| USS Biloxi (CL-80) underway during her shakedown cruise. She is painted in Measure 21 (overall Navy Blue) camouflage. USS Biloxi was a Cleveland-class light cruiser of the United States Navy. The class was designed as a development of the earlier Brooklyn-class cruisers, the size of which had been limited by the 1st London Naval Treaty. The start of the war led to the dissolution of the treaty system, but the dramatic need for new vessels precluded a new design, so the Clevelands used the same hull as their predecessors, but were significantly heavier. The Clevelands carried a main battery of 18-inch (152 millimter)/47 caliber guns in 7-gun turrets, along with a secondary armament of 17-inch (127 milimeter)/38 caliber dual-purpose guns. They had a top speed of 32.5 knots (60.2 kilometers an hour; 37.4 miles per hour). The ship was laid down on July 9, 1941, at Newport News, Virginia, by the Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co. and launched on February 23, 1943, sponsored by Mrs. Katharine G. “Kate” Jones Braun (September 16, 1892 – February 23, 1983), wife of the Mayor of Biloxi. USS Biloxi was commissioned at the Norfolk Navy Yard on August 31, 1943, with Captain Daniel M. McGurl (October 2, 1896 – April 17, 1976) in command. The ship reached Trinidad on October 3, and Biloxi began a series of intensive combat training exercises that lasted for 2 weeks. These covered a range of activities the crew needed to master before they were sent to war, including day and night fighting, refueling at sea, and directing combat air patrol fighters to intercept enemy aircraft. The ship’s radars also needed to be calibrated properly. On 18 October, Biloxi sailed north to the Norfolk Navy Yard for maintenance and repairs. She then made a brief visit to Rockland, Maine, where tests to confirm the calibration of her compasses and gyroscopes were carried out. On November 20, she departed the East Coast of the United States for the Panama Canal. 4 days later, she passed through the canal and turned north for San Francisco, arriving on December 4. The crew made preparations for deployment west, including loading supplies and transferring the SO3C seaplanes ashore and loading a pair of Vought OS2U Kingfishers in their place. On December 7, she departed for Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; she joined the Pacific Fleet there on December 11, 1943. The Cleveland-class was a group of light cruisers built for the United States Navy during World War II. They were the most numerous class of light cruisers ever built. 52 were ordered, and 36 were completed, 27 as cruisers and 9 as the Independence-class of light aircraft carriers. They were deactivated within a few years after the end of the war, but 6 were converted into missile ships, and some of these served into the 1970s. 1 ship of the class, USS Little Rock (CL-92/CLG-4) remains as a museum ship. | |
| Image Filename | wwii1927.jpg |
| Image Size | 2.40 MB |
| Image Dimensions | 5741 x 4363 |
| Photographer | |
| Photographer Title | United States Navy |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | October 1, 1943 |
| Location | |
| City | Chesapeake Bay |
| State or Province | Virginia |
| Country | United States |
| Archive | Naval History and Heritage Command |
| Record Number | 80-G-K-2826-A |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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