U.S.S. Reno

U.S.S. Reno

(CL-96) December 23, 1942 - June 1, 1946

Naming of the ship: Congressman James G. Scrugham, a native of Reno, used an air hammer to set the first rivet, Reno mayor August Frohlich set the second. Harry Frost, President of Reno’s Chamber of Commerce which had recommended the name for the ship, set the third.

Displacement: 6,000 Tons Dimensions: 541’ 0” (oa) x 53’ 2” x 26’ 6” (max) Armament (Weapons): 12- 5” guns, 16- 40mm anti-aircraft batteries, 16- 20mm anti0aircraft batteries, 8- 21” torpedo tubes Machinery: 75,000 SHP, Geared Turbines, 2 screws

Speed: 32.5 Knots, Crew 650 Keel laid: August 1, 1941 by the Bethlehem Steel Co., San Francisco, CA Launched: December 23, 1942 at 10:50am Commissioned: December, 28, 1943 Inactivation: June 1, 1946 at 10:15am Decommissioned: November 4, 1946 Reclassified CLAA 96: March 18, 1949

On Friday, November 6, 1942 a full page advertisement appeared in the Reno Evening Gazette inviting men between the ages of 17 and 50 to join the Navy to serve on the U.S.S. Reno Later, Nevada’s Governor Carville asked the Navy to assign officers and enlisted men from Nevada to the ship. The Navy that such assignments were prohibited because of “the undesirability of the possibility of heavy casualties falling in a restricted area of the country.”

The ship was launched at 10:50am on December 21, 1942 by Mrs. Frohlich, the mayor’s wife, with a bottle of champagne smashed against the ship’s prow. On December 28, 1943 the Reno was commissioned as a ship in the United States Navy.

Two sailors form Reno served on the U.S.S. Reno throughout the war: Lieutenant (J.G.) Henry L. Clayton and Yoman Second Class Glen A. Spoon.

Before the ship left American waters for battle, the people of Reno donated money to the captain of the ship as a present. The Captain wrote a letter of thanks to the City in which he said, “the

generosity of the good citizens of Reno is deeply appreciated by me and all of us who have the privilege and honor of serving on board this fine vessel that bears the name of your grand city. This fund will not be expended for inconsequential nonessential or non-permanent items, but will be spent on upon equipment that will bring the greatest amount of pleasure and enjoyment to the ship’s company. At this time under present day conditions, I do not feel that the expenditure of funds of the purchase of traditional silver service is justified, as all such service must be stored ashore until the end of the war. Please express to the responsible citizens our deep and sincere appreciation for the generous gift upon the part of the citizens of Reno and the City of Reno itself.” The City’s gift was used to buy instruments for the ship’s band including two pianos, one for the enlisted mens’ mess and one for the officer’s wardroom.

The Reno was in combat almost continuously after she sailed under the Golden Gate Bridge into the Pacific Ocean on April 14, 1944. During May and June she supported carriers

sending air attacks against enemy forces on Marcus Island and Wake Island. In June she provided protection to the fleet against aerial attack at Iwo Jima. During the battle, an enemy torpedo bomber crashed into her stern.

She moved to Saipan where she used her guns to bombard the island in advance of a July 9th invasion by American Marines. She remained on station interrupting Japanese efforts to reinforce and resupply the island and providing the support of her big guns to the trips ashore. During July , she sailed to Guam where she provided preinvasion bombardment for two weeks.

In August and September, the Reno and her task force roamed the Pacific attacking enemy bases and shipping.

October 24, the Reno was part of the battle fleet at Leyte Gulf in the Philippines where the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Princeton blew up. She came alongside the burning warship five times and fought fires and shot down two enemy planes while survivors form the aircraft carrier scrambled onto her deck.

On November 3, 1944 at 11:25pm a Japanese torpedo exploded 12 feet below the waterline on her port side.

The explosion killed forty-five men and tore a 20 by 60 foot hole in the side of the ship. The ship lost power to her engines and lights and started to list.

Her crew tended to the wounded and did everything they could to keep the ship afloat. She was towed for 80 days, 701 miles through a typhoon to Ulithi Lagoon

for emergency repair. Admiral “Bull” Halsey awarded the Legion of Merit to the Reno’s captain and 75 decorations to members of the crew. After temporary repairs in the Pacific, she traveled under her own power through the Panama Canal to the Charleston, South Carolina Navy yard for additional repairs.

The war ended with Reno on the east coast and the ship joined the “Magic Carpet Fleet,” and made two trips to La Havre, France to bring home as many American soldiers as possible before Christmas. The Reno received three battle stars for her World War II service.

On June 1, 1946 the ship was inactivated and mothballed as part of the Pacific Reserve Fleet at Bremerton, Washington. On Navy Day, October 27, 1946, the flag from the ship was donated to the City of Reno at a ceremony held in Powning Park.

The proud fighting ship was struck from the Navy list in 1959 and scrapped in 1962.

“Eight Minutes of Hell”

by Robert S. Cole Bogy to the west, bogy to the east, crew afraid not in the least

Seeking to make us a ship of ill fame, hard left rubber emergency turn

They’re closing in fast and now they’re in sight, the Reno pours forth all her five inch might

It missed us by inches we later did learn, now this Nipponese pilot who is about to splash

Two have fallen before her flack, but more are forming for a torpedo attack

Figures he can main us with a suicide crash

Three of them got and maybe two more, her guns are firing as never before

Many of man has risked his neck, but never before has one ricocheted off our deck

A lone one is left and making his run Suffered a hit from a five inch gun, but he launches his fish with a deadly aim

A blinding explosion a sheet of flame, the Reno received a scar but also a name