USS Memphis (CL-13) was an light cruiser, originally classified as a scout cruiser, of the United States Navy. She was the fourth Navy ship named for the city of Memphis, Tennessee.
One of the noted events of the ship was to do VIP transport, including Charles Lindbergh in 1927 to receive the Distinguished Flying Cross from President Calvin Coolidge, and President Franklin D. Roosevelt from the Casablanca conference in 1943, taking him to a flying boat for a transatlantic flight.
Built in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Memphis was authorized on 1 July 1918, and assigned to William Cramp & Sons, Philadelphia on 24 January 1919. She was laid down on 14 October 1920, and launched on 17 April 1924, sponsored by Miss Elizabeth R. Paine, daughter of Mayor Rowlett Paine of Memphis. Memphis was commissioned on 4 February 1925, with future Admiral, Captain Henry E. Lackey in command.
Memphis was long at the waterline with an overall length of , her beam was and a mean draft of . Her standard displacement was and at full load. Her crew, during peace time, consisted of 29 officers and 429 enlisted men.
The ship lacked a full-length waterline armor belt. The sides of her boiler and engine rooms and steering gear were protected by of armor. The transverse bulkheads at the end of her machinery rooms were thick forward and three inches thick aft. The deck over the machinery spaces and steering gear had a thickness of 1.5 inches. The gun turrets were not armored and only provided protection against muzzle blast and the conning tower had 1.5 inches of armor.
Armament changes
During her career Memphis went through several armament changes, some of these changes were to save weight, but others were to increase her AA armament. The lower torpedo tube mounts proved to be very wet and were removed, and the openings plated over, before the start of World War II. Another change made before the war was to increase the 3-inch guns to seven, all mounted in the ship's waist. After 1940, the lower aft guns were removed and the casemates plated over for the same reason as the lower torpedo mounts. Six years after the indomitable Perry had defeated the British on Lake Erie on 10 September 1813, he died on board frigate John Adams at Port–of–Spain and was interred there until his remains were removed to Newport, R.I. seven years later. In June, Memphis joined ships of a scouting fleet off Honolulu, Hawaii, for a cruise to the South Pacific through September, with visits to Australia and New Zealand. From October 1925 to April 1926, she again operated in the West Indies before returning to her home port, New York City. Vice-Admiral Burrage served as Commander, US Naval Forces in Europe from 1926 to 1928. Memphis operated in European waters into 1927. During a stay at Santander, Spain from 31 July to 31 August 1926, the ship was visited by King Alfonso XIII.
On 5 June, the cruiser arrived at Balboa, Canal Zone for duty off Central America to May 1933. Memphis operated in a peacekeeping capacity at Corinto, Nicaragua, during the inauguration of President Juan Bautista Sacasa in 1932. In the next five years she alternated duty along the west coast with patrols to the troubled area of the West Indies. From February–September, Memphis was once more on patrol duty against blockade runners, mostly off Bahia and Recife, Brazil.