USS Baltimore (CA-68) was the lead ship of her class of heavy cruiser, the fifth ship of the United States Navy named after the city of Baltimore, Maryland.
Design
Baltimore was long at the waterline and long overall. She had a beam of and a draft of . She displaced at standard displacement and at full combat load. The ship had a crew of 1,142 officers and enlisted men.
Construction and commissioning
Baltimore was laid down on 26 May 1941 at Bethlehem Steel Company's Fore River Shipyard in Quincy, Massachusetts. She was launched on 28 July 1942, sponsored by the wife of the mayor of Baltimore, Howard W. Jackson, and commissioned on 15 April 1943.
Operational history
World War II
Following fitting-out, Baltimore departed for Hampton Roads, Virginia, on 17 June 1943, briefly visited the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland, on 20 June, then conducted exercises off the Virginia Capes on 22 June. She went to Naval Station Norfolk at Norfolk, Virginia, for upkeep between 24 June and 1 July, when she departed for shakedown off Trinidad. Operating from Port of Spain, she conducted gunnery training before returning to Hampton Roads on 24 July. On 28 July, she departed for Boston, Massachusetts, to visit the Boston Navy Yard for post-shakedown availability i.e., (repairs to correct deficiencies found during shakedown) and to correct a leak in the main battery hydraulic piping. Returning to Norfolk in early September 1943 after the completion of the repairs, Baltimore and the destroyer departed for the United States West Coast. They transited the Panama Canal on 25 September 1943 and arrived at the San Diego Naval Base in San Diego, California, on 4 October 1943, after which she trained off the U.S. West Coast from 9 to 13 October. Departing San Diego on 16 October, she called briefly at San Francisco, California, then arrived at Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii, independently on 29 October 1943.
Between November 1943 and June 1944 Baltimore was a unit of the fire support and covering forces in the invasion of Butaritari, known to the Americans during World War II as "Makin Island" or "Makin Atoll" (20 November–4 December 1943); the invasion of Kwajalein Atoll (29 January–8 February 1944); Operation Hailstone, a major raid on and the Truk Atoll (16–17 February 1944); and the seizure of Eniwetok Atoll (17 February–2 March 1944). On 17 February 1944, Lieutenant (junior grade) Denver M. Baxter, USNR, flying one of Baltimore′s Vought OS2U Kingfisher floatplanes, covered by two Grumman F6F Hellcat fighters, rescued Lieutenant (junior grade) George M. Blair, USNR, of Fighting Squadron 9 (VF-9) less than from Japanese-held Dublon Island inside Truk Lagoon, where Blair had ditched his Hellcat.
Baltimore continued to provide fire support in the Marianas attacks (21–22 February), the Palau-Yap-Ulithi-Woleai raid (30 March–1 April 1944), the invasion of Hollandia (21–24 April 1944); the Truk-Satawan-Ponape raid (29 April–1 May 1944); air strikes against Marcus Island (19–20 May 1944) and Wake Island (23 May 1944); the invasion of Saipan (11–24 June 1944); and the Battle of the Philippine Sea (19–20 June 1944).
Returning to the United States in July 1944, Baltimore embarked President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his party and steamed to Pearl Harbor. After Roosevelt met with Admiral Chester Nimitz and General Douglas MacArthur, Baltimore transported him to the Territory of Alaska. where he disembarked on 9 August 1944.
Returning to the war zone in November 1944, Baltimore was assigned to the United States Third Fleet and participated in the attacks on Luzon (14–16 December 1944 and 6–7 January 1945); Taiwan (3–4, 9, 15, and 21 January 1945), the China coast (12 and 16 January 1945), and Okinawa (22 January 1945). On 26 January 1945 she joined the United States Fifth Fleet for her final operations of the war: Honshū attacks (16–17 February 1945), the invasion of Iwo Jima (19 February–5 March 1945), and the Fifth Fleet raids in support of the invasion of Okinawa (18 March–10 June 1945).
Post-World War II
After World War II concluded in August 1945, Baltimore took part in Operation Magic Carpet, then was part of the naval occupation force in Japan from 29 November 1945 to 17 February 1946). Departing the Far East on 17 February 1946, she returned to the United States and was decommissioned and placed in reserve on 8 July 1946 at Bremerton, Washington.