USS Fall River (CA-131)

For other ships with the same name, see USS Fall River.

USS Fall River on 12 August 1945
History
United States
Name	Fall River
Namesake	City of Fall River, Massachusetts
Ordered	9 July 1942
Builder	New York Shipbuilding
Laid down	12 April 1943
Launched	13 August 1944
Commissioned	1 July 1945
Decommissioned	31 October 1947
Stricken	19 February 1971
Identification	Callsign: NTDM Hull number: CA-131
Honors and awards	See Awards
Fate	Scrapped, 28 August 1972
Notes	Bow resides at Battleship Cove
General characteristics
Class and type	Baltimore-class cruiser
Displacement	13,600 long tons (13,818 t)
Length	674 ft 11 in (205.71 m)
Beam	70 ft 10 in (21.59 m)
Draft	20 ft 6 in (6.25 m)
Propulsion	General Electric geared turbines, 120,000 shp (89 MW), 4 screws
Speed	33 knots (61 km/h; 38 mph)
Complement	1,142 officers and enlisted
Armament	9 × 8"/55 caliber guns (3×3) 12 × 5"/38 caliber guns (6×2) 48 × Bofors 40 mm guns (12×4) 24 × single Oerlikon 20 mm cannons
Armor	Belt: 6 in (150 mm) Turrets: 8 in (200 mm) Deck: 2.5 in (64 mm) Conning tower: 6.5 in (170 mm)

USS Fall River (CA-131) was a Baltimore-class heavy cruiser of the United States Navy. Launched on 13 August 1944 by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation of Camden, New Jersey, sponsored by Mrs. Alexander C. Murray, wife of Fall River mayor Alexander C. Murray; and commissioned on 1 July 1945, Captain David Stolz Crawford in command.

Service history

Bow of USS Fall River at Battleship Cove

On 31 October 1945, Fall River arrived at Norfolk, out of which she sailed in experimental development operations until 31 January 1946. The cruiser was assigned to JTF 1, organized to conduct Operation Crossroads, atomic weapons tests in the Marshall Islands in the summer of 1946. To prepare for this duty, Fall River sailed to San Pedro, California, where from 16 February to 6 March she was altered to provide flagship accommodations. Arriving at Pearl Harbor on 17 March, she embarked Rear Admiral Frank G. Fahrion, commander of the target vessel's group for the tests, and with him sailed in the Marshalls between 21 May and 14 September.

After west coast training, Fall River served a tour of duty in the Far East as flagship of Cruiser Division 1 from 12 January 1947 to 17 June 1947. Authorized during World War II but completed too late to see service in that conflict, the Fall River was caught in the post-war economizing measures, despite her recent completion and lack of wartime damage. She returned to Puget Sound Navy Yard, where she was placed out of commission in reserve on 31 October 1947. Proposals to convert her into an Albany-class guided missile cruiser were cancelled when sister ship Columbus was determined to be in better material condition. Fall River continued to reside in the reserve fleet until stricken on 19 February 1971, and sold on 28 August 1972 to Zidell Explorations Corp., Portland, Oregon.

The tip of her bow is now on display at Battleship Cove.

Awards

• American Campaign Medal
• World War II Victory Medal
• Navy Occupation Medal
• China Service Medal

References

• Photo gallery of USS Fall River at NavSource Naval History
•  This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.