CL53/A12-1
TS133 (080)
                          U. S. S. SAN DIEGO

                                               Care Fleet Post Office,
                                               San Francisco, Calif.,
                                               December 12, 1942.

From:         The Commanding Officer.
To  :         The Chief of Naval Operations (Office of
                  Naval Records and Library).

Subject:      War Diary for Month of November, 1942 -
              Forwarding of.

Reference:    (a) Cominch and CNO joint let. FF1/A12-1(7)
                  serial 291 A12-1(420222) of 22 Feb. 1942.

Enclosure:    (A) Copy of subject diary.

    1.        As directed by reference (a), enclosure (A)
is forwarded herewith.

                             B. F. PERRY


                          U. S. S. SAN DIEGO

                            WAR DIARY


From: November 1, 1942.                 November 30, 1942.


                                                1 - 10 November, 1942.

    Unit.
      U.S.S. SAN DIEGO (CL-53), U. S. Pacific Fleet.

        No remarks.  At anchor, Noumea, New Caledonia.

                                                    11 November, 1942.

    Unit.
      U.S.S. SAN DIEGO (CL-53), U. S. Pacific Fleet.

    Operation Order.
      None received.

    Position, Course, Weather, ect.
      1147 Underway with Task Force 16 for sea.  Using
      various courses and speeds.

                                                    12 November, 1942.

    Unit.
      U.S.S. SAN DIEGO (CL-53), U. S. Pacific Fleet.

    Operation Order.
      None receives.

    Position, course, Weather, etc.
      Noon position-Lat. 19°-48’ S, Long. 162°-38’ E.
      Distance made good since previous noon-300 miles.
      Steaming on northwesterly courses at 20 knots.  except
      when launching and recovering planes.  Calm sea,
      wind force 2-4 from southeast.  Partially cloudy to
      overcast, good visibility with surface haze.


                                                    13 November, 1942.

    Unit.
      U.S.S. SAN DIEGO (CL-53), U. S. Pacific Fleet.

    Operation Order.
      None Received.

    Position, Course, Weather, etc.
      Noon position-Lat. 13°-55’ S, Long. 161°-3’ E.
      Distance made good since previous noon, 370 miles.
      Steering northwesterly, northerly and southerly
      courses at 20 knots.  2150 Course 300°T, speed 23
      knots.  2308 Speed 25 knots.  Calm sea, wind force
      2-3 from southeast.  Partially cloudy, excellent
      visibility with slight haze at upper altitudes.

    Operations.
      Task Group 16.3 left formation. 


                                                    14 November, 1942.

    Unit.
      U.S.S. SAN DIEGO (CL-53), U. S. Pacific Fleet.

    Operation Order.
      None received.

    Position, Course, Weather, etc.
      Noon position-Lat. 12°-46’ S, Long. 159°-07’ E.
      Distance made good since previous noon-251 miles.
      Steaming on various courses at various speeds
      following carrier.  Over cast, fair to good visibility.
      Moderate sea, wind force 2-5 from southeast.

    Operations.
      Carrier launched search and attack groups during 
      forenoon to strike enemy forces to northward.  No
      surface contacts.  Retired to southward during
      during afternoon.  1207 Combat air patrol shot down
      one enemy patrol bomber.


                                                    15 November, 1942.

    Unit.
      U.S.S. SAN DIEGO (CL-53), U. S. Pacific Fleet.

    Operation Order.
      None received.

    Position, Course, Weather, etc.
      Noon position-Lat. 17°-54’ S, Long. 159°-59’ E.
      Distance since previous noon, 337 miles.  Steaming 
      in southeasterly direction at 18-20 knots.  Rough
      sea, wind force 5 from southeast.  Mostly cloudy,
      good visibility with surface haze.


                                                    16 November, 1942.

    Unit.
      U.S.S. SAN DIEGO (CL-53), U. S. Pacific Fleet.

    Operation Order.
      None received.

    Position, Course, Weather, etc.
      Noon position-Lat. 22°-31’ S. Long. 165°-53’ E.
      Distance made good since pervious noon-457 miles.
      Proceeding on various courses to Noumea, New Caledonia,
      where ship moored at 1422.


                                                17- 30 November, 1942.

    Unit.
      U.S.S. SAN DIEGO (CL-53), U. S. Pacific Fleet.

      No remarks.  At anchor, Noumea, New Caledonia.

  

	The second SAN DIEGO, an antiaircraft light cruiser, 
was laid down on 27 March 1940 by Bethlehem Steel Co., 
Quincy, Mass.; sponsored by Mrs. Percy J. Benbough; launched 
on 26 July 1941, and acquired by the Navy and commissioned 
on 10 January 1942, Capt. Benjamin F. Perry in command.

	After shakedown training in Chesapeake Bay, SAN DIEGO 
sailed via the Panama Canal to the west coast, arriving at 
her name-sake city on 16 May 1942.  Escorting SARATOGA 
(CV-3) at best speed, SAN DIEGO barely missed the Battle of 
Midway.  On 15 June, she began escort duty for HORNET (CV-8) 
in operations in the South Pacific.  Early in August, she 
supported the first American offensive of the war, the 
invasion of the Solomons at Guadalcanal.  With powerful air 
and naval forces, the Japanese fiercely contested the 
American thrust and inflicted heavy damage; SAN DIEGO was 
the unwilling witness to the sinking of WASP (CV-7) on 15 
September and of HORNET on 26 October.

	SAN DIEGO gave antiaircraft protection for ENTERPRISE 
(CV-6) as part of the decisive three day Naval Battle of 
Guadalcanal, 12 to 15 November 1942.  After several months 
of service in the dangerous waters surrounding the Solomon 
Islands, SAN DIEGO sailed via Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides, 
to Auckland, New Zealand, for replenishment.

	At Noumea, New Caledonia, the light cruiser joined 
SARATOGA, the only American carrier available in the South 
Pacific, and carrier HMS VICTORIOUS in support of the 
invasion of Munda, New Georgia, and of Bougainville.  On 5 
November and 11 November, she joined SARATOGA and PRINCETON 
(CVL-23) in highly successful raids against Rabaul.  SAN 
DIEGO served as part of Operation "Galvanic," the capture of 
Tarawa in the Gilbert Islands.  She escorted LEXINGTON 
(CV-16), damaged by a torpedo, to Pearl Harbor for repairs 
on 9 December.  SAN DIEGO continued on to San Francisco for 
installation of modern radar equipment, a combat information 
center and 40 millimeter antiaircraft guns to replace her 
obsolete 1.1" batteries.

	She joined Vice Adm. Marc Mitscher's Fast Carrier Task 
Force at Pearl Harbor in January 1944 and served as an 
important part of that mighty force for the remainder of the 
war.  Her rapid-fire guns protected the carriers against 
aerial attack.  SAN DIEGO participated in Operation 
"Flintlock," the capture of Majuro and Kwajalein, and 
"Catchpole," the invasion of Eniwetok, in the Marshall 
Islands from 31 January to 4 March.  During this period, 
Task Force 58 delivered a devastating attack against Truk, 
the Japanese naval base known as the "Gibraltar of the 
Pacific."

	SAN DIEGO steamed back to San Francisco for more 
additions to her radar and then rejoined the carrier force 
at Majuro in time to join in raids against Wake and Marcus 
Islands in June.  She was part of the carrier force covering 
the invasion of Saipan, participated in strikes against the 
Bonin Islands, and shared in the victory of the First Battle 
of the Philippine Sea on 19 and 20 June.  After a brief 
replenishment stop at Eniwetok, SAN DIEGO and her carriers 
supported the invasion of Guam and Tinian, struck at Palau, 
and conducted the first carrier raids against the 
Philippines.  On 6 and 8 August, she stood by as the 
carriers gave close air support to Marines landing on 
Peleliu, Palau Islands.

	On 21 September, the Task Force struck at the Manila 
Bay area.  After replenishing at Saipan and Ulithi, she 
sailed with Task Force 38 in its first strike against 
Okinawa.  From 12 to 15 October, the carriers pounded the 
airfields of Formosa while SAN DIEGO's guns shot down 2 of 9 
Japanese attackers in her sector and drove the others away; 
unfortunately, some enemy planes got through and damaged 
HOUSTON (CL-81) and CANBERRA (CA-70).  SAN DIEGO helped 
escort the two crippled cruisers out of danger to Ulithi.  
After rejoining the fast carrier force, she successfully 
rode out the typhoon of 17 and 18 December, despite heavy 
rolling of the ship.  In January 1945, Task Force 38 entered 
the South China Sea for attacks against Formosa, Luzon, 
Indochina, and southern China.  The force struck Okinawa 
before returning to Ulithi for replenishment.

	SAN DIEGO next participated in carrier operations 
against the home islands of Japan, the first since the 
Doolittle/HORNET raid of 1942.  The carrier force finished 
the month of February with strikes against Iwo Jima.

	On 1 March, SAN DIEGO and other cruisers were detached 
from the carrier force to bombard Okino Daijo Island in 
support of the landings on Okinawa.  After another visit to 
Ulithi, she joined in carrier strikes against Kyushu, again 
shooting down or driving away enemy planes attacking the 
carriers.  On the night of 27 and 28 March, SAN DIEGO 
participated in the shelling of Minami Daito Jima; on 11 
April, and again on 16 April, her guns shot down two 
attackers.  She helped furnish antiaircraft protection for 
ships damaged by suicide attacks and escorted them to 
safety.  After a stop at Ulithi, she continued as part of 
the carrier force supporting the invasion of Okinawa, until 
she entered an advanced base drydock at Guian, Samar Island, 
Philippines, for repairs and maintenance.

	She then served once more with the carrier force 
operating off the coast of Japan from 10 July until 
hostilities ceased.  On 27 August, SAN DIEGO was the first 
major Allied warship to enter Tokyo Bay since the beginning 
of the war, and she helped in the occupation of the Yokosuka 
Naval Base and the surrender of the Japanese battleship 
NAGATO.  After having steamed over 300,000 miles in the 
Pacific, she returned to San Francisco on 14 September 1945.  
SAN DIEGO gave further service as part of operation "Magic 
Carpet" in bringing American troops home.  She was 
decommissioned and placed in the Pacific Reserve Fleet on 4 
November 1946, berthed at Bremerton, Wash.  She was 
redesignated CLAA-53 on 18 March 1949.  Ten years later, she 
was struck from the Navy list on 1 March 1959.

	SAN DIEGO received 15 battle stars for service in World 
War II.

	[SAN DIEGO was sold on 3 February 1960 and broken up in 
December 1960.

                      Atlanta Class
                    CL-Light Cruisers

CL-51 ATLANTA
CL-52 JUNEAU
CL-53 SAN DEIGO
CL-54 SAN JUAN


Completed:
    1942

Displacement (tons):
    6,00 (stand)
    8,200 (Mean war service)

Length (oa):
    541’

Beam:
    53’

Draft (max):
    27’

Armament (max auth):
    16 5"/38 
     3 40 mm twins (SAN JUAN 5)
     1 40 mm quads 
    15 20 mm (SAN JUAN 9)
     2 DC tracks
     2 21" quad TT

Propulsion:

    Speed:
       32 knots (max)

    Max. Cruising radius:
       4,000 miles @ 25 knots
       7,700 MILES @ 15 knots

Horsepower:
       75,000 (shaft)

Drive:
       2 screws
       geared turbine
Fuel:
       1,528 tons oil (max)

Aircraft:
       3 SC-1

War Time Losses:

      ATLANTA CL-51
       JUNEAU CL-52