USS Los Angeles (CA-135)

USS Los Angeles (CA-135): California's Cruiser in Two Wars

Commissioned on 22 July 1945, USS Los Angeles was a Baltimore-class heavy cruiser that served in two wars, arriving at the tail end of the Pacific War, then earning five additional battle stars in Korea. Named for America's then-fastest-growing city, she was exactly the kind of ship the Cold War Navy depended on: a capable platform that could be recommissioned when the next conflict came.

Los Angeles entered the Pacific in 1945 in time for the final weeks of the war, participating in occupation operations that accompanied Japan's surrender. After a period in the active fleet and then reserve, she was recommissioned for Korea and deployed to Korean waters, where she joined the steady rotation of cruisers providing naval gunfire support, shore bombardment, and blockade enforcement along both coasts of the peninsula.

Five Korean War battle stars for sustained service from the desperate early days of 1950 through the armistice of July 1953, a combat record that placed her among the most active American warships of the conflict. Her 8-inch guns reached targets inland that other naval systems couldn't service economically, and her sustained operations demonstrated that the heavy gun cruiser remained militarily relevant in a world where aircraft carriers and guided missiles were increasingly dominant.

Los Angeles was decommissioned on 15 November 1963 after nearly two decades of service across two conflicts. Six battle stars total. Tactically Acquired's USS Los Angeles (CA-135) collection honors the City of Angels' cruiser and the crew who took her name into two shooting wars and brought it back with honor both times.