USS Cincinnati ( CL - 6 ) The american cruiser Cincinnati was part of the cruiser division 13 as of 1941 . USS " Cincinnati " ( CL - 6 ) , a light cruiser of the United States Navy , was the third ship of the four - stack " Omaha " - class . She was the third Navy ship named for the city of Cincinnati , Ohio . " Cincinnati " was built by Todd Dry Dock and Construction Co . , Tacoma , Wash . , where her keel was laid on 15 May 1920 ; Launched on 23 May 1921 by Seattle Construction & Drydock Co . , Seattle , Wash . , the cruiser was christened by Mrs . Charles E . Tudor , wife of the Director of Safety of Cincinnati , Ohio , having been designated by the Honorable John Galvin , Mayor of Cincinnati ; and commissioned 1 January 1924 , Captain Charles P . Nelson in command . Inter - war period . After a shakedown cruise off South America , " Cincinnati " joined the Scouting Fleet in June 1924 , for operations along the Atlantic coast and in the Caribbean . With this force , she joined in fleet maneuvers in the Pacific and off the Panama Canal Zone in spring 1925 , then resumed Atlantic and Caribbean operations until early in 1927 . On 17 February 1927 , " Cincinnati " sailed from Balboa , C . Z . , for duty in the Far East , based at Shanghai until October , then at Manila , and again at Shanghai from February – April 1928 . On the long cruise home to the east coast , she joined in exercises off Oahu and , carried men from Honolulu to Corinto , Nicaragua , returning to Newport , R . I . on 25 July , for operations on the east coast until 1932 . Early in 1932 , she joined the Battle Force , US Fleet , in the Pacific , taking part in the Fleet ' s cruise to the east coast from April – July 1934 for the Presidential Review of 31 May at New York . Returning to the west coast , she operated on summer training cruises for naval reservists from 1935 to 1938 , then was reassigned to Atlantic duty during 1939 . World War II . " Cincinnati " was based at Pearl Harbor from April 1940 , voyaging to Guam and the Philippines on transport duty at the close of that year . In March 1941 , she returned to the Atlantic , and joined in the ever - expanding patrol operations in the western Atlantic . Upon the outbreak of war , she continued patrols and convoy escort assignments in the western Atlantic and Caribbean , blockading French men - of - war at Martinique , and searching for German blockade runners . With and , " Cincinnati " discovered one of these , , on 21 November 1942 . The German crew scuttled their ship , but a boarding party reached the ship in time to discover its identity and take all 62 crew members prisoners before the blockade runner sank . Overhauled at New York early in 1944 , " Cincinnati " served as escort flagship for the crossing of three convoys from New York to Belfast from March – July , guarding the passage of men and equipment essential to the invasion of Europe . On 28 July , she sailed from Norfolk to patrol the Western Mediterranean during the time of the assault on Southern France , and returned to New York on 9 September . After overhaul , she joined the 4th Fleet at Recife , Brazil on 17 November , and patrolled South Atlantic shipping lanes until the close of the European phase of the war . In the summer of 1945 , " Cincinnati " carried midshipmen on two training cruises , and on 29 September arrived at Philadelphia , where she was decommissioned 1 November 1945 and scrapped on 27 February 1946 . The ship ' s bell is in the lobby of the main branch of the Cincinnati Public Library References . For film of the USS " Cincinnati " , see the 1937 film , " Submarine D - 1 " .