USS St. Louis CL-49


USS St Louis showing damage after being torpedoed in the Kula Gulf

Commissioned: May 19, 1939
Decommissioned: June 20, 1946
Displacement: 10,000 tons
Speed: 33 knots
Crew: 888


  • The USS St. Louis was moored at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 but somehow managed to escape into open water, receiving only minor damage while most of its docked counterparts were either destroyed or severely damaged.
  • The St. Louis was given the nickname "The Lucky Lou" due to her survival of the bombing of Pearl Harbor and fortunate escape from an engagement in in the Kula Gulf in which she was hit by a torpedo which inexplicably failed to detonate.
  • Throughout her relatively short 7 year career in the U.S. Navy the St. Louis was awarded eleven Battle Stars and the Asiatic-Pacific Area Service Medal for participation in several major offenses.
  • The ship's most well-known engagement was her assault on Okinawa.  She joined Task Force 54 as they proceeded to incessantly bomb the city before and during the invasion.
  • On April 1, 1945 (D-Day) here five and six inch guns blasted a Naval record 1,450 rounds.
  • The USS St. Louis is also known for the somber role it played in one of the United States' most tragic decisions of WWII.  In 1939 the ship was responsible for the transport of more than 1,000 Jewish refugees from Germany to Cuba and the United States.  However, a last-minute decree was passed in Cuba which invalidated the landing permits for which the refugees had paid so dearly.  When the ship continued to the United States, a beacon of freedom and justice to those living under Hitler, the refugees were met not with open arms but rejection by the U.S. government and were forced to return to Germany.  Though some of these individuals were absorbed by Britain, France, and other European nations, most were not so fortunate and most likely died at the hands of those they had tried so hard to escape.
  • After 1946, the St. Louis was sold to the nation of Brazil and recommissioned as Tamandre.  She was decommissioned in 1976 and later sunk off the coast of South Africa.
References:
"USS St. Louis CL-49." USS St. Louis. 2010. http://www.ussstlouis.com/official_history.htm. Accessed June 2012.
"The Tragedy of the SS St. Louis." Jewish Virtual Library. 2012. http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/stlouis.html. Accessed June 2012.