USS Albany (CA-123)

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.[1]

For two years, stretching at least until the autumn of 1955, Albany served as flagship for Commander, Battleship-Cruiser Force, Atlantic.[2]

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.

A portion of Albany's bow resides at the Albany County Fairgrounds in Altamont, New York.[3]

The original 14-foot-long (1:48 scale) 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.[4] USS Albany's bridge equipments like the ship wheel, clock, window, telephone, dining silver sets, items from crew members, shipbuilder plaque, bell, and more are all on display at USS Albany Heritage Exhibit.

• Navy Unit Commendation with 2 awards
• Navy "E" Ribbon with 3 awards
• World War II Victory Ribbon
• World War II Occupation Medal with "Europe" clasp
• National Defense Service Medal with 2 awards

• USS Albany lifecycle
• 
  Albany at Fore River Shipyard on 30 June 1945.
• 
  HO3S landing on turret of Albany in c1951.
• 
  Albany at Copenhagen in June 1951.
• 
  Albany anchored off Cannes in 1954.
• 
  Albany at Boston Naval Shipyard in 1959.
• 
  Albany in Boston Harbor on 26 November 1968.
• 
  HMS London, USS Albany and USS Lawrence anchored at Malta in 1971.
• 
  USS Albany and USS Columbus at Naval Station Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico in 1972.
• 
  USS Little Rock and USS Albany docked at the refueling pier at Gaeta, Italy in 1976.

• Wright, Christopher C. (1977). "The Tall Ladies...Columbus, Albany & Chicago". Warship International. XIV (2): 104–134. ISSN 0043-0374.

• Albany (Ship : CA-123). USS Albany CA-123: Mediterranean Cruise of 1951. [Place of publication not identified]: [publisher not identified], 1951. OCLC 30880411
• Albany (Ship : CA-123). The USS Albany: 1955 Mediterranean Cruise. [Place of publication not identified]: [publisher not identified], 1955. OCLC 30881092

Wikimedia Commons has media related to USS Albany (CA-123).

• USS Albany Association homepage
• Photos of Albany
• Naval Vessel Register entry for Albany
• Entry for Ekelund Range

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.