USS Portland ( CA - 33 ) USS " Portland " ( CA – 33 ) , the lead ship of her class of heavy cruiser , was the first ship of the United States Navy named after the city of Portland , Maine . Launched in 1932 , she saw a number of training and goodwill cruises in the interwar period . In World War II , she saw extensive service beginning at the 1942 Battle of Coral Sea , where she escorted the aircraft carrier and picked up survivors from the sunken carrier . She screened for " Yorktown " again in the Battle of Midway , picking up her survivors as well . She then supported the carrier during the initial phase of the Guadalcanal Campaign later that year , and was torpedoed during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal . The torpedo inflicted heavy damage which put her out of action for six months as she was repaired in Sydney , Australia and later San Diego , California . Returning to action in mid - 1943 , she saw action in many of the major campaigns of the Pacific War , conducting shore bombardment s in support of campaigns at the Aleutian Islands , Gilbert and Marshall Islands , Mariana Islands , and New Guinea . She was involved in the October 1944 Battle of Leyte Gulf , engaging Japanese ships in the decisive Battle of Surigao Strait . She then conducted shore bombardments at Lingayen Gulf and Corregidor Island , and in 1945 supported landings during the Battle of Okinawa until the end of the war . Following World War II , " Portland " accepted the Japanese surrender in the Caroline Islands and then undertook several Operation Magic Carpet cruises to bring U . S . troops home . She was decommissioned in 1946 and scrapped by 1962 . In her extensive service she accrued 16 battle stars , making her one of the most decorated ships in the U . S . fleet . Design and construction . " Portland " was the lead ship of the third class of " treaty cruiser s " to be constructed by the United States Navy following the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922 , following the two vessels of the " Pensacola " class ordered in 1926 and the six vessels of the " Northampton " class ordered in 1927 . Ordered for the U . S . Navy in Fiscal Year 1930 , " Portland " was originally designated as a light cruiser , and given the hull classification symbol CL - 33 , being re - designated a heavy cruiser with the symbol CA - 33 on 1 July 1931 , in accordance with the London Naval Treaty . " Portland " was in length overall , and long at the waterline . Abeam , and with a draft of , and maximum . She was designed for a standard displacement of , and a full - load displacement of . However , " Portland " only displaced when completed . In 1943 , a light tripod was added forward of the second funnel on the ship , and a prominent fire - control director was installed aft . Her four Parsons GT geared turbine s each drove a propeller shaft using steam provided by eight Yarrow boilers . " Portland " s power plant generated and she had a designed maximum speed of . The ship reached , however , on sea trials . She rolled badly until fitted with bilge keels . " Portland " was designed for a range of at . The ship was armed with a main battery of nine Mark 9 8 " / 55 caliber gun s arrayed in three triple mounts , a superfiring pair forward and one aft . She was armed with eight 5 " / 25 caliber gun s for anti - aircraft defense , and she also had two QF 3 pounder Hotchkiss saluting guns . In 1945 , her anti - aircraft defenses were upgraded , receiving twenty four Bofors 40 mm guns which were arranged in four quad mounts and four twin mounts . " Portland " was also upgraded with twelve Oerlikon 20 mm cannon s . She was originally designed with of armor for deck and side protection , but during construction her armor was increased . As completed , the ship was protected with of belt armor which increased to t around the magazines . Her armor was between and thick on the transverse bulkhead s , while armor on her main deck was thick . Armor on her barbette s was thick , armor on her gunhouse s was thick , and armor on her conning tower was thick . Additionally , the " Portland " - class cruisers were designed with space to be outfitted as fleet flagship s , with accommodations for an Admiral and his staff to operate . The class also featured an aircraft catapult amidships , and she could carry four aircraft which were stored in a hangar . Her total crew complement varied , with a regular designed crew complement of 848 , a wartime complement of 952 , and a complement 1 , 229 when the cruiser was operating as a fleet flagship . " Portland " was laid down by Bethlehem Steel at its Quincy Shipyard on 17 February 1930 . The machinery was provided by the builders . " Portland " was launched on 21 May 1932 and commissioned on 23 February 1933 . She was the first ship named for the city of Portland , Maine , and sponsored by the daughter of Ralph D . Brooks of Portland , and with Captain Herbert F . Leary as her first commander . Her sailors would later nickname her " Sweet Pea . " Service history . Departing Boston on 1 April 1933 , the cruiser arrived Gravesend Bay , New York late in the day on 3 April . The next evening , she was dispatched on her first assignment to the scene of the airship , which had crashed at sea . Thirty six minutes after receiving the message , she was underway and on route to the crash site . She was the first naval vessel on scene , and began coordinating the search and rescue effort with other ships arriving . In spite of her efforts , 73 were killed in the crash , including that of Admiral William Moffett , Chief of the Bureau of Aeronautics . " Portland " steamed from San Diego , California on 2 October 1935 along with , which was carrying President Franklin D . Roosevelt . The president spent much of his trip fishing with his party . After visiting Panama and several other ports , the two ships steamed to Charleston , South Carolina , where the President disembarked . " Portland " spend the remainder of the interwar era with the Scouting Force , Cruiser Division 5 and later in the United States Pacific Fleet conducting peacetime training and a number of goodwill missions . She crossed the equator for the first time on 20 May 1936 during fleet maneuvers . When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941 , " Portland " was two days away , en route to Midway Atoll as part of a carrier group escorting aircraft carrier . From December 1941 to 1 May 1942 , she operated between the West Coast , Hawaii , and Fiji on patrol . Battle of Coral Sea . " Portland " joined Task Force 17 ( TF 17 ) , commanded by Rear Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher and centered around the carrier escorted by " Portland " as well as cruisers and plus the destroyers , , , , , and and oiler and " Tippecanoe " . TF 17 departed Tongatabu on 27 April " en route " to the Coral Sea . On the morning of 1 May , TF 17 joined with Task Force 11 ( TF 11 ) about northwest of New Caledonia . TF 17 completed refueling the next day , but TF 11 reported that they would not be finished fueling until 4 May . Fletcher elected to take TF 17 northwest towards the Louisiades . At 17 : 00 on 3 May , Fletcher was notified that a force of Japanese troops had been sighted at Tulagi the day before , approaching the southern Solomons . TF 17 changed course and proceeded at towards Guadalcanal to launch airstrikes against the Japanese forces at Tulagi the next morning . On 4 May , from a position south of Guadalcanal ( ) , TF 17 launched airstrikes against Japanese forces off Tulagi After recovering its aircraft late in the evening of 4 May , TF17 retired towards the south . The next morning , TF 17 rendezvoused with TF 11 and Task Force 44 ( TF 44 ) at a predetermined point south of Guadalcanal ( ) . Prompted by reports the Japanese would attack Port Moresby , the force moved to the Louisiades to engage the Japanese the next day . " Portland " was assigned to Task Group 17 . 2 under Rear Admiral Thomas C . Kinkaid together with cruisers , , " Astoria " , " Chester " , and five destroyers from Destroyer Squadron One . She screened for " Yorktown " throughout the operation , including during Japanese air attacks on the two carriers on 8 May . Following the battle , she was to escort the damaged " Lexington " , but after fires on that carrier became uncontrollable she was abandoned and sunk . " Portland " took on 722 of her survivors . She suffered no casualties herself , though at least four of her sailors were transferred to the " Neosho " shortly before the battle and were lost when that ship was sunk . Battle of Midway . After brief repairs at Tongatabu , " Portland " took on a new commander , Captain Laurence DuBose . She then steamed for Pearl Harbor escorting " Yorktown " , before heading to Midway Atoll to set a trap for Japanese forces attacking there . On 4 June , after fighters from carriers " Yorktown " and had sunk three Japanese carriers , aircraft from Japanese carrier " Hiryū " responded with an attack on " Yorktown " that afternoon . " Portland " was to her port , providing anti - aircraft defense along with cruisers and . A Japanese air attack came at 14 : 00 and another after 16 : 30 , and " Yorktown " was struck several times with torpedoes . With increasing damage , the carrier was abandoned and its survivors picked up by five destroyers and then transferred to " Portland " . In all , 2 , 046 of " Yorktown " ' s crew transferred to the cruiser . She then steamed toward Pearl Harbor and met the submarine tender and transferred the " Yorktown " survivors aboard her on 6 June . During 7 June she searched for downed naval aviators and the next day joined the group of carrier . They steamed for the Aleutian Islands to counter a Japanese force there but were recalled to Pearl Harbor two days later . Guadalcanal campaign . " Portland " accompanied the invasion fleet to Guadalcanal , escorting " Enterprise " . She remained off the coast protecting the landings at Tulagi and Guadalcanal from 7 – 9 August . In this duty , she missed the Battle of Savo Island and withdrew two days later following " Enterprise " . She then remained in the area to support the Guadalcanal operations and to protect communications lines for the attacking forces . Remaining with " Enterprise " , she later participated in the Battle of the Eastern Solomons . On 24 August she was posted to air defense to the port of " Enterprise " , and though she and her sisters were able to down a number of Japanese aircraft , the carrier was hit at 18 : 34 . She continued to protect the carrier through 25 August , when Allied forces prevented reinforcement of Japanese units in the Solomons by a large naval armada under Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto . Following the battle she escorted " Enterprise " to Pearl Harbor and was then ordered on a secret mission to the Gilbert Islands to conduct a raid on Tarawa with light cruiser . She took aboard Rear Admiral Mahlon S . Tisdale and was designated Task Unit 16 . 9 . 1 . Between 14 : 10 and 14 : 51 on 15 October she attacked Japanese ships near the island , damaging a transport and a destroyer and suffering one damaged aircraft before she withdrew and rejoined the " Enterprise " task group near the Solomons . She then steamed south to take part in the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands as one of the escorts for " Enterprise " . The carrier came under heavy air attack at 10 : 12 on 24 October , and " Portland " suffered her first wartime damage as one of her guns exploded in firing and again when one of her AA guns depressed too low and damaged the splinter shield , injuring 19 officers and enlisted men . In heavy fighting " Enterprise " was hit once but " Portland " and the task group shot down several aircraft . At 11 : 53 the bridge lost control of steering , and before it could regain control , a Japanese submarine was spotted . The submarine struck " Portland " with three torpedoes , but all three did not detonate , likely because the submarine had fired too close and they had no time to arm . Two weeks later , she participated in the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal from 12 – 15 November , which resulted in heavy damage to both forces but broke up the determined Japanese effort to disrupt the landing of 6 , 000 American troops on Guadalcanal , to bombard Henderson Field , and to land 7 , 000 reinforcements of their own . At the outbreak of the battle , " Portland " was escorting a convoy traveling to Guadalcanal from New Caledonia as part of Task Force 67 . After a four - day journey they arrived and began to offload supplies on 12 November and were countered by a Japanese air attack of 46 aircraft . That night , she was among a force of five cruisers and two destroyers under Daniel J . Callaghan which steamed to counter an approaching Japanese force . They spotted a Japanese force of two battleships , one cruiser and eleven destroyers and immediately opened fire , sinking the Japanese destroyer " Akatsuki " . Shortly thereafter , " Portland " was struck by a torpedo fired by either the destroyer " Inazuma " or the destroyer " Ikazuchi " at 01 : 58 , causing heavy damage to her stern . The torpedo struck the starboard side , which blew off both inboard propellers , jammed the rudder five degrees to starboard , and jammed her Number Three turret in train and elevation . A four degree list was quickly corrected by shifting ballast , but the steering problem could not be overcome and the ship was forced to steam in circles to starboard . The blast disrupted her steering column , forcing her to steer in a circle . At the end of her first circle , she fired on , with her forward turrets . The Japanese ship returned fire , but all salvos passed over the cruiser . In the four six - gun salvos returned by " Portland " , she succeeded in starting fires in the Japanese ship . At dawn , she was one of three U . S . ships still too damaged to withdraw on her own power . Then again at 06 : 30 , still circling , " Portland " opened fire on the abandoned hulk of at a range of . After the sixth salvo , " Yudachi " exploded , rolled over , and sank within five minutes . She was eventually able to correct the steering problem and withdraw on her own power . She later received a Meritorious Unit Commendation for her actions in the battle . She suffered 18 killed , 17 wounded in the battle . With the assistance of Higgins boat s , a YP , and a tug , " Portland " anchored at Tulagi on 14 November . From there , she was towed to Sydney , Australia by the tugboat and escorted by the destroyers and for preliminary repairs prior to overhaul in the United States . She arrived at Sydney 30 November but did not enter drydock until 24 December after " Chester " and " New Orleans " were repaired . During this time the crew was given extended shore leave . Two of the ship ' s sailors died in accidents during this leave . She left Australia after preliminary repairs , escorted by destroyer . Following short stops at Samoa and Pearl Harbor , the ship arrived at Mare Island Navy Yard on 3 March 1943 . 1943 – 1944 . After operational training in southern Californian waters , " Portland " steamed for the Aleutians late in May , arriving on 11 June and bombarding Kiska on 26 July . After covering a reconnaissance landing on Little Kiska on 17 August , she called at Pearl Harbor on 23 September , there to San Francisco in early October , then back to Pearl Harbor in mid - October . From November 1943 to February 1944 , " Portland " participated in the Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign s . She bombarded Tarawa on 20 November supporting landings there for several days . She was lightly damaged by a friendly depth charge when a nearby destroyer erroneously detected a Japanese submarine . In December 1943 she moved to the Marshall Islands escorting the new " Essex " - class carrier . While " Lexington " came under air attack , none of the Japanese planes came within range of " Portland " and she did not open fire . She returned to Pearl Harbor on 25 December , and went into drydock to repair her rudder and propellers . After repairs , she joined Task Group 51 under Rear Admiral Harry W . Hill for an attack on Darrit , steaming for that island on 23 January and arriving 30 January . After shelling the island for 30 minutes , it was discovered no Japanese were ashore . She then moved to support operations on Eniwetok Atoll on 8 February , providing shore bombardment on Parry Island ahead of landings which took place on 19 February . She then screened carriers conducting airstrikes at Palau , Yap , Ulithi , and Woleai between 30 March and 1 April . She then joined with a carrier force assigned to cover the landings around Hollandia and Tanahmerah on New Guinea , which took place from 21 – 24 April . She steamed northward with the carrier force and struck Truk with five other cruisers and destroyers . " Portland " then bombarded Satawan in the Nomei Group . Following this series of operations , " Portland " returned to Mare Island for a more extensive overhaul , which was completed in August . She returned to the western Pacific for shore bombardments of Peleliu from 12 – 14 September . The cruiser supported the landing on Peleliu on 15 September , providing artillery to support the advance of Allied forces . She provided gunfire support at Peleliu through 29 September , and then steamed for Seeadler Harbor , Manus Island in the Admiralties . Battle of Leyte Gulf . " Portland " next joined Cruiser Division 4 for the next major campaign against the Philippines . She arrived off Leyte on 17 October , entering the Gulf the next day , and began two days of shore bombardments to prepare for the troop landings there . On the night of 24 October , a strong Japanese force consisting of two battleships , one heavy cruiser , and four destroyers headed for Surigao Strait with the apparent intent of raiding shipping in Leyte Gulf . The Japanese force advanced in rough column up the narrow strait during darkness , but was met with a large U . S . force of cruisers , destroyers and battleships , including " Portland " . She and her sisters steamed across the top of the strait , crossing the T of the Japanese force . The Japanese were first met by PT boat s , then in succession by three coordinated destroyer torpedo attacks , and finally by devastating gunfire from American battleships and cruisers disposed across the northern end of the strait . " Portland " took the under fire , scoring three hits on her at 04 : 02 , striking the compass platform and AA defense center . She continued firing on the " Mogami " for ten minutes She continued to fire on the stranded " Morigami " until 05 : 30 , striking several hits , including on the ship ' s bridge . The Battle of Surigao Strait was a decisive defeat for the Japanese force , with most of its ships being destroyed . 1945 . From 3 January to 1 March 1945 , " Portland " participated in the operations at Lingayen Gulf and Corregidor . Arriving off Lingayen Gulf on 5 January , and bombarding the vicinity of Cape Bolinao , she entered the Gulf the same day and commenced bombardment of the eastern shore but discontinued immediately when a large wave of Japanese " kamikaze " planes approached . " Portland " entered Manila Bay on 15 February , and bombarded the south shore of Corregidor in preparation for landings there . She returned to Leyte Gulf on 1 March for repairs and replenishment , having seen five months of continuous action . From 26 March to 20 April , she conducted shore bombardments of Okinawa in support of the Allied landings during the Okinawa campaign . " Portland " endured twenty - four air raids , shot down four Japanese aircraft , and assisted in downing two others . From 8 May to 17 June , she supported ground forces on Okinawa providing artillery support for ground forces , departing on 17 June for maintenance at Leyte before returning to Buckner Bay on 6 August , where she remained conducting shore bombardments until the end of the war . Post - war . With the termination of hostilities , " Portland " was designated flagship of Vice Admiral George D . Murray , Commander Mariana Islands , who was to accept the surrender of the Carolines . The ship steamed to Truk Atoll and there Murray , acting for Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz , accepted the formal capitulation of the senior Japanese military and civilian officials in ceremonies aboard " Portland " . She was then selected for Operation Magic Carpet duty , and returned to Pearl Harbor from 21 – 24 September embarking 600 troops for transportation to the United States . She crossed the Panama Canal on 8 October and arrived at Portland , Maine for Navy Day celebrations on 27 October . She then conducted two trans - Atlantic crossings in November and December , bringing troops home from the European Theater . She reported on 11 March 1946 to the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard for inactivation and assignment to the Reserve Fleet . She decommissioned at Philadelphia Navy Yard on 12 July 1946 and was maintained in the United States Reserve Fleet . She was struck from the Navy List on 1 March 1959 and sold to Union Mineral and Alloys Corp . in New York on 6 October . She was scrapped at Wainwright Shipyard in Panama City , Florida during 1961 and 1962 . Her tripod mast was preserved at Fort Allen Park , Portland . She received 16 battle star s for World War II service , making her among the highest decorated U . S . ships of the Second World War .