th and then continued on to Sasebo , where she arrived on the 18th . " Toledo " began her second tour of duty in the Korean combat zone on 26 April . For the next month , she cruised off the coast near Inchon where she provided gunfire support for the front - line troops of the US I Corps , guarding the Han River line during the communist spring offensive of 1951 . Throughout that month , however , the enemy generally remained well beyond the river , out of range of the cruiser ' s 8 inch battery . On 26 May , she steamed north to Kansong and joined Task Element 95 . 28 to conduct an interdiction bombardment of the area . Then , between 28 May and 30 May , the enemy did venture close enough to the Han to allow " Toledo " to bring her main battery to bear , but only at extreme range . The cruiser spent the first 10 days of June at Yokosuka ; then returned to the Korean coast on the 12th . On 18 June , she teamed up with and to pummel the important enemy logistics junction located at Songjin . The warship made a brief visit to Sasebo before heading back to Wonsan where , on the 27th , she joined in shelling the enemy ashore . The following evening , she endured her first hostile fire when shore batteries opened up on the cruiser and came dangerously close on several occasions . " Toledo ' s " tour of duty along the eastern coast of Korea lasted until late November . She bombarded Wonsan , Songjin , and Chongjin and rescued several downed pilots — one , from , twice . Late in October , her guns supported the 1st Marine Division in operations near Kansong . While conducting a shore bombardment on 11 November , she again came under fire from an enemy shore battery which scored some close near misses . On 24 November , " Toledo " completed her deployment to the western Pacific and stood out of Yokosuka to return to the United States . After a pause at Pearl Harbor from 1 to 3 December , she continued on to Long Beach , where she arrived on the 8th . 1952 . In January 1952 , after a month of leave and upkeep , " Toledo " began seven months of duty operating out of Long Beach , conducting drills and training exercises along the west coast of the United States until mid - August . On 16 August , the cruiser stood out of Long Beach to return to the western Pacific . After the customary stop at Pearl Harbor , she arrived in Yokosuka on 8 September . " Toledo " embarked upon her third combat tour along the coast of Korea on 12 September when she stood out of Yokosuka . During the latter part of the month , her 8 inch guns aided the American X Corps and the ROK I Corps . She supported the United Nations forces ' limited offensives and holding actions while armistice talks dragged on . Periodically , she cleared that area to participate in gun strikes near Wonsan and in coastal patrols . On 24 September , she was called upon to provide continuous illumination fire and to silence an enemy 120 millimeter howitzer while United Nations forces recaptured positions recently lost to the communists . She made an overnight port call at Sasebo on the 29th and 30th , visited the Bonin Islands from 2 through 4 October , and stopped at Yokosuka on the 5th and 6th , before taking up station on the bombline once more on the 8th . On 11 October , she joined the carriers of TF 77 and , for the next three months , alternated frequently between that duty and shore bombardment assignments . On 12 October , an enemy 75 millimeter gun managed to straddle her with eight rounds before 48 rounds from her 5 inch battery silenced it . Just before 0200 on the 14th , a gun opened fire from the same spot , scoring three near misses but no hits . Other than those instances and some long - range snooping by MiG 15 ' s , little action came " Toledo ' s " way during her third and final Korean War deployment . 1953 . In mid - January 1953 , she visited Hong Kong for rest and relaxation before resuming patrols off Wonsan and Songjin and fire support duties for the American X and ROK I Corps . On 28 February 1953 , " Toledo " departed Yokosuka and shaped a course for the United States . Following an overnight stop at Oahu on the night of 10 March and 11 March , the cruiser moored at Long Beach on St . Patrick ' s Day , 1953 . She departed Long Beach on 13 April and , after a two - day call at San Diego , arrived in San Francisco on the 16th . There , she entered the Hunter ' s Point Naval Shipyard for a five - month overhaul . " Toledo " was still undergoing repairs when hostilities in Korea ended with the armistice of 27 July 1953 . She departed San Francisco on 10 September and , after operations along the coast , headed for Pearl Harbor on 20 October . The cruiser reached Yokosuka on 7 November and began her seventh deployment to the Far East . Though the Korean War had ended the previous summer , American forces continued to patrol the waters along the Korean peninsula ; and " Toledo " joined them in the endeavor . In fact , she spent the next six months operating out of Sasebo and Yokosuka in the waters between Japan and Korea and in the East China Sea . She visited Pusan , Inchon , and Pohang as well as Okinawa and Hong Kong . In addition to patrolling the neutral waters off the Korean coast , she periodically conducted exercises with the carriers of TF 77 . 1954 – 1955 . On 13 April 1954 , the warship entered Yokosuka for upkeep following exercises in the Sea of Japan and preparatory to her return home . Three days later , she began her transpacific passage . She made the usual call at Pearl Harbor and tied up at Long Beach on May Day . With one notable exception , " Toledo ' s " eighth deployment to the Far East set the pattern for all those to follow . After almost five months of normal operations along the western coast of the United States , the cruiser cleared Long Beach on 14 September . She stopped at Pearl Harbor on the 21st for five days of rest and relaxation and then continued her voyage to Yokosuka where she arrived on 7 November . For the most part , her deployment consisted of training operations , goodwill calls at a number of ports , and general patrol and show - the - flag duties . During this tour of duty , she visited Hong Kong , Kobe , Nagasaki , Beppu , Subic Bay , and Manila . The single exception to this peaceful routine came in January 1955 . " Toledo " joined TF 77 in the waters between Taiwan and the communist Chinese mainland to support another evacuation of Nationalist Chinese forces — this time from the Tachen Islands . She took station about 1 , 500 yards off the islands as flagship of the naval gunfire support group . Throughout the operation , she and the other units of the group provided close - in support for the amphibious craft engaged in the actual evacuation . At the completion of that operation , the cruiser resumed the duties which became her normal Far Eastern routine . On 5 March 1955 , she departed Japan in company with to return to the United States and arrived in Long Beach 17 days later . She conducted operations along the west coast until 16 June when she began a four - month overhaul at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton . The cruiser resumed duty late in October and cruised the west coast until early in 1956 . 1956 – 1959 . " Toledo ' s " active Navy career lasted four more years . During that period , she made four more deployments to the western Pacific . All save one consisted of routine operations , conducted out of bases in Japan and in the Philippines . The one exception came early in 1958 . The cruiser cleared the west coast on 19 February and reached Japan early in March . However , after visiting Sasebo and Yokosuka , she headed south to Australia rather than to normal 7th Fleet operations . She reached Sydney on 30 April and remained there for five days as a guest of the Australian government during the 25th anniversary celebration of the Battle of the Coral Sea . After Sydney , " Toledo " also visited Melbourne before returning north to Japan via Okinawa to resume 7th Fleet operations . The deployment ended on 26 August 1958 when " Toledo " steamed back into Long Beach . The warship made one more deployment to the western Pacific between 9 June and 25 November 1959 . Decommissioning and scrapping . On 5 January 1960 , she entered Long Beach Naval Shipyard to begin inactivation overhaul . " Toledo " completed preparations and was placed out of commission at Long Beach on 21 May 1960 . She was moved to San Diego soon thereafter and remained there , in reserve , for the next 14 years . On 1 January 1974 , her name was struck from the Navy List , and she was sold to the National Metal and Steel Corporation , Terminal Island , California , on 30 October 1974 for $ 983 , 461 . 29 . Honors and awards . " Toledo " earned five battle star s for service during the Korean War .