World War II Database

Contributor: David Stubblebine

ww2dbaseIn keeping with the United States Navy's naming customs of the day for cruisers, USS Nashville was named for a prominent American city, in this case the capital of Tennessee. The Brooklyn-class light cruiser was laid down on 24 Jan 1935 by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation at Camden, New Jersey, United States. She was launched 2 Oct 1937 sponsored by Ann and Mildred Stahlman, the daughters of the head of a prominent Nashville newspaper. There was one ominous moment during the launching, however. The dignitaries spoke, the band played, champagne bottles smashed, and the crowd cheered, but the ship did not move. Nashville stood in place for several silent moments with everyone staring at it, or at one another, until her several thousand tons finally began its slide down the ways and into the Delaware River.

ww2dbaseAcross the river from Camden at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, USS Nashville was commissioned on 6 Jun 1938 with Captain William W. Wilson in command. After some more fitting out, Nashville departed Philadelphia on 19 Jul 1938 for an extended shakedown cruise. Nashville first sailed to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba before making good-will ports of call in Haiti, France, Sweden, and Great Britain. On 21 Sep 1938, Nashville departed Portsmouth, England bound for New York carrying a most secret cargo of nearly 25 tons of British gold bullion (valued at $25,000,000 in 1938 and $473,500,000 in 2021). Needless to say, Nashville made no more good-will ports of call before arriving in New York on 30 Sep 1938. After offloading the gold in Brooklyn, Nashville entered the Philadelphia Navy Yard for a post-shakedown refit.

ww2dbaseIn 1939, Nashville was selected to transport Army staff officers to the Pan American Defense Conference in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. On 29 Apr 1939 in New York, Army Deputy Chief of Staff, Brigadier General George C. Marshall, boarded Nashville bound for Brazil. On the return trip, Nashville also carried Brazilian Army Chief of Staff General Goes Monteiro and delivered the party to the Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland.

ww2dbaseOn 23 Jun 1939, Nashville departed Norfolk, Virginia bound for the Pacific. Transiting the Panama Canal on 6 Jul 1939, she arrived at San Diego, California on 16 July 1939. Nashville spent the next two years in the Pacific participating in Fleet Problems and other exercises. On 1 Jan 1940, Captain Ralph S. Wentworth relieved Captain Wilson as Nashville's commanding officer and then on 1 May 1941, he himself was relieved by Captain Francis S. Craven. Nashville returned to the Atlantic in 1941 in time to help escort the 1st Provisional Marine Brigade to their deployment to Iceland on 8 Jul 1941.

ww2dbaseBeginning in Aug 1941, Nashville operated out of Bermuda as part of the Neutrality Patrols in the Central Atlantic. In one of Nashville's first patrols, the cruiser sailed with escort carrier USS Long Island in the first anti-submarine patrol to include an escort carrier and coordinated air operations. In Dec 1941 when the United States formally entered World War II following the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Nashville initially remained in the Atlantic and escorted more convoys to Iceland until Feb 1942.

ww2dbaseOn 4 Mar 1942, the freshly commissioned Yorktown-class fleet carrier USS Hornet departed Norfolk, Virginia. As Hornet entered the Atlantic Ocean, she was joined by Nashville and both ships, along with other escorts, steamed south toward the Panama Canal. Arriving in California's San Francisco Bay on 20 Mar 1942, the task group fueled and provisioned for a sortie into the Pacific. At the Alameda Naval Air Station, sixteen Army B-25 Mitchell bombers were hoisted onto Hornet's flight deck. The group then departed San Francisco Bay on 2 Apr 1942 bound for the Central Pacific.

ww2dbaseOn 13 Apr 1942 north of Midway Island, Hornet and her escorts were joined by USS Enterprise and her escorts and the combined force continued sailing west. On 17 Apr 1942, the carriers and cruisers detached from their escorts and made a speed run westward. The next day, the force detected several Japanese patrol boats and Nashville was ordered to sink the closest one, patrol boat No. 23 Nitto Maru. In an effort to silence Nitto Maru's radio, Nashville engaged the boat at maximum range of 9,000 yards. With the extended range, the small size of the enemy boat, and the uneven seas, it took Nashville 30 minutes and 938 rounds of 6-inch shells to sink the boat, despite the boat also being attacked by Enterprise aircraft at the same time. Nashville made 25 knots to rejoin the carriers but when Nashville met them, they had reversed course and were heading east. Hornet had already launched all sixteen Army bombers led by Army Lieutenant Colonel Jimmy Doolittle on their air raid against the Japanese home islands. Nashville was then ordered to sink another gun boat, the Nagato Maru. Again with assistance from Enterprise dive bombers, Nashville engaged the gun boat with 65 rounds of 5-inch guns and 102 rounds from her main 6-inch guns for over 18 minutes before the boat sank. Nashville then picked up five Japanese survivors as well two air crewmembers from an Enterprise SBD Dauntless that crashed in the water.

ww2dbaseAs Nashville was engaging these two gun boats, Enterprise aircraft were attacking nine other Japanese vessels in the area. Once the coverage of the carriers' withdrawal was complete, the entire force retired towards Hawaii and arrived at Pearl Harbor on 25 Apr 1942.

ww2dbaseNashville departed Hawaii on 14 May 1942 bound for Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian Islands. Two days later, she sailed for Kodiak where the commander of Task Force 8, Rear Admiral Robert Theobald, came aboard and made Nashville his flagship. Task Force 8's responsibility was to protect the Aleutians as best they could but with Navy resources in the Pacific so greatly depleted at this stage of the war and the bulk of those remaining resources engaged in the recent Battle of the Coral Sea and the upcoming Battle of Midway, Task Force 8 was obligated to do what they could with something of a patchwork flotilla. The Japanese assault on Midway included a diversionary assault on the Aleutians in Nashville's operating area. On 3 Jun 1942, carrier planes bombed Dutch Harbor but heavy fog at sea prohibited Nashville's small group of ships from engaging the carriers. Over the next four days, Dutch Harbor was bombed again and Attu and Kiska in the western Aleutians were occupied without opposition. Over the next five months, American forces harassed the Japanese occupiers to the extent that they could, including Nashville's 7 Aug 1942 shore bombardment of Japanese installations on Kiska.

ww2dbaseAt about this same time, Allied forces suffered stunning cruiser losses at the Battle of Savo Island in the Solomon Islands that required a reshuffling of all cruiser assets in the Pacific. Before this reached Nashville, Captain Herman A. Spanagel relieved Captain Craven while at sea on 30 Sep 1942. In Nov 1942 as winter approached in the rugged North Pacific, Nashville was ordered south. After stops at Pearl Harbor and with transiting time, Nashville actually took her station operating from Espiritu Santo in the New Hebrides in early Jan 1943. Again, Nashville was made her force's flagship, this time Rear Admiral Walden L. Ainsworth's Cruiser Task Force 67 made up of seven cruisers plus escorts. The force began by shelling the Japanese airfield at Munda on New Georgia in the Solomon Islands resulting in considerable damage. Additional bombardment targets over the next several months included others on New Georgia as well as Kolombangara and also covering ships in mine laying operations.

ww2dbaseOn the night of 12 May 1943 while covering mine layers on the northwestern approaches to Kula Gulf between Kolombangara and New Georgia, Nashville commenced a bombardment of Vila Airfield on Kolombangara. During that action, two powder charges for her main 6-inch guns exploded inside Nashville's Number 3 turret instantly killing seven men and injuring many others. Eleven of the injured men would later die of their wounds bringing the total casualty count to 18 dead and 17 injured. Nashville withdrew to Espiritu Santo for a week before pressing across the Pacific to Mare Island Naval Shipyard in California, arriving 4 Jun 1943 for repairs and an overhaul.

ww2dbaseNashville departed the San Francisco area on 6 Aug 1943 bound for Pearl Harbor. After 16 days at Pearl Harbor, Nashville sailed as an escort for the carriers USS Essex and USS Yorktown (Essex-class) bound for Marcus Island northwest of Wake. On 31 Aug 1943, the force's carrier aircraft struck Marcus Island in what would become the blueprint for a fast carrier strike. The task force returned to Pearl Harbor where Nashville and the other cruisers began intensive gunnery exercises.

ww2dbaseOn 29 Sep 1943, Nashville departed with a larger fast carrier strike force built around USS Essex, Yorktown, and Lexington (Essex-class) along with light carriers USS Cowpens, Independence, Belleau Wood plus an expanded screening force. Their objective this time was Wake Island which they struck over two days on 5 and 6 Oct 1943. Unlike their previous raid, this time the cruisers took their turns with shore bombardments of the island. So intense was the island bombardment that island commander Rear Admiral Sakaibara Shigemitsu was convinced it was a prelude to an invasion of the island. Fearing that an escaped POW might communicate weaknesses of his garrison, Admiral Shigemitsu ordered the execution of all 98 remaining prisoners captured 23 Dec 1941, many of whom had been civilian contractors at the time of their capture.

ww2dbaseNashville returned to Pearl Harbor where she spent a week, including three days in drydock, before departing for Espiritu Santo. Once back in the South Pacific, Nashville spent the next seven months making several patrols in and around the Solomon Islands and along northern New Guinea as General Douglas MacArthur continued his westward advance along that shoreline. On 19 Apr 1944, motor-torpedo boat PT-192 delivered General MacArthur and an Army observation party to the Nashville where they would observe the landings at Hollandia and Aitape on New Guinea three days later. General MacArthur and his party left Nashville on 24 Apr 1944 aboard PT-115 as Nashville departed for Seeadler Harbor on Manus Island.

ww2dbaseAt Seeadler on 25 Apr 1944, Captain Charles E. Coney relieved Captain Spanagel as Nashville's commanding officer. The next day, the cruiser departed for a return trip to New Guinea's northern coast as a screening vessel for the continuing Army operations in the Hollandia area. Nashville shelled Wadke and the airfields at Sawar and Biak during this time.

ww2dbaseOn 4 Jun 1944, Nashville's cruiser group came under Japanese air attack off Biak, New Guinea. A near-miss aerial bomb just off Nashville's starboard stern caused serious hull damage that started flooding in two compartments and caused the ship to begin bleeding oil. There were no serious injuries. After stops at Hollandia and Seeadler, Nashville arrived at Espiritu Santo on 18 Jun 1944 where she entered floating drydock ABSD-1 the following day for two weeks of repairs below her waterline. Nashville undocked on 3 Jul 1944 and completed another week of tender repairs before departing for Sydney, Australia.

ww2dbaseNashville returned to the northern New Guinea area where she continued to support the Army's westward advance. On 12 Sep 1944 at Hollandia, New Guinea General MacArthur came aboard again with his special observing party. Within minutes, Nashville sailed for Morotai in the Maluku Islands where the party observed the 15 Sep 1944 landings. Two days after that back at Hollandia, MacArthur and his party left the ship.

ww2dbaseA month later, Nashville was back at Hollandia where Army Signal Corps personnel installed special long-range radio equipment. Again, MacArthur and his staff came aboard and Nashville sailed for another Army invasion beach, this time on Leyte in the Philippines. Nashville anchored in Leyte Gulf on 20 Oct 1944 as MacArthur directed the landings. On 25 Oct 1944, the morning after the night action in the Battle of Surigao Strait, MacArthur and his staff left the ship as Nashville was ordered to cover the northern end of Surigao Strait. A few days later, Nashville's cruiser group merged with a battleship group and on 1 Nov 1944, the formation was subjected to an intense air attack that included special attack aircraft. One of these aircraft struck the destroyer USS Ammen within view from Nashville's bridge. A short time later, another airplane crashed into the destroyer USS Abner Read causing explosions and fires. Abner Read jettisoned her torpedoes which instantly started their runs. Both Nashville and USS Pennsylvania had to take evasive action to avoid the torpedoes as Abner Read sank.

ww2dbaseNashville continued with assignments in or near Leyte Gulf until Dec 1944 when she was designated as the amphibious group flagship for the landing operations on Mindoro. Rear Admiral Arthur Struble came aboard at San Pedro Bay as Commander Task Group 78.3. The group sailed for Mindoro on 12 Dec 1944. The following day while transiting the Bohol Sea, a Japanese aircraft carrying two 63-kilogram bombs crashed into Nashville's superstructure. The resulting explosions and fires caused considerable damage to the ship, killed 133 men, and injured 190 others. Army Major General William Dunckel, MacArthur's Chief of Plans, was among the injured while Navy Captain Everett Abdill, Admiral Struble's Chief of Staff, was among the dead. Struble shifted his flag and Nashville returned to Leyte.

ww2dbaseNashville then made her way to Seeadler, Pearl Harbor, and ultimately Puget Sound, Washington, United States, arriving 12 Jan 1945. Nashville spent over three months at Puget Sound undergoing repairs, modifications, and upgrades. On 30 Jan 1945, Captain Coney turned over command of Nashville temporarily to his executive officer, Commander John T. Corwin, while awaiting the arrival of a new commanding officer. On 21 Mar 1945, Captain Atherton Macondray, Jr. assumed command and Commander Corwin was relieved. While at Puget Sound, the ship developed a minor problem with her engine cooling system that prevented her from achieving full power. On one full-power test run, Nashville struck a submerged log that bent three propellers and damaged two propeller struts. Nashville spent three days in drydock as a result and then departed for San Diego, 1 Apr 1945. Her propulsion issues returned, however, when drills off San Diego revealed some misaligned bearings in Number 1 engine and a bent Number 4 propeller. Nashville spent one day in drydock at Hunters Point, San Francisco and then departed for Pearl Harbor on 15 Apr 1945.

ww2dbaseAfter a week in Hawaii, Nashville sailed for the South Pacific once again. She crossed the equator again on 8 May 1945 where, owing to the many replacements among the crew, 500 slimy pollywogs were initiated into the Ancient Order of the Deep. Nashville was in Subic Bay, Luzon, Philippines on 21 May 1945 when Rear Admiral Russell E. Berkey made Nashville a flagship once again, this time for Task Force 74 to cover the upcoming landing of Australian forces on Borneo. Nashville sailed for Brunei, Borneo on 5 Jun 1945 and remained committed to those operations for over a month. Task Force 74 withdrew on 8 Jul 1945 and Nashville experienced unusual vibrations in her Number 2 propeller. Upon arrival at Subic Bay, an examination by divers revealed cracks in the propeller struts that did not appear to be new. Nashville was still at Subic Bay when the war ended on 15 Aug 1945.

ww2dbaseBeginning 9 Sep 1945, Nashville was assigned to the Yangtze River patrols based in Shanghai, China. Once again, Nashville served as the operation's flagship, this time under Rear Admiral C. Turner Joy. She remained there for two months until 14 Nov 1945 when she departed for Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Before leaving Shanghai, Nashville took aboard 449 Army and Navy officers and men for transportation to the United States as part of Operation Magic Carpet. During an overnight refueling stop at Pearl Harbor, Nashville embarked an additional 90 personnel bound for the mainland. Nashville arrived at San Pedro, California on 3 Dec 1945 where besides disembarking her passengers, she also detached her Marine and aviation units in order to create more room aboard ship for returning servicemen.

ww2dbaseNashville sailed straightaway for Eniwetok and Kwajalein where she embarked the maximum number of servicemen that she could for transportation to the United States. She departed Christmas Eve bound for San Francisco. On 3 Jan 1946 500 miles west of San Francisco, Nashville came to the assistance of the troop ship USS St. Mary's. St. Mary's had sailed from Okinawa with 1,900 Army personnel bound for Seattle, Washington when she experienced engine failure in heavy seas. Nashville took St. Mary's under tow and both ships arrived in San Francisco on 6 Jan 1945.

ww2dbaseNashville departed San Francisco on 21 Jan 1946 bound for the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard by way of the Panama Canal. Upon arrival at Philadelphia, Nashville began a deactivation overhaul. Nashville was decommissioned on 24 Jun 1946 and placed in the reserve fleet where she remained until 1950. On 9 Jan 1951, the cruiser was sold to the government of Chile and stricken from the Naval Register on 22 Jan 1951.

ww2dbaseThe Chilean authorities took possession of the ship on 25 Jan 1951 and she was commissioned in the Chilean Navy 21 Nov 1951 as the CL Capitán Prat. In 1982, the name Capitán Prat was given to a new Chilean destroyer and the ex-Nashville was renamed CL Chacabuco. The ship served until Apr 1983 when she was sold as scrap to a Canadian interest.

ww2dbaseUSS Nashville served the United States Navy throughout World War II, including two combat-related operations before the country's formal entry into the war. She was employed as a force flagship a total of eight different times (including MacArthur three times) and she received ten battle stars for her service.

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6.  David Stubblebine says:
12 Dec 2016 03:40:28 PM

To Anonymous (above):
This is one of those cases where everybody’s right - but it turns out we are talking about different ships. The Wickes-class USS Haraden (DD-183) later became the HMCS Columbia and suffered the fate you describe but the Fletcher-class USS Haraden (DD-585) was struck by an attacking aircraft on 13 Dec 1944 in the Surigao Strait.
http://www.navsource.org/archives/05/585.htm