{"title":"USS Astoria (CL-90)","description":"\u003ch2\u003eUSS Astoria (CL-90): Carrying Forward a Fallen Name\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eCommissioned on 17 May 1944, USS Astoria was originally laid down as USS Wilkes-Barre before being renamed to honor USS Astoria CA-34, the heavy cruiser lost at the Battle of Savo Island on 9 August 1942, when 219 of her crew went down with her in the worst single night action in American naval history. The renaming was deliberate: the name Astoria would be carried back into the Pacific War, and carried all the way to victory.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eCL-90 entered the Pacific in late 1944 and was immediately assigned to carrier task force operations. She screened the fast carriers of Task Force 38\/58 through the final phase of the Pacific campaign, operations in the Philippines, strikes against Japanese home island naval bases, and the sustained aerial assault that preceded Japan's surrender.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe Astoria of 1944-1945 fought in a Pacific War that had been transformed since her predecessor went down at Savo Island. Where the first Astoria had faced a Japanese Navy at the height of its power and tactical skill, the second Astoria faced a Japanese Navy that had been systematically degraded by three years of attrition it could not replace. But the fighting was no less intense, kamikazes replaced the skilled Zero pilots of 1942, and their determination made every operation costly.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFive battle stars for operations from the Philippines to Japan. Astoria CL-90 was decommissioned on 1 July 1949. She had carried the name back to the Pacific and earned new honors for it. Tactically Acquired's USS Astoria (CL-90) collection honors both ships that carried this name, the one that fell at Savo Island, and the one that carried its legacy to victory.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[],"url":"https:\/\/tacticallyacquired.com\/collections\/uss-astoria-cl-90-merchandise.oembed","provider":"Tactically Acquired","version":"1.0","type":"link"}