After commissioning, the Astoria took part in normal peacetime patrols as part of cruiser divisions 7 and 6. In March of 1939, she delivered the remains of Japanese Ambassador Hiroshi Saito back to Japan in an effort to express gratitude to Japan for having done the same for our deceased ambassador, Edgar Bancroft, 13 years earlier. She was then assigned to Pearl Harbor and began patrols between there and Midway. When Pearl Harbor was attack, the Astoria was about 700 miles away. Soon after, she was part of a task force sent to rescue the Marines at Wake Island. That operation was unfortunately recalled and the island fell into the hands of the Japanese and started four years of hell for those Marines and civilians stationed there. There was also a plan, soon after to bombard the island, but the oiler accompanying the force was torpedoed. Without the fuel, they had to abort that mission also.
The next series of events, culminating with Japanese landings on New Guinea, saw the Astoria being shuffle from aborted mission to aborted mission. Things changed daily in the early days of the Pacific war. There mission became threefold around New Guinea, they were to protect the flank of the carriers, to shield Port Moresby from further enemy thrusts, and to cover the arrival of the Army at Noumea. That operation sunk 4 Japanese ships and heavily damaged 6 more. It was devastating for Japan for that and for slowing the timetable for their attacks. Japan dispatched two more carriers while the US was bolstering its forces as well. This led to the Battle of the Coral Sea. During this battle, the Astoria took part in multiple battles that saw significant loss to both sides, culminating with the loss of the carrier USS Lexington. It did prevent the Japanese from achieving the objective of Port Moresby, however. After this, the Astoria departed for Pearl Harbor again. After 3 days, she left again, with the hasily repaired USS Lexington carrier group. The headed toward Midway island.
During the Battle of Midway, the men of the Astoria fought valiantly to defend the group, specifically, the carrier USS Yorktown. Volley after volley of Japanese attacks finally caused the Yorktown to succumb and abandon ship. She was left floating until after the Japanese retreat, one sub snuck in and delivered the final blow, sinking the carrier on June 7, 1942. The Astoria had scored multiple victories over enemy aircraft during the battle.
After going through repairs and re-fits at Pearl Harbor, the Astoria headed for Guadalcanal. There, she defended from multiple counter attacks as the Marines landed. The Japanese force managed to sneak up on the Astoria, which was situated as the northern watch along with the Vincennes and the Quincy off of Savo Island.
The first four salvos missed their mark, but the fifth scored a direct hit on the Astoria's superstructure. It was also quickly hit in the number one turret and the airplane hangar, which started a very bright fire that illuminated the ship. For the next 35 minutes, she was pounded severely until she lost all power and lay dead in the water. At that moment, the Japanese inexplicably turned and fled. The crew battled for over 10 hours to fight the fires and save the ship, but were unable to do so as she slipped underneath the water and into Ironbottom sound just after noon on August 9, 1942.
Officially, the lives lost from the USS Astoria stands at 219. However, further research from Brent Jones, which can be found on his wonderful Astoria tribute site, has the number lost at 234. Those heros names can be found on Brent's site, USS Astoria. You can visit the entire site here. He has done a wonderful job in helping us to remember these men and those that survived the Battle of Savo Island. And that, we should do, never forget the service of these men and the price they paid for it.
USS Astoria (CA-34)
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