USS Albany was a United States Navy Oregon City-class heavy cruiser, later
converted to the guided missile cruiser CG-10. The converted cruiser was the
lead ship of the new Albany guided missile cruiser class. She was the
fourth ship to carry the name Albany. The ship was laid down on 6 March 1944
at Quincy, Massachusetts, by the Bethlehem Steel Company, launched on 30
June 1945, sponsored by Mrs. Elizabeth F. Pinckney, and commissioned on 15 June
1946 at the Boston Navy Yard, Captain Harold A. Carlisle in command.
Service history Following outfitting and a shakedown
cruise in the vicinity of Casco Bay, Maine, Albany began operations along the
east coast of the United States punctuated with cruises to the West
Indies. During the ensuing months, the cruiser made a number of voyages for the
purpose of training naval reservists and NROTC midshipmen. Albany continued to
perform such duty until 11 September 1948, when she stood out of Chesapeake
Bay for her first tour of duty with the American naval forces operating in the
Mediterranean Sea, recently made a permanent establishment as the 6th
Fleet. That deployment set the tone for the next decade. The cruiser alternated
five assignments to the 6th Fleet with operations along the east coast of the
United States and in the West Indies and made three cruises to South American
ports. During one of the South American voyages, Albany carried the official
United States representative to the inauguration of the President of Brazil
in January 1951. For two years, stretching at least until
the autumn of 1955, Albany served as flagship for Commander,
Battleship-Cruiser Force, Atlantic. = Conversion to Guided Missile Cruiser =
On 30 June 1958, Albany was placed out of commission at the Boston Naval
Shipyard to begin conversion to a guided missile cruiser. On 1 November 1958, she
was redesignated CG-10. The warship spent the next four years at Boston
undergoing very extensive modifications as part of the conversion; stripped down
to her hull to be fitted with a new superstructure. Albany was
recommissioned at Boston on 3 November 1962 with Captain Ben B. Pickett in
command. For almost five years, she alternated deployments to European
waters – both to the Mediterranean Sea and to the North Atlantic – with
operations along the east coast and in the West Indies. During that time, the
cruiser visited many foreign ports and participated in a number of exercises
with units of friendly navies. On 1 March 1967, she was decommissioned at
the Boston Naval Shipyard once again to undergo extensive modifications. Some 20
months later, on 9 November 1968, Albany was placed back in commission at Boston
with Captain Allan P. Slaff in command. In 1973, the ship was again
decommissioned for overhaul at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. It was
recommissioned in May 1974 and homeported in Norfolk, VA under the
command of Captain John J. Ekelund. Shortly thereafter it became the
flagship of the 2nd Fleet. Between 1976 and 1980, Albany was the
flagship of the 6th Fleet, and homeported in Gaeta, Italy.
Decommissioning and disposal Albany was decommissioned on 29 August
1980 and laid up on the Elizabeth River across from the Norfolk Navy Yard. She
was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 30 June 1985 but she
remained at her berth and held for possible donation as a museum ship in
her name sake city for a further 5 years. Though there was serious interest
in saving the ship a feasible museum and financial plan was never realized and
she was sold for scrapping on 12 August 1990.
Commemoration A portion of Albany '​s bow resides at
the Albany County Fairgrounds in Altamont, New York.
The original 14-foot-long brass model of the ship built by the United States Navy
to help determine where antenna arrays would go on the actual-size ships was
restored in 2013 and is on display at the Albany Heritage Area Visitors
Center. References
Further reading Albany. USS Albany CA-123: Mediterranean
Cruise of 1951. [Place of publication not identified]: [publisher not
identified], 1951. OCLC 30880411 Albany. The USS Albany: 1955
Mediterranean Cruise. [Place of publication not identified]: [publisher
not identified], 1955. OCLC 30881092 External links
USS Albany Association homepage Photos of Albany
Naval Vessel Register entry for Albany Entry for Ekelund Range
This article includes information collected from the public domain sources
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships and Naval Vessel Register.