USS Mobile (CL-63) was Cleveland-class

Cleveland class cruiser

The United States Navy designed the Cleveland class of light cruisers for World War II with the goal of increased range and AA armament as compared with earlier classes.A total of 52 ships of this class were projected and 3 canceled...

 light cruiser

Light cruiser

A light cruiser is a type of small- or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck...

 of the United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

. She was the third ship named for Mobile, Alabama

Mobile, Alabama

Mobile is the third most populous city in the Southern US state of Alabama and is the county seat of Mobile County. It is located on the Mobile River and the central Gulf Coast of the United States. The population within the city limits was 195,111 during the 2010 census. It is the largest...

.

She was laid down on 14 April 1941 by Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Newport News, Virginia

Newport News, Virginia

Newport News is an independent city located in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of Virginia. It is at the southeastern end of the Virginia Peninsula, on the north shore of the James River extending southeast from Skiffe's Creek along many miles of waterfront to the river's mouth at Newport News...

; launched on 15 May 1942; sponsored by Mrs. Harry T. Hartwell; and commissioned on 24 March 1943, Captain

Captain (naval)

Captain is the name most often given in English-speaking navies to the rank corresponding to command of the largest ships. The NATO rank code is OF-5, equivalent to an army full colonel....

 Charles J. Wheeler in command.

1943

Following a Chesapeake Bay

Chesapeake Bay

The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. It lies off the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by Maryland and Virginia. The Chesapeake Bay's drainage basin covers in the District of Columbia and parts of six states: New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and West...

 shakedown and a brief training cruise to Casco Bay

Casco Bay

Casco Bay is an inlet of the Gulf of Maine on the southern coast of Maine, New England, United States. Its easternmost approach is Cape Small and its westernmost approach is Two Lights in Cape Elizabeth...

, Mobile departed for the Pacific, arriving Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...

 on 23 July 1943 for a month of further training. On 22 August, she sailed west, joining Task Force 15 (TF 15) the following day for a raid on Marcus Island on 31 August. She participated in two more carrier raids from Hawaii

Hawaii

Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...

 before joining the 5th Fleet for the Gilberts campaign. She screened the ships of TF 15 as they struck at Tarawa Atoll

Tarawa Atoll

Tarawa is an atoll in the central Pacific Ocean, previously the capital of the former British colony of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands. It is the location of the capital of the Republic of Kiribati, South Tarawa...

 on 18 September, and the ships of TF 14 hitting Wake on 5–6 October. On 21 October, she sailed west again in Task Group 53.3 (TG 53.3). By 8 November, she was off Bougainville Island

Bougainville Island

Bougainville Island is the main island of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville of Papua New Guinea. This region is also known as Bougainville Province or the North Solomons. The population of the province is 175,160 , which includes the adjacent island of Buka and assorted outlying islands...

 covering reinforcement landings. Thence she steamed to Espiritu Santo

Espiritu Santo

Espiritu Santo is the largest island in the nation of Vanuatu, with an area of . It belongs to the archipelago of the New Hebrides in the Pacific region of Melanesia. It is in the Sanma Province of Vanuatu....

, where she joined TG 53.7 for the assault and occupation of Tarawa. From the landings at Betio

Betio

Betio is an island and a town at the extreme southwest of South Tarawa in Kiribati. The main port of Tarawa Atoll is located there.-Overview:...

 on the 20th-28th, she remained in the area supporting the Marine assault forces as they fought the first vigorous beachhead opposition to an American amphibious landing.

On 1 December, Mobile was reassigned to TF 50 (Fast Carrier Forces, Pacific Fleet), the nucleus of what was to become TF 38/58. From the Gilberts, this force moved north for air attacks on Kwajalein

Kwajalein

Kwajalein Atoll , is part of the Republic of the Marshall Islands . The southernmost and largest island in the atoll is named Kwajalein Island. English-speaking residents of the U.S...

 and Wotje in the Marshalls. From there, the force returned to Pearl Harbor. Mobile continued on to San Diego, where she arrived and reported for escort duty to Amphibious Forces, 5th Fleet on 29 December.

1944

Fifteen days later, sailing with TG 53.5, she began to make her way back to the Marshalls. Detached on 29 January 1944, Mobile, with other of Cruiser Division 13 (CruDiv 13), bombarded Wotje and then rejoined their task force for the assault and occupation of Kwajalein. Until 6 February, she performed fire support and carrier screening duties off Roi and Namur

Roi-Namur

Roi-Namur is an island in the northern part of the Kwajalein atoll in the Marshall Islands.Occupied by Japanese forces prior to World War II, it was the target of the U.S. 4th Marine Division in the Battle of Kwajalein, in February 1944....

. She then proceeded to Majuro

Majuro

Majuro , is a large coral atoll of 64 islands in the Pacific Ocean, and forms a legislative district of the Ratak Chain of the Marshall Islands. The atoll itself has a land area of and encloses a lagoon of...

 where, on the 12th, she joined TF 58.

The mission of the fast carrier forces had by this time evolved into sealing off designated enemy-held atolls and islands which the Allies intended to take and interdicting others to isolate and keep to a minimum Japanese resistance at the target. Now a third mission was to be added, the pounding of major enemy bases without the aid of land-based aircraft, leaving little or no need for a return visit. Thus, to ease the occupation of Eniwetok and to aid in the encirclement of Rabaul

Rabaul

Rabaul is a township in East New Britain province, Papua New Guinea. The town was the provincial capital and most important settlement in the province until it was destroyed in 1994 by falling ash of a volcanic eruption. During the eruption, ash was sent thousands of metres into the air and the...

, TF 58 departed Majuro and sailed for the Carolines. On the 16th-17th, they devastated Truk, the best fleet anchorage in the Mandated Territories, the base of the Japanese combined fleet and the center for air and sea communications between Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 and the Bismarck Archipelago

Bismarck Archipelago

The Bismarck Archipelago is a group of islands off the northeastern coast of New Guinea in the western Pacific Ocean and is part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea.-History:...

. The force then sailed northwest to the Mariana Islands

Mariana Islands

The Mariana Islands are an arc-shaped archipelago made up by the summits of 15 volcanic mountains in the north-western Pacific Ocean between the 12th and 21st parallels north and along the 145th meridian east...

 for strikes on Saipan

Saipan

Saipan is the largest island of the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands , a chain of 15 tropical islands belonging to the Marianas archipelago in the western Pacific Ocean with a total area of . The 2000 census population was 62,392...

, Tinian

Tinian

Tinian is one of the three principal islands of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.-Geography:Tinian is about 5 miles southwest of its sister island, Saipan, from which it is separated by the Saipan Channel. It has a land area of 39 sq.mi....

, and Guam

Guam

Guam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States located in the western Pacific Ocean. It is one of five U.S. territories with an established civilian government. Guam is listed as one of 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories by the Special Committee on Decolonization of the United...

, encountering heavy aerial resistance there on the 21st-22nd. After a brief respite for replenishment at Majuro, Mobile sailed to Espiritu Santo, where the ships of TG 58.1 were reorganized as TG 36.1 on 12 March. On the 15th, they steamed northwest to cover Marine forces as they landed on Emirau

Landing on Emirau

The Landing on Emirau was the last of the series of operations that made up Operation Cartwheel, General Douglas MacArthur's strategy for the encirclement of the major Japanese base at Rabaul. A force of nearly 4,000 United States Marines landed on the island of Emirau on 20 March 1944. The island...

 on 20 March.

By the 24th, Mobiles first anniversary, she had steamed over 70,000 miles and participated in 11 operations against the enemy. Three days later, her group once again became TG 58.1 and readied for further strikes on enemy installations. From 29 March to 3 April, they struck at the Palaus, Yap

Yap

Yap, also known as Wa'ab by locals, is an island in the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific Ocean. It is a state of the Federated States of Micronesia. Yap's indigenous cultures and traditions are still strong compared to other neighboring islands. The island of Yap actually consists of four...

, and Woleai

Woleai

Woleai is a coral atoll of twenty-two islands in the eastern Caroline Islands in the Pacific Ocean, and forms a legislative district in Yap State in the Federated States of Micronesia and is located approximately west-northwest of Ifalik and northeast of Eauripik...

, returning to Majuro on the 5th. Next they supported Allied landings at Aitape

Aitape

Aitape is a small town of about 8,000 people on the north coast of Papua New Guinea in the Sandaun Province. It is a coastal settlement that is almost equidistant from the provincial capitals of Wewak and Vanimo, and marks the midpoint of the highway between these two capitals...

, Humboldt Bay

Teluk Yos Sudarso

Yos Sudarso Bay also known earlier as Humboldt Bay is a small bay in Indonesia. It is on the north coast of New Guinea, about 50 kilometers west of the border between Indonesia's province of Papua and the country of Papua New Guinea...

, and Tanah Merah Bay in New Guinea

New Guinea

New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...

, and bombarded Wake Island

Wake Island

Wake Island is a coral atoll having a coastline of in the North Pacific Ocean, located about two-thirds of the way from Honolulu west to Guam east. It is an unorganized, unincorporated territory of the United States, administered by the Office of Insular Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior...

 and Sawar Airfield on 21–22 April. From there, they returned to the Carolines where they conducted air strikes on Truk and bombarded Satawan on 29–30 April, hit Ponape on 1 May, and then headed back to Majuro to replenish and rearm in preparation for the Marianas campaign.

On 6 June, the carrier force sortied from Majuro again. By the 11th, they were in the Marianas, striking at Saipan, Tinian, Guam, and Rota

Rota (island)

Rota also known as the "peaceful island", is the southernmost island of the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and the second southernmost of the Marianas Archipelago. It lies approximately 40 miles north-northeast of the United States territory of Guam...

. From then through the 17th its planes and ships ranged from the Volcano

Volcano Islands

The Volcano Islands is a group of three Japanese islands south of the Bonin Islands that belong to the municipality of Ogasawara...

 and Bonin Islands to the southernmost Marianas supporting the assault on Saipan and preventing Japanese reinforcements from reaching that beleaguered island and the next target, Guam. On the 18th, searches for a Japanese Fleet, reportly en route from the Philippines

Philippines

The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

, began to the west of the Marianas. The following day the Battle of the Philippine Sea

Battle of the Philippine Sea

The Battle of the Philippine Sea was a decisive naval battle of World War II which effectively eliminated the Imperial Japanese Navy's ability to conduct large-scale carrier actions. It took place during the United States' amphibious invasion of the Mariana Islands during the Pacific War...

 opened with a Japanese carrier-based aircraft attack on the ships covering the Saipan assault. In the ensuing battle, Mobile continued her role as a guardian of the carriers, often dispatching her OS2U Kingfisher

OS2U Kingfisher

The Vought OS2U Kingfisher was an American catapult-launched observation floatplane. It was a compact mid-wing monoplane, with a large central float and small stabilizing floats. Performance was modest, because of its light engine...

s on antisubmarine and rescue missions, while planes from the carriers inflicted irreparable damage on Japanese aircraft strength and sank on the 20th, bringing the number of Japanese carriers lost to three, and having been sunk by and on the 19th.

Retiring from the area on the 23rd, the carrier force proceeded to Pagan Island

Pagan Island

Pagan is an island of the Northern Mariana Islands chain,located at , approximately 320 kilometers northof Saipan.Pagan has an area of 47.23 km² , making it the fourth largest island of the Northern Marianas, and consists of two stratovolcanoes joined by a narrow strip of land.The...

, against which strikes were launched on the 24th, and then made for Eniwetok. Thence, on the 30th, they departed for further strikes on the Bonin and Volcano Islands on 4 July, before turning south once again to continue coverage of the Marianas campaign. Commencing daily strikes on Guam and Rota 6 July, the force remained in the area until after the landings on Guam. On the 23rd, TG 58.1 with Mobile in the inner protective ring, steamed southwest for raids in the Western Carolines. Three days later they pounded Yap, Ulithi

Ulithi

Ulithi is an atoll in the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific Ocean, about 191 km east of Yap. It consists of 40 islets totalling , surrounding a lagoon about long and up to wide—at one of the largest in the world. It is administered by the state of Yap in the Federated States of...

, and Fais

Fais Island

Fais Island is a raised coral island in the eastern Caroline Islands in the Pacific Ocean, and forms a legislative district in Yap State in the Federated States of Micronesia...

, while TGs 58.2 and 58.3 hit the Palaus. On the 30th, TF 58 retired to Saipan, arriving 2 August.

Underway again the same day, they headed back to the Bonin and Volcano Islands. As carrier planes bombed enemy installations on Iwo, Chichi, Ani, and Haha Jimas on 4 August, Mobile was detached with CruDiv 13 and Destroyer Division 46 (DesDiv 46)) to make an anti-shipping sweep in the Chichi Jima area. In the ensuing hours Mobile assisted in the sinking of one destroyer and a large cargo vessel. The following day she participated in the bombardment of Chichi Jima, and then set course for Eniwetok.

Mobiles fast carrier group, now designated TG 38.3, began September with strikes on the Palaus from the 6th-8th, then sailed west, raiding Mindanao on the 9th-10th, and the Visayas

Visayas

The Visayas or Visayan Islands and locally known as Kabisay-an gid, is one of the three principal geographical divisions of the Philippines, along with Mindanao and Luzon. It consists of several islands, primarily surrounding the Visayan Sea, although the Visayas are considered the northeast...

, on the 12th-13th. On the 15th, the group returned to the Palaus to cover the landings on Peleliu and Angaur. By the 18th the ships of TG 38.3 were headed back to the Philippines

Philippines

The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

. On the 21st, the force’s planes struck at the Manila

Manila

Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...

 area, and on the 24th swept the Visayas again.

The force sortied from Ulithi once again on 6 October to pave the way for the upcoming Philippine operations. After the carrier planes had struck enemy installations in the Ryūkyūs, Mobile was detached with and to search for and destroy two enemy ships 30 miles distant from the force. Reaching the area, they discovered only one large cargo ship, the other vessel having been disposed of by several of the carrier planes. The three men-of-war quickly sank the cargo ship and rejoined TF 38 for strikes on Formosa

Taiwan

Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...

 and the Pescadores

Pescadores

The Penghu Islands, also known as Pescadores are an archipelago off the western coast of Taiwan in the Taiwan Strait consisting of 90 small islands and islets covering an area of 141 square kilometers....

.

On the 13th, Mobile was again detached and with others of her division formed a screen around and , wryly designated "Cripple Division 1" (CripDiv 1). Mobile and her companions, playing up erroneous reports issued by the Japanese as to the degree of damage inflicted on "the defeated and fleeing" American force, hoped to draw out the Japanese in chase, so that the carrier task force could destroy them. With the discovery of the waiting American force by Japanese scout planes, orders were changed. Canberra and Houston were towed eastward for repairs and Mobile rejoined TG 38.3 on 17 October.

The next day the force cruised to the east of the northern Philippines and on the 20th guarded the northern air approaches to Leyte as American forces streamed ashore. For the next few days, strikes were conducted throughout the Visayas and on southern Luzon

Luzon

Luzon is the largest island in the Philippines. It is located in the northernmost region of the archipelago, and is also the name for one of the three primary island groups in the country centered on the Island of Luzon...

. On the 24th, TG 38.3 was attacked by planes from Vice Admiral

Vice Admiral

Vice admiral is a senior naval rank of a three-star flag officer, which is equivalent to lieutenant general in the other uniformed services. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral...

 Jisaburō Ozawa

Jisaburo Ozawa

was an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. He was the last Commander-in-Chief of Combined Fleet. Many military historians regard Ozawa as one of the most capable Japanese flag officers.-Biography:...

's Mobile Fleet as they stood by . As the Battle for Leyte Gulf raged over the Philippines, TF 38.3 fought in the Battle off Cape Engaño on the 25th, then pursued the Mobile Fleet back toward Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

. Assigned to search for and destroy crippled enemy vessels and their escorts, Mobile aided in sinking and , then turned south to rejoin the main body of TF 38.

For the next 2 months, the cruiser continued to operate in support of the Philippine campaign, guarding the carriers as they sent their planes to cover Allied assault forces in the Visayas and on Mindoro. On 26 December, she departed Ulithi for the west coast, arriving 16 days later at Terminal Island

Terminal Island

Terminal Island is an island located in Los Angeles County, California between Los Angeles Harbor and Long Beach Harbor. Originally a mudflat known to the Spanish as Isla Raza de Buena Gente, and later called Rattlesnake Island, it has officially been Terminal Island since 1918...

 Calif., for overhaul and alterations.

1945

Back at Ulithi on 29 March, she continued on to Okinawa, arriving on 3 April, two days after the initial attacks on that Japanese bastion. Assigned to TF 51, Amphibious Forces, Pacific Fleet, for the next two months, she provided fire support, served on antiaircraft and antisubmarine patrols and saw duty as a unit of "flycatcher" groups assigned to detect and destroy Shinyo kamikaze

Kamikaze

The were suicide attacks by military aviators from the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, designed to destroy as many warships as possible....

boats before they caused any damage. At the end of May, she arrived at Leyte where she joined TG 95.7, Philippine training group, with which she operated for the remainder of the war.

Post-War

On 20 August, she cleared San Pedro Bay

San Pedro Bay (Philippines)

San Pedro Bay is a bay in the Philippines, at the northwest end of Leyte Gulf, about 15 km east-west and 20 km north-south. The bay is bounded on the north and east by Samar and on the east by Leyte Island. It is connected by San Juanico Strait to Carigara Bay of the Samar Sea. The...

 and headed north toward Okinawa and Japan for duty supporting the occupation. In September, she conducted several cruises between Japan and Okinawa, transporting liberated POWs on the first leg of their return to the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. The following month she cruised in the Sasebo

Sasebo, Nagasaki

is a city located in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. As of 2011, the city has an estimated population of 259,800 and the density of 609 persons per km². The total area is 426.47 km². The locality is famed for its scenic beauty. The city includes a part of Saikai National Park...

 area and on 18 November, with Marine Corps and Navy men embarked, she departed for San Diego. Arriving on 2 December, she conducted another "Magic Carpet" run before steaming to Puget Sound

Puget Sound

Puget Sound is a sound in the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected marine waterways and basins, with one major and one minor connection to the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Pacific Ocean — Admiralty Inlet being the major connection and...

 for inactivation. Decommissioned on 9 May 1947, she entered the Reserve Fleet at Bremerton and remained there, in reserve, until 1 March 1959 when she was struck from the Naval Vessel Register

Naval Vessel Register

The Naval Vessel Register is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from the time a vessel is authorized through its life cycle and...

. She was sold for scrapping to Zidell Explorations, Inc., on 16 December 1959, and was towed away for scrapping on 19 January 1960.