USS Philadelphia ( CL - 41 ) USS " Philadelphia " ( CL - 41 ) , a " Brooklyn " class light cruiser of the United States Navy . She was the fifth ship named for Philadelphia , Pennsylvania . In the 1950s , she was commissioned into the Brazilian Navy as Almirante Barroso . " Philadelphia " was laid down on 28 May 1935 at the Philadelphia Navy Yard ; launched on 17 November 1936 ; sponsored by Mrs . George H . Earle , first lady of Pennsylvania ; and commissioned at Philadelphia on 23 September 1937 , Captain Jules James in command . United States Navy . Inter - war period . After fitting out , the cruiser departed Philadelphia on 3 January 1938 for shakedown in the West Indies followed by additional alterations at Philadelphia and further sea trials off the Maine coast . " Philadelphia " called at Charleston , South Carolina on 30 April and hosted President Franklin Delano Roosevelt the first week of May for a cruise in Caribbean waters . The President debarked at Charleston on 8 May , and " Philadelphia " resumed operations with Cruiser Division 8 ( CruDiv 8 ) off the Atlantic coast . She was designated flagship of Rear Admiral F . A . Todd , Commander CruDiv 8 ( ComCruDiv 8 ) , Battle Force on 27 June . In the following months , she called at principal ports of the West Indies , and at New York , Boston , and Norfolk , Virginia . Transiting the Panama Canal on 1 June 1939 , " Philadelphia " joined CruDiv 8 in San Pedro , California on 18 June for Pacific coastal operations . She departed Los Angeles , California on 2 April 1940 for Pearl Harbor , where she engaged in fleet maneuvers until May 1941 . In September 1940 , fifteen of the ship ' s African American mess men wrote an open letter to a newspaper protesting the treatment of African Americans in the Navy . " We sincerely hope to discourage any other colored boys who might have planned to join the Navy and make the same mistake we did . All they would become is seagoing bell hops , chambermaids and dishwashers , " they wrote . On publication of the letter , the fifteen were confined to the brig . They were later dishonorably discharged . The incident drew protests from hundreds of mess men on other ships as well as anger in the African American community , and led to a series of meetings between Roosevelt and NAACP leaders A . Philip Randolph and Walter White to discuss partial desegregation of the armed forces . " Philadelphia " stood out of Pearl Harbor on 22 May 1941 to resume Atlantic operations , arriving Boston on 18 June . At this point , she commenced Neutrality Patrol operations , steaming as far south as Bermuda and as far north as Halifax , Nova Scotia . She entered Boston Navy Yard on 25 November for upkeep , and was in repair status there when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor . World War II . 1942 . 11 days after the Japanese attack , " Philadelphia " steamed for exercises in Casco Bay , after which she joined two destroyers for anti - submarine patrol to NS Argentia , Newfoundland . Returning to New York on 14 February 1942 , she made two escort runs to Hafnarfjörður , Iceland . She then joined units of Task Force 22 ( TF 22 ) at Norfolk on 16 May , departing two days later for an anti - submarine warfare sweep to the Panama Canal . She then returned to New York , only to depart on 1 July as an escort unit for a convoy bound for Greenock , Scotland . The middle of August found her escorting a second convoy to Greenock . Returning to Norfolk on 15 September , she joined Rear Admiral H . Kent Hewitt ’ s Western Naval Task Force . This force was to land some 35 , 000 troops and 250 tanks of General George Patton ' s Western Task Force at three different points on the Atlantic coast of French Morocco . " Philadelphia " became flagship of Rear Admiral Lyal A . Davidson , commanding the Southern Attack Group . which was to carry 6 , 423 troops under Major General Ernest N . Harmon , with 108 tanks , to the landing at Safi , Morocco , about 140 mi ( 220 km ) south of Casablanca . " Philadelphia " s task group departed Norfolk on 24 October and set course as if bound for the British Isles . The entire Western Naval Task Force , consisting of 102 ships and spanning an ocean area some 20 × 40 mi ( 30 × 60 km ) , combined off Cape Race on 28 October . It was the greatest war fleet sent forth by the United States at the time . The task force swept northward on 6 November , thence changed course toward the Straits of Gibraltar . But after dark , a southeasterly course was plotted towards Casablanca , and shortly before midnight on 7 November , three separate task groups closed three different points on the Moroccan coast . " Philadelphia " took up its fire support station as the transports offloaded troops in the early morning darkness of 8 November . Shore batteries opened fire at 0428 , and within two minutes " Philadelphia " joined in bombardment of " Batterie Railleuse " which , with four 6 in ( 130 mm ) guns , was the strongest defense unit in the Safi area . Later in the morning , " Philadelphia " bombarded a battery of three guns about 3 mi ( 5 km ) south of Safi . Spotter planes from the cruiser also got into the act by flying close support missions . One of " Philadelphia " s aircraft discovered and bombed a Vichy French submarine on 9 November in the vicinity of Cape Kantin . The next day , the Vichy submarine " Medeuse " , one of eight that had sortied from Casablanca , was sighted down by the stern and listing badly to port , beached at Mazagan , north of Cape Blanco . Thought to be the same submarine previously attacked off Cape Kantin , " Medeuse " was again spotted by a plane from " Philadelphia " and was subsequently bombed . 1943 . Departing Safi on 13 November , " Philadelphia " returned to New York on 24 November . Operating from that port until 11 March 1943 , she assisted in escorting two convoys to Casablanca . She then joined Rear Admiral Alan G . Kirk ’ s TF 85 for training in Chesapeake Bay preparatory to the invasion of Sicily . A convoy escorted by Philadelphia and nine destroyers sortied from Norfolk on 8 June and arrived Oran , Algeria on 22 June , where final invasion staging operations took place . The convoy stood out from Oran on 5 July , and arrived off the beaches of Scoglitti , Sicily shortly before midnight of 9 July . " Philadelphia " assisted in furnishing covering bombardment as the troops of Major General Troy Middleton ’ s 45th Infantry Division stormed ashore . By 15 July , she had joined the gunfire support group off Porto Empedocle , where her guns were put to good use . " Philadelphia " took departure from her gunfire support area on 19 July and steamed to Algiers , where she became flagship of Rear Admiral L . A . Davidson ’ s Support Force . This TF 88 was formed on 27 July and given the mission of the defense of Palermo , gunfire support to the Seventh Army ’ s advance along the coast , provision of amphibious craft for " leap frog " landings behind enemy lines , and ferry duty for heavy artillery , supplies , and vehicles to relieve congestion on the railway and the single coastal road . " Philadelphia " , , and six destroyers entered the harbor at Palermo on 30 July and the next day commenced bombardment of the batteries near San Stefano di Camatra . Action in the area of Palermo continued until 21 August , when " Philadelphia " steamed for Algiers . During her operations in support of the invasion of Sicily , the cruiser had provided extensive gunfire support and , in beating off several hostile air attacks , had splashed a total of six aircraft . She touched at Oran , departing on 5 September " en route " to Salerno . Her convoy entered the Gulf of Salerno a few hours before midnight of 8 September 1943 . " Philadelphia " s real work began off the Salerno beaches at 0943 the next day , when she commenced shore bombardment . When one of her scouting planes spotted 35 German tanks concealed in a thicket adjacent to Red Beach , " Philadelphia " s guns took them under fire and destroyed seven of them before they escaped to the rear . " Philadelphia " narrowly evaded a glide bomb on 11 September , although several of her crew were injured when the bomb exploded . While bombarding targets off Aropoli on 15 September , the cruiser downed one of 12 attacking planes and assisted in driving off a second air attack the same day in the vicinity of Altavilla . She downed two more hostile aircraft on 17 September and cleared the gunfire support area that night , bound for Bizerte , Tunisia . After upkeep at Gibraltar , " Philadelphia " departed Oran , Algeria on 6 November as part of the escort for a convoy which arrived at Hampton Roads on 21 November . 1944 . " Philadelphia " underwent overhaul at New York and then engaged in refresher training in Chesapeake waters until 19 January 1944 , when she steamed from Norfolk as an escorting unit for a convoy arriving Oran , Algeria on 30 January . " Philadelphia " joined the gunfire support ships off Anzio on 14 February and provided support for the advancing ground troops through 23 May . On this same day she collided with the USS Laub ( DD - 613 ) . She then sailed to the British naval yard at Malta where repairs to her bow were affected . After overhaul at Malta , she joined Admiral C . F . Bryant ’ s Task Group 85 . 12 ( TG 85 . 12 ) at Taranto , Italy . The cruiser served as one of the escorting units for the group , which reached the Gulf of Saint - Tropez , France on 15 August . At 0640 , she teamed with and and , with other support ships , they closed the beaches and provided counter - battery fire . By 0815 , the bombardment had destroyed enemy defenses and Major General William W . Eagles ’ famed " Thunderbirds " of the 45th Army Infantry Division landed without opposition . After replenishing ammunition at Propriano , Corsica on 17 August , " Philadelphia " provided gunfire support to the French army troops on the western outskirts of Toulon . Four days later , her commanding officer , Captain Walter A . Ansel , accepted the surrender of the fortress islands of Pomeques , Château d ' If , and Ratonneau in the Bay of Marseilles . After gunfire support missions off Nice , she departed Naples on 20 October and returned to Philadelphia , Pa . , arriving on 6 November . 1945 . Philadelphia underwent overhaul at the Philadelphia Navy Yard and then refresher training in the West Indies , returning to Norfolk , Virginia on 4 June 1945 . She steamed for Antwerp , Belgium on 7 July , acting as escort for which had embarked President Harry S . Truman and his party , including Secretary of State James F . Byrnes and Fleet Admiral William D . Leahy . Arriving Antwerp on 15 July , the President departed " Augusta " and was flown to the Potsdam Conference . Before the conference ended , " Philadelphia " proceeded to Plymouth , England to await return of the President . On 2 August , " Philadelphia " rendered honors to King George VI , who visited President Truman aboard " Augusta " . The ships departed that same day and Philadelphia arrived Norfolk , Virginia on 7 August . Post - war . " Philadelphia " stood out of Narragansett Bay for Southampton , England on 6 September , returning on 25 September as escort for the former German liner " Europa " . After operations in Narragansett Bay and in Chesapeake Bay , she arrived Philadelphia on 26 October . Steaming for Le Havre , France on 14 November , she embarked Army passengers for the return to New York on 29 November . She made another " Magic Carpet " run from New York to Le Havre and return from 5 to 25 December , and arrived at Philadelphia for inactivation on 9 January 1946 . Brazilian Navy . " Philadelphia " decommissioned in the Philadelphia Navy Yard on 3 February 1947 . Struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 9 January 1951 , she was sold to the government of Brazil under terms of the Mutual Defense Assistance Program . She served in the Brazilian Navy under the name " Barroso " ( C – 11 ) and was scrapped in 1973 . Awards . " Philadelphia " received five battle star s for World War II operations .