USS Chicago (CA-29)

USS Chicago (CA-29): Lost at Rennell Island

Commissioned on 9 March 1931, USS Chicago was the fourth ship of the Northampton class. Named for the great city on Lake Michigan, she served through the opening years of the Pacific War before Japanese aerial torpedoes finally found their mark. Her story is one of hard service, survival against odds, and ultimate sacrifice in the waters south of the Solomon Islands.

Chicago was anchored at Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941 but escaped damage in the attack. Her first major combat action came at the Battle of Savo Island on 9 August 1942, one of the worst defeats in U.S. Navy history. An IJN cruiser force slipped through the darkness and hit the Allied screening force with devastating precision, sinking four heavy cruisers in less than an hour. Chicago was hit by a torpedo that blew off her bow, but she managed to limp away. Her surviving crew fought flooding and fires through the night. The catastrophic losses at Savo Island, Astoria, Quincy, Vincennes, and HMAS Canberra, left Chicago among the few survivors of a disaster that cost over a thousand American and Australian lives.

After extensive repairs, Chicago returned to the Pacific and rejoined the fight. She participated in operations around Guadalcanal through late 1942 and into January 1943, part of the naval force working to cut Japanese supply lines to the island while supporting the final American push to defeat the Japanese garrison.

On 29–30 January 1943, Japanese aircraft found the American force near Rennell Island. In two waves of attacks, torpedo bombers pressed home strikes against Chicago. The first attack on the evening of the 29th put two torpedoes into her, slowing her significantly. As destroyers attempted to take her under tow the following day, a second wave of Japanese aircraft returned. Four more torpedoes struck home. Chicago, already crippled, could not survive this second blow. She sank at 1943 on 30 January 1943, carrying 62 men to the bottom.

Three battle stars for a ship that fought through Pearl Harbor, survived Savo Island, and kept fighting until she couldn't anymore. The crew of Chicago gave everything. Their service and their sacrifice deserve to be honored.

Tactically Acquired's USS Chicago (CA-29) collection pays tribute to a fighting ship and the men who served aboard her in the Pacific's hardest days. Wear it in their memory.