USS Baltimore (CA-68)

USS Baltimore (CA-68): The Best Heavy Cruiser America Built

Commissioned on 15 April 1943, USS Baltimore was the lead ship of the Baltimore class, widely considered the finest American heavy cruiser design of World War II and the direct evolution of everything the Navy had learned from treaty-era designs and Pacific combat. Where earlier classes were constrained by Washington Treaty tonnage limits, the Baltimore class was built without artificial restrictions. The result was a ship that combined heavy 8-inch firepower, serious armor protection, and 33-knot speed in a package her predecessors could not match.

She carried nine 8-inch guns in three triple turrets, twelve 5-inch dual-purpose guns, and an anti-aircraft suite informed by years of hard-won Pacific experience. She wasn't a ship built by designers guessing at what war would look like. She was built by men who already knew.

Baltimore entered the Pacific campaign in late 1943 and joined carrier task force operations driving toward Japan. The Marshalls, Marianas, Philippine Sea, she was present for the great set-piece engagements of the Central Pacific drive. At the Battle of the Philippine Sea in June 1944, she was part of the massive American force that destroyed Japanese carrier aviation in what pilots called the "Great Marianas Turkey Shoot." At Leyte Gulf she contributed to the naval operations that broke the back of the Imperial Japanese Navy.

She also served as presidential transport. In July 1944, Baltimore carried President Franklin D. Roosevelt to Hawaii for his conference with Admiral Nimitz and General MacArthur, one of the most consequential strategic planning meetings of the entire war. The decision made in Hawaii to advance on Japan through the Philippines rather than Formosa shaped every subsequent operation. That decision was made with Baltimore's steel beneath FDR's feet.

Nine battle stars. A president's strategy conference. The lead ship of the finest American heavy cruiser class. Baltimore was decommissioned on 8 July 1956. Tactically Acquired's USS Baltimore (CA-68) collection honors the lead ship and every man who served aboard her.