USS Tuscaloosa (CA-37)

USS Tuscaloosa (CA-37): The Atlantic Fighter

Commissioned on 17 August 1934, USS Tuscaloosa was the fourth New Orleans-class heavy cruiser, and unlike most of her class that fought almost exclusively in the Pacific, Tuscaloosa spent the bulk of World War II in the Atlantic, an often overlooked but strategically crucial theater. Her seven battle stars span the North African landings, the Norwegian campaign, convoy escort duty, and the D-Day invasion of Normandy.

Before the war, Tuscaloosa distinguished herself diplomatically as well as militarily. In August 1941, she carried President Franklin D. Roosevelt partway to his secret rendezvous with Winston Churchill in Placentia Bay, Newfoundland, the meeting that produced the Atlantic Charter. FDR transferred to USS Augusta for the actual summit, but Tuscaloosa's role in that historic moment illustrates her position as a flagship-quality ship.

When America entered the war, Tuscaloosa operated in the North Atlantic, escorting convoys and providing a surface threat against German naval forces that attempted to disrupt Allied shipping. In 1942 she was part of the covering force during Operation Torch, the Allied landings in French North Africa that established the first large-scale American ground offensive against the Axis. Naval gunfire from ships like Tuscaloosa suppressed Vichy French coastal defenses as American troops came ashore in Morocco and Algeria.

In 1944, Tuscaloosa moved north for the Normandy invasion. She provided naval gunfire support during Operation Overlord on 6 June 1944, her 8-inch guns reaching inland to silence German artillery and fortifications that threatened the beachhead. Naval gunfire support was critical to keeping the D-Day landings alive in the crucial first hours, and Tuscaloosa's crew performed that mission with precision under fire.

She also participated in Operation Dragoon, the August 1944 Allied invasion of Southern France, providing gunfire support for landings along the French Riviera that opened another axis of advance against Germany. By the time the war in Europe ended, Tuscaloosa had participated in three major Allied amphibious operations.

Seven battle stars across two theaters of the most complex combined-arms campaign in history. Tuscaloosa and her crew fought the Atlantic War as hard as any Pacific cruiser fought the Japanese. Tactically Acquired's USS Tuscaloosa (CA-37) collection honors that service and the men who brought the fight to Hitler's Atlantic Wall.