City of Los Angeles's
Los Angeles Maritime Museum
Home of the USS Los Angeles Naval Monument
The heavy cruiser USS LOS ANGELES (CA-135) earned her name, since she was financed by war bonds purchased by the residents of the city and county of Los Angeles. The campaign produced over $80 million, and was so successful that it helped to finance four destroyers in addition to the cruiser LOS ANGELES. Commissioned in 1945 just a few days prior to Japan's surrender, she spent a year in Asiatic waters before being placed in the reserve fleet. Recommissioned in 1951, she was the first U.S. Navy vessel to take enemy fire in Korea, and established a record for the longest-sustained bombardment ever logged by an American warship. After Korea, she returned to routine naval duties until 1963, when she was decommissioned, placed in the reserve fleet in San Diego and scrapped in 1977.
When the Los Angeles was dismantled, the city of Los Angeles (San Pedro) was able to obtain her main mast, her two anchors and one of the anchor chain capstans. Together, they form the monument that was dedicated in 1977. With code flags and the Stars and Stripes flying proudly, the mast has become a symbol of the heritage that Los Angeles Harbor represents.
As the name-sake city of the fourth Naval ship to bear the name Los Angeles, and the lead ship of the largest class of submarines ever built, the City of Los Angeles takes great delight in inviting you to visit the Los Angeles Maritime Museum --the largest Maritime Museum on the West Coast.
The Los Maritime Museum takes great pride in displaying many of the artifacts which once belonged to the first, second and third naval ships to bear the name Los Angeles. These historical artifacts are part of the distinguished ancestry of the fourth Naval ship to bear the city's name --the submarine USS LOS ANGELES (SSN-688).
Several of the artifacts come from the third Navy ship to bear the city's name --USS LOS ANGELES (CA-135), including the ship's bell, a portion of the heavy cruiser's bow, mast, anchors, moring bits, and capstan cover which are proudly displayed in front of the Museum's building or in the adjacent Maritime Memorial Park. The park is also the site of the USS Los Angeles Naval Monument which was dedicated "to the Personnel and Ships of the United States Navy."
USS Los Angeles Naval Monument was dedicatied in 1977 by the citizens of Los Angeles.
Anchors from the heavy cruiser USS Los Angeles (CA-135)
Inside the Maritime Museum's Navy Hall, which includes hundreds of naval vessels in model form, can be found the actual flying bridge of the USS LOS ANGELES (CA-135), which allows visitors a unique look out onto the Port of Los Angeles, home of America's largest harbor and one of the most prosperous ports in the world, as though they were actually standing on the bridge of the cruiser that once beared the name Los Angeles.
Also included among the displays is the shipbuilder's model of the heavy cruiser LOS ANGELES (CA-135) which is proudly displayed next to the model of the fourth ship to bear the name --USS LOS ANGELES (SSN-688)
Fittingly enough, proudly flying from the heavy cruiser's mast are the signal flags which spell out Los Angeles.
The Los Angeles' mooring bits circle the base of the ship's mast, off-set by the ship's capstan cover.
Ships Bell from the USS Los Angeles (CA-135)
Located just outside the doors of the Los Angeles Maritime Museum can be found the ships bell and bow section of the heavy cruiser USS Los Angeles (CA-135).
Just A Few Relative Links
Related Pages
Serving as the city's official Submarine Centennial hosts, the Los Angeles Maritime Museum is physically located within yards of the original site of West Coast's first Submarine Base.
The California Center for Military History wishes thank the USS Los Angeles CA-135 Association and the Los Angeles Maritime Museum for use of these photographs.
Relative Past Events
USS Los Angeles (SSN-688)
