MIGHTY NINETY
The Homepage of USS ASTORIA CL-90
USS ASTORIA at Terminal Island Naval Shipyard on 4 Feb 1946. Still in Measure 21 camouflage, she has two twin 40mm antiaircraft mounts added on her fantail behind the catapults. Her OS2U Kingfishers have been replaced by Curtiss SC-1 Seahawks.
-photo taken by ASTORIA ship's photographer Herman Schnipper PhoM3/c
Jan-May 1946
USS ASTORIA remained in the Long Beach area and took numerous training cruises throughout this period.
29 May 1946
Mighty Ninety got underway from Long Beach for a goodwill tour of the Pacific Northwest. Her first stop was Longview, Washington to pick up the queen's court for the Portland Rose Festival and carry them up the Columbia River to its confluence with the Willamette River at the city of Portland.
-from Brent Jones collection
Her experiences were documented in a 1946 Portland Rose Festival commemorative pictorial photo layout:
Navy tradition said, "No!" The admirals all said, "No!" The Navy Department said, "No!"... And they all changed their "Nos" to "Yeses" when they took one good look at Rosaria's comely queen and her beauteous court. In short, they gave them a royal ride up the Columbia River from Longview on board the U.S.S. ASTORIA in defiance of centuries-old traditions which say that no woman shall ever be carried aboard a fighting ship of the United States Navy.
Thus it was that Rosaria's Queen Lloyde I and her eight lovely princesses enjoyed one more red letter day in their brief careers as royalty. Just what they did to amuse themselves aboard the trim fighting ship is shown in the pictures on these two pages.
What no photograph can show, however, is the genuine welcome that Portland has always given to the officers and men of the United States Navy. Nor can pictures alone do justice to the fine times that Navy men have when they come ashore. Anyway, to thousands of officers and men of the United States Fleet, Portland has come to be known as "the best liberty port on the Pacific." Portlanders are proud of that reputation and propose to live up to it through all the years to come.
Once more, during this 38th Annual Rose Festival, we say to Captain Frank R. Walker and his crew, "Welcome! We're glad to have you with us!
The festival queen and her court are brought aboard ship at Longview.
-From Brent Jones collection
USS ASTORIA passes under the Longview Bridge in the Columbia River en route to the Portland Rose Festival. She has been repainted into Measure 22 camouflage prior to her Goodwill Tour.
-from Brent Jones collection
A Curtiss SC-1 Seahawk sits on the portside catapult under the St. Johns bridge in the Willamette River.
-from Brent Jones collection
The festival court beneath the shadow of turret one's guns.
-from Brent Jones collection
A Navy commander (ASTORIA's Exec?) and Queen Lloyde I conduct an inspection of marines from ASTORIA's 7th Division.
-from Brent Jones collection
The festival queen takes a photo of an Aviation Machinist's Mate 3/c from V Division in his undress blues beneath the portside catapult.
-from Brent Jones collection
Moving a mooring line, just for show?
-from Brent Jones collection
Mighty Ninety sailors and marines congregate beneath an SC-1 on the portside catapult to watch the show.
-from Brent Jones collection
The Portland Rose Festival decorative cachet and USS ASTORIA postmark from a philatelic envelope mailed 5 June 1946. Click the photo to see a larger version of the full envelope.
-from Brent Jones collection
1 June - 8 July 1946
Following her time in Portland, USS ASTORIA stopped at her namesake city of Astoria, Oregon. Her goodwill tour of the Pacific Northwest also took her to Seattle, Tacoma, and Vancouver, British Columbia for their Diamond Jubilee before she returned to Long Beach.
8 July - 14 October 1946
The next three months were spent in the Long Beach area. Part of this time involved conducting training operations. Another portion was a yard period for the ship, which meant leave and liberty for ASTORIA's crew.
15 October 1946
USS ASTORIA got underway for an extended tour of duty in the Pacific, her first since the end of the war. She would spend it with her old Cruiser Division 17 sister ship, USS PASADENA CL-65.
21 October 1946
Mighty Ninety arrived at Pearl Harbor for the fourth time in her career. After three days, she put to sea headed for Guam.
"Victor in war, guardian in peace." This philatelic envelope commemorates both Navy Day and USS ASTORIA. It was postmarked from the Mighty Ninety on 27 October 1946, when she was three days out from Pearl Harbor en route to Guam. Click the photo to see a larger version of the full envelope.
-from Brent Jones collection
BACK TO SHIP HISTORY
Sources:
Cote, Larry. Private photo collection.
Henderson, Earl & Muriel, ed. USS ASTORIA CL-90 1986 Reunion Commemorative Booklet. Mankato, MN: Private publishing, 1986.
Jones, Brent. Private photo and document collection.
