View source for USS Los Angeles (CA-135)

{{Short description|Baltimore-class heavy cruiser}}
{{other ships|USS Los Angeles}}
{{coord|33.7383914|-118.2789471|display=title}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image= USS Los Angeles (CA-135) in the Far East, 13 October 1952 (NH 97386).jpg
|Ship caption= USS ''Los Angeles'' in the [[Far East]] on 13 October 1952
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag={{USN flag|1947}}
|Ship name=''Los Angeles''
|Ship namesake=City of [[Los Angeles]], California
|Ship ordered= 
|Ship builder=[[Philadelphia Navy Yard]]
|Ship laid down= 28 July 1943
|Ship launched= 20 August 1944
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned= 22 July 1945
|Ship decommissioned=9 April 1948
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=yes
|Ship recommissioned=27 January 1951
|Ship decommissioned= 15 November 1963
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship struck= 1 January 1974
|Ship identification=*[[Maritime call sign|Callsign]]: NTMG
*{{ICS|November}}{{ICS|Tango}}{{ICS|Mike}}{{ICS|Golf}}
*[[Hull number]]: CA-135
|Ship renamed=
|Ship reclassified=
|Ship homeport=
|Ship motto=*''[[Non Sibi Sed Patriae]]''
*(Not for self, but for country)
|Ship nickname=
|Ship honors=[[USS Los Angeles (CA-135)#Awards|See ''Awards'']]
|Ship fate=[[Ship breaking|Scrapped]], 16 May 1975
|Ship notes=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship class= {{sclass|Baltimore|heavy cruiser}}
|Ship displacement={{convert|13600|LT|t|0|abbr=on}}
|Ship length={{convert|674|ft|11|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{convert|70|ft|10|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship draft={{convert|20|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship depth=
|Ship hold depth=
|Ship propulsion= 
|Ship speed={{convert|33|kn|lk=in}}
|Ship range= 
|Ship complement=1,142 officers and enlisted
|Ship armament=*9 × [[8"/55 caliber gun]]s (3×3)
*12 × [[5"/38 caliber gun]]s (6×2)
*48 × [[Bofors 40 mm Automatic Gun L/60|Bofors 40 mm]] guns (12×4)
*28 × single [[Oerlikon 20 mm cannon]]s
|Ship armor= 
|Ship aircraft=[[Curtiss-Wright|Curtiss]] [[SC Seahawk|SC-1 Seahawk]] [[floatplane]]
|Ship aircraft facilities= 
|Ship notes=
}}
{{designation list|embed=yes|designation1=Los Angeles|designation1_date=3 May 1978|designation1_number=188|designation1_offname=USS Los Angeles Naval Monument (John S. Gibson Jr. Park)}}
|}
The third '''USS ''Los Angeles'' (CA-135)''' was a {{sclass|Baltimore|heavy cruiser}}, laid down by the [[Philadelphia Navy Yard]], [[Philadelphia]], on 28 July 1943 and launched on 20 August 1944. She was sponsored by Mrs. [[Fletcher Bowron]] and commissioned on 22 July 1945, with Captain John A. Snackenberg in command.

==Service history==

===1944–1948===
After a [[shakedown cruise]] out of [[Guantánamo Bay]], [[Cuba]], ''Los Angeles'' sailed on 15 October for the [[Far East]] via the west coast and arrived at [[Shanghai]], China, on 3 January 1946. During the next year she operated with the [[United States Seventh Fleet|7th Fleet]] along the coast of China and in the western Pacific to the [[Marianas]]. She returned to [[San Francisco]], California, on 21 January 1947, and was decommissioned at [[San Francisco Naval Shipyard|Hunters Point]] on 9 April 1948, and entered the [[Pacific Reserve Fleet]].

===1951–1953===
''Los Angeles'' was recommissioned on 27 January 1951, Capt. Robert N. McFarlane in command. In response to the American efforts in the [[Korean War]], she sailed for the Far East 14 May and joined naval operations off the eastern coast of [[Korea]] on 31 May as flagship for Rear Admiral [[Arleigh A. Burke]]'s CRUDIV 5. During the next six months she ranged the coastal waters of the Korean Peninsula from [[Hungnam]] in the east to [[Haeju]] in the west while her guns pounded enemy coastal positions. After returning to the United States on 17 December for overhaul and training, she made her second deployment to Korean waters on 9 October 1952 and participated on 11 October in a concentrated shelling of enemy bunkers and observation points at [[Koji-ni]]. During the next few months, she continued to provide [[Naval gunfire support|off-shore gunfire support]] for American ground operations, and cruised the [[Sea of Japan]] with fast carriers of the 7th Fleet. While participating in the bombardment of [[Wonsan]] late in March and early in April 1953, she received minor damage from enemy shore batteries, but continued operations until sailing for the west coast in mid-April. She arrived at [[Long Beach, California|Long Beach]] on 15 May.

===1953–1963===
Between November 1953 and June 1963 ''Los Angeles'' made eight more deployments to the Far East where she served as a cruiser division flagship with the 7th Fleet in support of "keeping the peace" operations in that troubled part of the world. Her operations sent her from the coast of Japan to the Sea of Japan, the [[Yellow Sea]], and the East and [[South China Sea]]s; and with units of the 7th Fleet she steamed to American bases in the [[Philippines]] and [[Okinawa Prefecture|Okinawa]], as well as to Allied bases in South Korea, [[Hong Kong]], [[Australia]], and [[Taiwan]]. During the Quemoy-Matsu crisis in 1956<!--1955 or 1958 (see Taiwan Strait Crisis-->, she patrolled the [[Taiwan Strait]] to help protect ROC Army units from possible landing offenses from Communist China. When not deployed in the western Pacific, ''Los Angeles'' operated out of Long Beach along the west coast and in the Pacific to the Hawaiian Islands. She returned to Long Beach from her final Far East deployment on 20 June 1963.

==Decommissioning and sale==
While some consideration was made to convert ''Los Angeles'' into a single-end [[RIM-8 Talos|Talos]] missile cruiser, with flagship facilities (in essence a heavy cruiser version of the ''Oklahoma City'') funds were not appropriated for this or for a general overhaul to enable her continued fleet service, so she was decommissioned at Long Beach on 15 November 1963 and entered the Pacific Reserve Fleet at San Diego. Stricken on 1 January 1974, and sold on 16 May 1975 (sale #16-5049) to the [[National Steel Corporation]] for $1,864,380.21, and scrapped in San Pedro, California.

The [[flying bridge]] and a small portion of the bow section of the Los Angeles is on display at the [[Los Angeles Maritime Museum]] in [[San Pedro, CA]].

==In popular culture==
* An event to promote the July 1943 bond drive to finance the ship was held at the Hollywood Bowl on June 30, 1943. A recording of the event is available to stream on archive.org.
* USS ''Los Angeles'' was featured in ''[[The Adventures of Tintin]]'' comic ''[[The Red Sea Sharks]]'' by [[Hergé]]. She is shown patrolling in the [[Red Sea]] and is involved in the rescue of [[Tintin (character)|Tintin]] and his friends from a post-war [[German Type II submarine|Type II U-boat]] operated by slave traders.
* In a scene (approximately 47:40–53:00) from the 1977 film ''[[MacArthur (1977 film)|MacArthur]]'' depicting a Pearl Harbor shipboard strategy meeting between President Roosevelt, Nimitz, and MacArthur, a painting of the USS ''Los Angeles'' is clearly seen on the bulkhead.

== Awards ==
*[[Occupation Germany/Japan]]
*[[Asiatic–Pacific Campaign Medal]]
*[[World War II Victory Medal]]
*[[China Service Medal]] *[[2 Jan – 30 Aug 46]]
*[[National Defense Service Medal]] with star
*[[Korean Service Medal]] with 5 [[battle star]]s
*[[Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal]] with 2[[battle star]]s
*[[United Nations Korea Medal]]
*[[Korean Presidential Unit Citation]]

==References==
* {{DANFS|https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/l/los-angeles-ii.html}}
* {{Naval Vessel Register URL|id=CA135}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|USS Los Angeles (CA-135)}}
* {{navsource|04/135/04135|USS Los Angeles}}
* [http://uss-la-ca135.org/ USS ''Los Angeles'' site]

{{Baltimore class cruiser}}
{{LAHMC}}
{{San Pedro, Los Angeles}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Los Angeles}}
[[Category:Baltimore-class cruisers]]
[[Category:Korean War cruisers of the United States]]
[[Category:Cold War cruisers of the United States]]
[[Category:Ships built in Philadelphia]]
[[Category:1944 ships]]
[[Category:San Pedro, Los Angeles]]