USS Fall River (CA-131)

Heavy cruiser of the United States Navy

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

41°42′18″N 71°09′45″W﻿ / ﻿41.7049606°N 71.1624407°W﻿ / 41.7049606; -71.1624407

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

[edit]

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.

Bow of USS Fall River at Battleship Cove

## Awards

[edit]

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

## References

[edit]

* 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.

* v
* t
* e

Baltimore-class cruisers

* Baltimore
* Boston
* Canberra
* Quincy
* Pittsburgh
* Saint Paul
* Columbus
* Helena
* Bremerton
* Fall River
* Macon
* Toledo
* Los Angeles
* Chicago

* Preceded by: Wichita
* Followed by: Oregon City class

* List of United States Navy cruisers

* v
* t
* e

Fall River, Massachusetts

History|

* American Printing Company
* Battle of Freetown
* B.M.C. Durfee High School 1886 building
* Bradford Durfee Textile School/Bradford Durfee College of Technology
* Corky Row Historic District
* Downtown Fall River Historic District
* Fall River Railroad
* Fall River Iron Works
* Fall River Line
* Great Fall River fire of 1928
* Highlands Historic District
* Lower Highlands Historic District
* Historic Places
* Oak Grove Cemetery
* Pocasset Manufacturing Company
* Slade's Ferry Bridge
* The Skeleton in Armor
* Truesdale Hospital
* USS Fall River (CA-131)
* Watuppa Branch

Geography|

* Fall River granite
* Freetown-Fall River State Forest
* Mount Hope Bay
* Quequechan River
* Taunton River
* Watuppa Ponds

People|

* Mariano S. Bishop
* Lizzie Borden
* Nathaniel B. Borden
* Richard Borden
* M. C. D. Borden
* Charlie Buffinton
* James Buffington
* Robert Correia
* Jasiel Correia
* John W. Cummings
* Orin Fowler
* Chris Herren
* Emeril Lagasse
* List of mayors of Fall River, Massachusetts
* Humberto Sousa Cardinal Medeiros
* Joe Raposo
* Jerry Remy
* Melvin Zais

Places|

* Academy Building
* Al Mac's Diner-Restaurant
* Battleship Cove
* Braga Bridge
* Copicut Woods
* Fall River Government Center
* Fall River Heritage State Park
* Interstate 195 (Rhode Island-Massachusetts)
* Marine Museum at Fall River
* List of mills
* Durfee Mills
* Flint Mills
* King Philip Mills
* New Harbour Mall
* Old Colony & Fall River Railroad Museum
* Quequechan Club
* Route 24
* St. Joseph's Orphanage

Media|

* The Herald News
* WHTB
* WSAR

Education|

* Fall River Public Schools
* B.M.C. Durfee HS
* Diman Regional Vocational Technical HS
* Bristol Community College

| Closed|

* Bishop Connolly HS
* Notre Dame School

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Religion|

* Roman Catholic Diocese of Fall River
* St. Anne's Church and Parish Complex
* Notre Dame de Lourdes Church
* St. Patrick's Church

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