In September 1944, eight teenagers from St. Paul high schools, having won a war bond competition, traveled to Quincy, Massachusetts, to witness the christening of USS SAINT PAUL (CA-73), a heavy cruiser named after their city. Mrs. Marie Gordon McDonough, wife of Saint Paul City Mayor John McDonough and sponsor of the ship, broke a bottle of champagne across her bow and she was on her way. The ship was commissioned in February 1945 and after shakedown training entered the Pacific Ocean, via the Panama Canal, in June 1945.
The USS SAINT PAUL joined Admiral Halsey’s Third Fleet in July 1945, participating in the final stages of the war against Japan. She fired the last salvo by a major naval unit on Japan’s home islands on August 9, 1945. She was present in Tokyo Bay for the Japanese surrender ceremonies which marked the end of her World War II service. Post-war, she served as the flagship for Rear Admiral C. Turner Joy’s Yangtze River Patrol Force in China.
The ship became a familiar presence in major Asian ports and served as flagship for numerous admirals. She played a significant role during the Korean Conflict, providing naval gunfire support, participating in evacuations and firing the last naval round of the Conflict on July 27, 1953. On April 21, 1952, a tragic fire in the forward 8-inch gun turret resulted in the loss of 30 men including a young boatswain’s mate from Rochester, Minnesota. The ship continued its service in the Western Pacific, hosting President Dwight Eisenhower in 1960 and became the first U.S. Navy ship to raise the new 50-star U.S. flag on July 4th of that year. In 1965, the ship was featured in the Paramount picture “In Harm’s Way,” starring John Wayne and Kirk Douglas.
Commencing in the Spring of 1966, USS SAINT PAUL made a record five deployments to Vietnam and was awarded nine battle stars for her naval gunfire support missions in South Vietnam and interdiction missions in North Vietnam. She was also awarded a Meritorious Unit Commendation for her 1969 Vietnam deployment. In her 25 years of active duty, USS SAINT PAUL fired 182,000 rounds of naval ordnance, more than any other warship in history and was awarded a total of 18 battle stars. The ship was decommissioned on April 30, 1971, at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Washington.
The USS SAINT PAUL Association was founded in 1984 to honor the ship’s legacy and organize shipmate reunions. A reunion was held in Saint Paul in September 1994, marking the 50th anniversary of the ship’s christening. Plans are underway for a final reunion in Saint Paul, in the Fall of 2027. The ship’s historically important collection of artifacts, currently displayed in Fall River, Massachusetts, has been made available for presentation to the Minnesota Military & Veterans Museum in Little Falls, Minnesota.
From the first crew of 1944 to the present association of aging shipmates…a span of 80 years…the sailors of the USS SAINT PAUL have proudly represented the city of Saint Paul and the great state of Minnesota.
