USS Savannah (CL-42): American Light Cruiser

USS Savannah (CL-42) was a light cruiser of the Brooklyn-class that served in World War II in the Atlantic and Mediterranean theatres of operation. Savannah conducted Neutrality Patrols (1941) and wartime patrols in the Atlantic and Caribbean (1942), and supported the invasion of French North Africa in Operation Torch (November 1942). She sought German-supporting blockade runners off the east coast of South America (1943), and supported the Allied landings on Sicily and at Salerno (1943). Off Salerno on 11 September 1943, a German radio-controlled Fritz X glide-bomb caused extensive casualties aboard and serious damage to Savannah, requiring emergency repairs in Malta and permanent repairs at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. After repairs and upgrades, she served in the task force that carried President Roosevelt to the Yalta Conference in early 1945.

USS Savannah (CL-42) photographed from a blimp of squadron ZP-11, while underway off the New England coast on 30 October 1944.

Two "Liberty" ships are afire in Algiers harbor, Algeria, following a German air attack, 16 July 1943. The U.S. Navy light cruiser USS Savannah (CL-42) is in the foreground.

The USS Savannah (CL-42) is hit by a German Fritz-X radio-controlled bomb while supporting Allied forces ashore during the Salerno operation, 11 September 1943. The bomb hit the top of the ship’s number three gun turret and penetrated deep into her hull before exploding. This photograph shows the explosion venting through the top of the turret and also through Savannah’s hull below the waterline. A PT boat is passing by in the foreground.

USS Savannah (CL-42) afire immediately after she was hit by a German guided bomb during the Salerno operation, 11 September 1943. Smoke is pouring from the bomb impact hole atop the ship's number three 6"/47 gun turret.

USS Savannah (CL-42) afire and beginning to settle by the bow, very soon after she was hit by a German guided bomb during the Salerno operation, 11 September 1943. The bomb penetrated the top of the ship's number three 6"/47 gun turret, which is in the center of this photograph with smoke over it.

USS Savannah (CL-42): Crewmen fighting fires in the ship's #3 six-inch gun turret, after it was hit by a German guided bomb during the Salerno operation, 11 September 1943. Note fully-equipped life rafts stowed atop the turret, and casualties laid out on deck alongside the # 2 turret.

USS Savannah (CL-42): Bomb penetration hole atop her number three 6"/47 gun turret, while the ship was undergoing initial repairs off Salerno, Italy. She was hit by a German radio-controlled bomb on 11 September 1943, during the Salerno operation. Note life rafts atop the turret, one of which has been cut in two by the bomb. Also note the turret's armored faceplate. View looks forward, with number two 6"/47 gun turret in the immediate background. The original photo caption, released on 2 November 1943, reads (in part): "A round, clean hole marks the point of entry of a Nazi bomb on the cruiser Savannah. Inside, all was chaos, smoke, blood, and death."

Struck by a German bomb on 11 September 1943, the cruiser USS Savannah rescued casualties, brought a fire under control, and continued to bring fire upon the enemy's shore installation during the battle for Salerno. Wounded brought through small hatch. The door of a small hatch swings down to permit the wounded to be brought out of a turret by their shipmates.

USS Savannah (CL-42): Corpsmen attend casualties on the ship's forecastle, after a German radio-controlled bomb hit her # 3 six-inch gun turret during the Salerno operation, 11 September 1943.

USS Savannah (CL-42): Blankets cover crewmen killed when a German radio-controlled bomb hit the ship's # 3 six-inch gun turret, during the Salerno operation, 11 September 1943.

Navy Department Bureau of Ships War Damage Report No. 44: USS Savannah (CL-42), Bomb Damage Diagram from 11 September 1943 off Salerno.

The U.S. Navy light cruiser USS Savannah (CL-42) off the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, 5 September 1944, following battle damage repairs and modernization.

USS Savannah (CL-42): 5 September 1944 photo as rebuilt after FX-1400 guided bomb damage off Salerno. Hull is blistered up to the main deck and her former single 5"/25 guns have been replaced with twin 5"/38s. She is also fitted with a new bridge and new light weight antiaircraft guns and arrangement of those guns. The entire Brooklyn class was planned to be so modified but this was canceled at the end of the war.

USS Savannah (CL-42): 5 September 1944 photo as rebuilt after FX-1400 guided bomb damage off Salerno. Hull is blistered up to the main deck and her former single 5"/25 guns have been replaced with twin 5"/38s. She is also fitted with a new bridge and new light weight antiaircraft guns and arrangement of those guns. The entire Brooklyn class was planned to be so modified but this was canceled at the end of the war.

USS Savannah (CL-42): 5 September 1944 photo as rebuilt after FX-1400 guided bomb damage off Salerno. Hull is blistered up to the main deck and her former single 5"/25 guns have been replaced with twin 5"/38s. She is also fitted with a new bridge and new light weight antiaircraft guns and arrangement of those guns. The entire Brooklyn class was planned to be so modified but this was canceled at the end of the war.

USS Savannah (CL-42): Starboard bow view while steaming in the Savannah River, Savannah, Georgia while attending Navy Day celebrations on or about 27 October 1945.

Composite photo of "builders model" of USS Savannah (CL-42), a World War II American light cruiser. Photo is composite of three photos taken by iPhone and merged on Photoshop, where photo enhancement was done to compensate for low light conditions, reflections from display case, and undesirable background objects. Photo taken at the Ships of the Sea Maritime Museum in Savannah, Georgia, U.S. on November 1, 2018.