USS Biloxi (CL-80)

She was launched 23 February 1943 by Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Newport News, Virginia; sponsored by Mrs. Louis Braun[?]; commissioned 31 August 1943, Captain Daniel M. McGurl in command; and reported to Cruiser Division 13, Pacific Fleet.

From January 1944 until April 1945 Biloxi screened fast carrier task groups, bombarded shore installations and covered amphibious landings during the Eniwetok, Marshall Islands, seizure (31 January - 8 February 1944); Truk raid (16-17 February); Marianas raids (21-22 February); Palau-Yap-Ulithi-Woleai[?] raid (30 March-1 April); raids in support of the Hollandia[?], New Guinea landings (21-24 April); Truk-Satawan[?]-Ponape raid (29 April-1 May); Saipan invasion (11-24 June); Battle of the Philippine Sea[?] (19-20 June); 3rd Bonins[?] raid (3-4 July); occupation of Guam (12 July-15 August); Chichi Jima[?] bombardment (4 July); Palau-Yap-Ulithi raids (25-27 July); 4th Bonins raid (4-5 August); Volcanos[?]-Bonins-Yap raid (31 August-8 September); occupation of the southern Palaus (6 September-14 October); Okinawa raid (10 October); northern Luzon and Formosa raids (11-14 October); Luzon raids (15 and 17-19 October, 5-6, 13-14, and 19-25 November, and 14-16 December); Battle of Leyte Gulf (24-26 October); Luzon raids (6-7 January 1945); China coast raids (12 and 16 January); 5th Fleet[?] raids on Honshu and the Nansei Shoto[?] (15-16 and 25 February and 1 March); Iwo Jima invasion (15 February-1 March); and Okinawa operation (25 March-20 April). Biloxi was slightly damaged by a Japanese suicide plane off Okinawa 27 March 1945 but continued in action delivering accurate anti-aircraft fire.

She departed the fighting area 27 April 1945 enroute to the west coast for overhaul. She headed westward again in July, took part in the attack on Wake Island (18 July), and arrived at Leyte 14 August. Following the surrender of Japan she assisted in the evacuation of Allied prisoners of war from Nagasaki. Remaining on occupation duty until 9 November 1945 she then proceeded to Pearl Harbor and the United States. She moved to Port Angeles, Washington, 15 January 1946 and reported to Commander, 19th Fleet[?], for inactivation. On 18 May 1946 she was placed in commission in reserve at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and on 29 October 1946 went out of commission in reserve. She was part of the Pacific Reserve Fleet[?] for the next decade and a half. Biloxi was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register in September 1961 and sold for scrapping in March 1962.

Biloxi received nine battle stars for her service in the Pacific during World War II.

General Characteristics

• Displacement: 10,000 tons
• Length: 610.1 ft ( m)
• Beam: 66.4 ft ( m)
• Draft: 26.5 ft ( m)
• Speed: 33 knots
• Complement: 992 officers and men
• Armament: 12 x 6-inch (152 mm) guns, 12 x 5-inch (127 mm) guns

External Link

• Navy photographs of Biloxi (CL-80) (http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-usn/usnsh-b/cl80.htm)

This article includes information collected from the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.