USS Augusta (CA-31)
From The UCSC Wikipedia Trust Project
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| Career |  |
|---|---|
| Ordered: | |
| Laid down: | 2 July 1928 |
| Launched: | 1 February 1930 |
| Commissioned: | 30 January 1931 |
| Decommissioned: | 16 July 1946 |
| Fate: | Scrapped in 1960 |
| Struck: | 1 March 1959 |
| General Characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 9,050 tons (9,200 metric tons) |
| Length: | 600 ft 3 in (182.96 m) |
| Beam: | 66 ft 1 in (20.14 m) |
| Draft: | 16 ft 4 in (4.98 m) |
| Propulsion: | |
| Speed: | 32.7 knots (60.6 km/h) |
| Range: | |
| Complement: | 735 officers and enlisted |
| Armament: | 9 × 8 in (203 mm), 8 × 5 in (127 mm), 8 × .30 calibre (7.62 mm) guns 6 × 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes |
| Aircraft: | |
| Motto: | |
USS Augusta (CA-31) (originally CL-31) was a Northampton-class heavy cruiser of the United States Navy, notable for service in the Atlantic and Mediterranean during World War II, and for her occasional use as a presidential flagship carrying both Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman under wartime conditions (including at the Newfoundland Conference. The fourth Navy ship of that name, there is some contention regarding which city — Augusta, Ga. or Augusta, Me. — is the ship's namesake. According to "The Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships", it is named after the city in Georgia, and was sponsored by Miss Evelyn McDaniel of Augusta, GA.
Contents |
Beginnings
The Augusta was laid down on 2 July 1928 at Newport News, Virginia, by Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co.; launched on 1 February 1930, sponsored by Evelyn McDaniel of Augusta, Georgia; and commissioned at the Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, Virginia, on 30 January 1931, Capt. James O. Richardson in command.
Damage to one of her turbines curtailed the ship's original shakedown cruise, but Augusta conducted abbreviated initial training during a cruise to Colon, Panama, and back, before she was assigned duty as flagship for Commander, Scouting Force, Vice Admiral Arthur L. Willard, on 21 May 1931. During the summer of 1931, she operated with the other warships of Scouting Force carrying out tactical exercises off the New England coast. In August 1931, she was reclassified a heavy cruiser, CA-31. In September, Augusta moved south to Chesapeake Bay, where she joined her colleagues in their normal fall gunnery drills. That employment lasted until mid-November when the cruisers retired to their respective home ports. Augusta entered the Norfolk Navy Yard at that time.
At the beginning of 1932, she and the other cruisers of the Scouting Force reassembled in Hampton Roads, whence they departed on 8 January on their way to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Augusta conducted training evolutions with the Scouting Force in the vicinity of Guantanamo Bay until 18 February, when the force headed for the Panama Canal on its way to the eastern Pacific to participate in Fleet Problem XIII. She arrived in San Pedro, California, on 7 March but returned to sea three days later to execute the fleet problem. During the maneuvers, Augusta and her colleagues in Scouting Force squared off against Battle Force in defense of three simulated "atolls" located at widely separated points on the West Coast. The exercises afforded the Fleet training in strategic scouting and an opportunity to practice defending and attacking a convoy.
Though the fleet problem ended on 18 March, Augusta and the rest of Scouting Force did not return to the Atlantic at its conclusion as was normal. In a gesture that presaged Roosevelt's retention of the Fleet at Pearl Harbor in 1940 after Fleet Problem XXI, the Hoover Administration kept the Fleet concentrated on the West Coast throughout 1932 in the forlorn hope that it might restrain Japanese aggression in China. In fact, Scouting Force was still on the West Coast almost a year later when the time came for Fleet Problem XIV in February 1933, and the Roosevelt Administration, which took office in March, proceeded to keep it there indefinitely. Consequently, Augusta continued to operate in the eastern Pacific until relieved of duty as Scouting Force's flagship late in October 1933. The cruiser sailed for China on 20 October.
Asiatic Fleet
Steaming via the "Great Circle" route (the Northern Pacific) from Seattle to Shanghai, Augusta moored in the Whangpoo River, at Shanghai, on the morning of 9 November 1933. That afternoon, Admiral Frank B. Upham, Commander in Chief, Asiatic Fleet (CinCAF), broke his flag on board the newly arrived cruiser, and his old flagship, Houston (CA-30), sailed for the United States.
Soon after she broke Admiral Upham's flag and Houston sailed for home, Augusta proceeded south from Shanghai in December 1933, and, over the next few months, operated in the Philippines, interspersing training with her yearly overhaul at Cavite and Olongapo.
That spring, Augusta returned to China waters, "showing the flag", and then steamed to Yokohama, Japan, arriving there on 4 June. At 0730 the following morning, Admiral Upham left the ship to attend the state funeral ceremonies for the late Fleet Admiral Heihachiro Togo; Augusta commenced firing 19 one-minute guns in honor of the Japanese naval hero at 0830. Departing Yokohama with Admiral Upham embarked on 11 June, the cruiser then visited Kobe (12 June to 15 June) before she proceeded to Tsingtao, arriving there on 17 June.
Augusta remained in Chinese waters until 5 October 1934, when the ship departed Shanghai for Guam, arriving there on the 10th. Sailing the next day, she proceeded to Australian waters for the first time, reaching Sydney on the 20th. She remained there a week, while Admiral Upham visited the capital of Australia, Canberra, on 25 October and 26 October. With CinCAF back on board on the 26th, Augusta cleared Sydney the following day for Melbourne, arriving there on 29 October. She remained in that port, observing the centenary ceremonies for that Australian port city, until 13 November, when she sailed for Fremantle and Perth. Winding up her visit to Australia on 20 November, she sailed for the Dutch East Indies.
Augusta reached Batavia on 25 November and remained there until 3 December, on which date she sailed for Bali, arriving at the port of Lauban Amok on 5 December. Underway again on the 8th, Augusta touched at Sandakan (14 December to 16 December), Zamboanga (17 December to 19 December), and Iloilo (20 December to 21 December), before reaching Manila on the 22nd.
The heavy cruiser remained in the Philippine Islands, receiving her usual yearly overhaul at Cavite and drydocking at Olongapo, in the drydock Dewey, before she reembarked Admiral Upham and sailed for Hong Kong on 15 March 1935. Arriving on the 16th, Augusta remained there until the 25th, while CinCAF was embarked in the yacht Isabel (PY-10) for a trip to Canton (17 March to 20 March 1935). (The cruiser's draft did not permit her to make the passage up the Pearl River to Canton.) Augusta got underway again on the 25th for Amoy and stayed there from 26 March to 29 March, before she proceeded thence to Shanghai, arriving at that port city on the last day of March.
Augusta remained at Shanghai until 30 April, at which point she sailed for her second visit to Japan, reaching Yokohama on 3 May 1935. The ship remained there for two weeks, Admiral Upham disembarking on the day she arrived (3 May) and travelling by automobile to Tokyo, where he remained until the 9th, when he returned to his flagship. Steaming thence to Kobe, and arriving there on 18 May for a week's sojourn, Augusta sailed for China on 25 May, and reached Nanking, the Chinese capital, on the 29th.
The flagship remained at Nanking until 4 June, at which point she sailed for Shanghai, arriving the following day. "Augie Maru," as her crew had affectionately nicknamed her, lingered at Shanghai until 27 June, when she sailed for North China, reaching Tsingtao on the 29th. She remained at that port city, operating thence on exercises and gunnery practice, for the rest of the summer.
Augusta departed Tsingtao on 30 September for Shanghai, and arrived at her destination on 1 October, where, four days later, Admiral Orin G. Murfin relieved Admiral Upham as CinCAF. On 8 October, with the new CinCAF embarked, Augusta departed Shanghai for points south. Admiral Murfin transferred to Isabel to visit Bangkok (15 October to 22 October), while he returned to the heavy cruiser to visit Singapore (24 October to 30 October). Subsequently touching at Pontianak and Jesselton on Borneo, (31 October to 1 November and from 3 November to 5 November repectively), "Augie Maru" visited the southern Philippine ports of Zamboanga (6 November to 8 November) and Iloilo (9 November to 10 November), before she returned to Manila on 11 November 1935.
While Augusta underwent her annual overhaul at Cavite and Olongapo, Admiral Murfin flew his flag in Isabel from 14 December 1935 to 27 February 1936. Soon thereafter, the heavy cruiser, again having CinCAF on board, sailed for the a succession of Philippine ports and places: Catbalogan, Cebu, Tacloban, Davao, Dumanquilas, Zamboanga, Tutu Bay, Jolo, and Tawi Tawi, before the ship returned to Manila on 29 March.
Underway on the last day of March for Chinese waters, Augusta cleared Manila on that day and arrived at Hong Kong on 2 April, remaining there until the llth. During this time, Admiral Murfin embarked in Isabel for the trip up the Pearl River to Canton (6 April to 8 April), returning on the latter date to reembark in his flagship to resume his voyage up the China coast. Visiting Amoy on 12 April and 13 April, Augusta then paused briefly at Woosung on 16 April before proceeding up the Yangtze, reaching Nanking on the following day. While Augusta dropped back down the Yangtze to the Whangpoo River, and Shanghai, Admiral Murfin continued up the Yangtze to Hankow in Isabel, thence to Ichang by commercial airliner, thence in the river gunboat Panay to Crossing 22, and finally back to Hankow and Shanghai in Isabel, where he rejoined Augusta on 4 May.
Augusta sailed for Japan on 21 May, for her third visit to that country, arriving at Yokohama on the 25th. The Asiatic Fleet flagship remained at that port until 5 June, on which day she sailed for Kobe, arriving there the following day. She remained in Japanese waters until 13 June, when she got underway for Tsingtao, arriving on the 16th.
Augusta remained at Tsingtao, operating thence on exercises and training, for two months, before she sailed for another North China port, Chefoo, on 17 August. Arriving later the same day, the ship departed Chefoo on the 21st, and returned to Tsingtao, remaining there into mid-September.
Underway for Chinwangtao, the port at the foot of the fabled Great Wall of China, on 14 September, Augusta reached her destination on the 15th, where Admiral Murfin disembarked to visit the old imperial city of Peiping (Peking). Following his inspection of the Marine Corps legation guard at that city, CinCAF returned to Chinwangtao by train and reembarked in his flagship on 25 September. Underway from Chinwangtao on the 28th, Augusta visited Chefoo (28 September) before returning to Tsingtao on the following day, 29 September 1936.
Augusta stood out of Tsingtao on the same day she arrived, however, and reached Shanghai on 1 October. At the end of that month, on 30 October, Admiral Murfin was relieved as CinCAF by his Naval Academy classmate, Admiral Harry E. Yarnell. Shortly thereafter, with her new CinCAF embarked, Augusta stood down the Whangpoo River on 3 November 1936 on her annual southern cruise.
Augusta again visited a succession of ports: Hong Kong (5 November to 12 November), Singapore (16 November to 23 November), Batavia (25 November to 1 December), Bali (4 December to 7 December), Makassar (8 December to 12 December), Tawi Tawi and Tutu Bay (14 December), Dumanquilas Bay (15 December), Zamboanga (15 December to 16 December), and Cebu (17 December), before she returned to Manila on 19 December. Admiral Yarnell transferred his flag to Isabel on 2 January 1937, when Augusta entered Cavite Navy Yard for repairs and alterations that included the fitting of splinter protection around the machine gun positions at the foretop and atop the mainmast. The CinCAF used Isabel as his flagship through March, rejoining Augusta at Manila on 29 March 1937.
Augusta remained in Philippine waters for the next several days, at Manila (29 March to 2 April) and Malampaya (on 3 April and 4 April) before she returned to Manila on the 5th. Touching briefly at Port San Pio Quinto on 7 April and 8 April, the Asiatic Fleet flagship sailed for Hong Kong on the 8th, arriving at the British Crown Colony the following day. Shifting his flag to Isabel for the trip to Canton, Admiral Yarnell returned to Augusta on 13 April, and the heavy cruiser sailed for Swatow on the 18th. The ship visited that South China port on the 19th, and Amoy the following day, before the CinCAF shifted his flag again to Isabel for a brief trip to Pagoda Anchorage (21 April to 22 April), rejoining the heavy cruiser on the 23rd.
Augusta stood up the Whangpoo River on 24 April and arrived at Shanghai that day, mooring just upstream from the city proper. She remained at Shanghai until 5 May, when she sailed for Nanking. The flagship remained at that Yangtze port from 6 May to 9 May before she got underway on the latter day for Kiukiang, further up the Yangtze. Shifting his flag to Isabel, Admiral Yarnell then visited Hankow and Ichang in that ship, transferring thence on 22 May to Panay at Ichang for the voyage up the Yangtze through the gorges and rapids that lay above that port. After visiting Chungking, the CinCAF returned to Ichang in Guam (PR-3), where he rejoined Isabel for the trip to Hankow and Nanking. Admiral Yarnell eventually rejoined Augusta at Shanghai on 2 June 1937.
Clearing Shanghai on 7 June, Augusta sailed for North China, and reached Chinwangtao on the 9th, where Admiral Yarnell disembarked with members of his staff to journey to Peking by rail, where the admiral would conduct the yearly CinCAF inspection of the legation guard. The admiral rejoined the cruiser at Chinwangtao on 22 June, and the ship sailed soon thereafter for Chefoo (visiting that port on 24 June and 25 June) and Tsingtao, arriving there on 26 June for the summer.
Augusta was conducting her usual training from that North China port when events elsewhere in that region took a turn for the worse. Political relations between China and Japan had been strained for some time. The Chinese attitude toward the steady and unrelenting Japanese encroachment into North China in the wake of the 1931 seizure of Manchuria was stiffening. Chiang Kai-shek, China's leader, asserted that China had been pushed too far, and launched feverish efforts to improve his nation's military posture. The Japanese eyed their giant neighbor warily.
On the night of 7 July 1937, in the outskirts of Peking, Japanese and Chinese units exchanged gunfire near the ornate Marco Polo Bridge. The incident quickly escalated into a state of hostilities in North China, with the Japanese taking Peking against little resistance by the end of July. Against this backdrop of ominous developments, Admiral Yarnell considered cancelling a goodwill visit to the Soviet port of Vladivostok, but was ordered to proceed.
Keeping a wary eye on developments in China, Admiral Yarnell sailed for Vladivostok in Augusta on 24 July, his flagship accompanied by four destroyers. After passing through the edge of a typhoon en route, Augusta and her consorts reached that Soviet port on the 28th, and remained there until 1 August, the first United States naval vessels to visit that port since the closing of the naval radio station there in 1922. As Yarnell later wrote, "The visit of this force evidently has meant a great deal to these people," as both officers and men were lavishly entertained.
Departing Vladivostok on 1 August, Augusta and the four destroyers sailed for Chinese waters, the latter returning to their base at Chefoo and Augusta returning to Tsingtao, where Admiral Yarnell continued to receive intelligence on the situation in North China and, as events developed around Shanghai, where increasing Chinese pressure on the comparatively small Japanese Special Naval Landing Force led to a build-up of Japanese naval units in the Whangpoo River leading to that port. The death of a Japanese lieutenant and his driver near a Chinese airfield on 9 August proved to be the spark that set the tinder box alight, as hostilities commenced within days. With considerable American interests in the International Settlement of Shanghai, Admiral Yarnell deemed it best to sail to that port to make it his base of operations. Accordingly, Augusta sailed for Shanghai on the morning of 13 August 1937.
Her passage slowed by a typhoon which caused the ship to reduce her speed to five knots (9 km/h) and which produced rolls of as great as 30 degrees, in addition to wiping away the port 26-foot (8 m) motor whaleboat and its davits, Augusta reached her destination the following day, and stood up the Whangpoo. En route to her moorings, she passed many Japanese warships, principally light cruisers and destroyers, who duly rendered the prescribed passing honors to Augustas embarked admiral.
Meanwhile, at Shanghai proper, Chinese Air Force planes, Northrop 2-E light attack bombers, had endeavored to drop bombs on Japanese positions in their portion of the International Settlement. They fell short and caused extensive damage and heavy loss of life in the neutral portion of the settlement. One plane, having retained its bombs, proceeded down the Whangpoo and dropped two bombs near Augusta, the missiles exploding in the water off the flagship's starboard bow. Soon thereafter, painters ascended atop Augustas three main battery gunhouses and painted large American flags to identify more clearly the ship's nationality, and, thus, her neutral character.
On 18 August, Augusta unmoored and shifted further upstream and moored off the Shanghai Bund, assisted in the evolution of turning 180 degrees in the stream by tugs. She would remain in that mooring, in a prominent position off the famous "Bund" into January 1938, observing the Sino-Japanese hostilities at close range.
Initially, there was the problem of evacuating Americans from the war zone. American merchantmen called at Shanghai to do so, passengers travelling downstream to waiting steamships on the Dollar Line tender guarded by sailors from Augustas landing force. The flagship's Marine detachment, meanwhile, went ashore to aid the 4th Marines in establishing defensive positions to keep hostilities out of the neutral enclaves. On 20 August 1937, while the flagship's crew gathered amidships on the well deck for the evening movies, a Chinese antiaircraft shell landed amongst the sailors, killing one {[Seaman 1st/Class F. J. Falgout]} and wounding several. Ten days later, Chinese planes bombed the American Dollar Line SS President Hoover off the mouth of the Whangpoo, with one death and several wounded. American ships ceased calling at Shanghai as a result, and Admiral Yarnell's attempts to get a division of heavy cruisers to carry out the evacuation met resistance from President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
At Shanghai, Augustas officers and men found themselves with grandstand seats at an Asian war. Her moorings proved a splendid vantage point from which Americans could size up the Japanese Navy, and how well its ships and planes operated, an opportunity not lost on Admiral Yarnell, who sent insightful intelligence reports back to Washington, striving to alert the United States Navy to the character and capabilities of the navy many regarded as the future enemy.
On 12 December 1937, Japanese naval planes sank the gunboat Panay and three Standard Oil tankers north of Nanking, in the Yangtze River. Soon thereafter, the ship's survivors arrived at Shanghai in Panay's sister ship, Oahu (PR-6), which moored alongside Augusta on the 19th. They spent Christmas with 'Augusta's crew.
On 6 January 1938, Augusta departed Shanghai for the Philippines, for her yearly overhaul period. Admiral Yarnell, however, his presence in China deemed necessary to uphold American prestige in the Orient, remained in Shanghai with a token staff on board Isabel. He ultimately rejoined Augusta when she returned to Shanghai on 9 April 1938, after her yearly overhaul.
Proceeding north along the China coast, Augusta visited Tsingtao (12 May to 13 May) and Chefoo (14 May) before she arrived at Chinwangtao on 15 May. There, Admiral Yarnell disembarked and entrained for Tientsin and Peking, inspecting the Marine detachments in both places before ultimately returning to Chinwangtao to reembark in his flagship on 29 May. Proceeding thence via Chefoo, Augusta reached Shanghai on 6 June; the CinCAF transferred his flag to Isabel on 23 June, and sailed for Nanking and Wuhu, returning to Shanghai and Augusta on 27 June.
Returning to Tsingtao on 3 July 1938, Augusta operated in North China waters, between Tsingtao and Chinwangtao, for the remainder of the summer and through early October. Sailing for Shanghai on 10 October, the cruiser arrived at her destination two days later, and remained there through Christmas. She sailed again for the Philippines on 27 December 1938; once again, Admiral Yarnell remained in Shanghai with his flag in Isabel.
Following her yearly navy yard overhaul, and training in Philippine waters, Augusta visited Siam, French Indochina, and Singapore en route back to Shanghai, making port at her ultimate destination on 30 April 1939. The heavy cruiser, again wearing Admiral Yarnell's flag, lay at Shanghai until 8 June, when she got underway for Chinwangtao. Arriving there on 10 June, the heavy cruiser subsequently touched at Chefoo (24 June to 25 June) and Tsingtao (26 June to 16 July) before she sailed down to Shanghai, arriving on the 18th.
On 25 July 1939, Admiral Thomas C. Hart relieved Admiral Yarnell as CinCAF. The heavy cruiser then sailed for Tsingtao, on 2 August. She remained based at that North China port—she lay moored there on the day war broke out in Europe with the German invasion of Poland—through late September 1939. During this period, the ship twice visited Shanghai (5 September to 7 September and 15 September to 19 September), and also visited Chinwangtao, Chefoo, and Peitaiho. Late in September, Admiral Hart disembarked at Chinwangtao and inspected the Marine detachments at Peking and Tientsin.
Returning to Shanghai on 12 October, Augusta remained there through mid-November; during this time Admiral Hart shifted his flag to Isabel and proceeded up the Yangtze to Nanking on an inspection trip (3 November to 7 November 1939). Sailing for the Philippines on 21 November, the heavy cruiser visited Amoy en route (22 November to 23 November 1939), and ultimately reached Manila on 25 November. The ship remained there through early March 1940.
Augusta operated in the Philippines through early April, visiting Jolo and Tawi Tawi. Admiral Hart wore his flag in Isabel during March, for cruises to Cebu, Iligan, Parang, Zamboanga, and Jolo, rejoining Augusta at Jolo on 19 March. Transferring his flag back to Isabel at Tawi Tawi two days later, Admiral Hart cruised to Malampaya Sound, ultimately rejoining his flagship on 26 March at Manila. Augusta then sailed for Shanghai while Admiral Hart, who had again transferred his flag to Isabel on 13 April, visited Swatow and Amoy, ultimately rejoining Augusta and breaking his flag on board the cruiser on 22 April.
Following a month at Shanghai, "Augie Maru" sailed for North China, visiting Chinwangtao (12 June) before beginning her cycle of training operations from Tsingtao soon thereafter. Augusta operated out of Tsingtao into late September. Circumstances requiring Admiral Hart on several occasions to visit Shanghai, he travelled once to Shanghai in Isabel and back in Augusta; to Shanghai in Porpoise (SS-172) and back to Tsingtao in Isabel; and one round trip to Shanghai and back in Marblehead (CL-12). Augusta departed Tsingtao for the last time on 23 September, arriving at Shanghai on the 25th.
Moving on to Manila, arriving there on 21 October, Augusta remained there into late November, to be relieved by her recently modernized sister ship Houston as Admiral Hart's flagship on 22 November 1940. Augusta sailed for the United States, clearing Manila Bay that same day.
On 24 November 1940, she was ordered to search the waters north of the Hawaiian chain, to investigate reports of the activity of "Orange" (Japanese) tankers in the vicinity. At this point on her way oack from the Asiatic station, the cruiser encountered bad weather—heavy swells and fresh-to-strong cross winds—that rendered searching by her aircraft "impracticable." As she neared the focal point of her search (35 degrees north latitude, 165 degrees west longitude), Augusta darkened ship and set condition III. As she passed between the two designated points on her search, she posted special lookouts from dawn to dark. Although the visibility varied between 8 to 15 miles (15 and 28 km), Augustas Capt. John H. Magruder, Jr., estimated that his ship had swept a belt approximately 25 miles (45 km) wide, maintaining radio silence until well clear of the area searched. "Weather conditions were such that fueling at sea in the area would not have been practicable," Capt. Magruder reported later, alluding to the reason why his ship had been dispatched to those waters, "and submarine operations at periscope depth would have been difficult due to the danger of broaching."
Refit
Ultimately reaching Long Beach on 10 December 1940, Augusta entered the Mare Island Navy Yard for a major refit soon thereafter. While Augusta had been serving as the Asiatic Fleet flagship, alterations of the type accomplished in her sister ships had been deferred until her return to the United States.
During this overhaul, the ship received significant changes in her antiaircraft battery. Four additional 5 inch (127 mm) guns were mounted atop the aircraft hangar; splinter protection was fitted for the 5 inch (127 mm) guns on the hangar and on the boat deck; interim 3 inch (76 mm) antiaircraft guns were installed (ultimate armament fit called for a one-to-one replacement of these mounts with 1.1 inch (28 mm) guns); and Mark XIX directors were installed for the 5 inch (127 mm) guns. The placement of directors and rangefinders altered her silhouette, and a pedestal was fitted atop the foremast to receive a CXAM radar antenna when it became available.
Atlantic Fleet
Departing Mare Island on 11 April 1941, Augusta, her configuration altered and wearing a new paint job, sailed for San Pedro, remaining there over 12 April and 13 April. She transited the Panama Canal four days later, reporting for duty with the Atlantic Fleet on 17 April. Departing the Canal Zone on the 19th, the heavy cruiser arrived at Newport, R.I., on 23 April. Admiral Ernest J. King, now Commander in Chief, Atlantic Fleet, returned from Washington, D.C., on 2 May and broke his flag in Augusta. The cruiser remained at Newport, serving as the administrative CINCLANT flagship (although Admiral King journeyed to Washington again during this time), through most of May, until she sailed for Bermuda on the 24th of that month. Reaching her destination on the 26th, she remained there only until the 28th, at which time she sailed for Newport once more.
Augusta remained anchored at Narragansett Bay from 30 May to 23 June, when she sailed for the New York Navy Yard. She had been chosen for special duty, the inception of which had come in the developing personal relationship between President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Britain's Prime Minister, Winston Churchill. The two leaders had sought a face-to-face meeting for some time, and Harry Hopkins (President Roosevelt's personal representative) had visited Churchill and sounded him out on the proposal as early as February 1941. The President had also discussed the idea with Admiral King earlier that spring. Original intentions had been to hold such a conference in June, but British disasters in Greece and Crete had forced a postponement until later in the summer.
Augusta had been chosen to serve as the President's flagship as early as mid-June, shortly after Admiral King had visited Roosevelt in connection with the drafting of Western Hemisphere Defense Plan No. Four. On 16 June, the New York Navy Yard commandant was informed that Augusta would soon require an availability for the installation of her CXAM radar and 1.1 inch (28 mm) antiaircraft guns, "incident to possible future Presidential use and other urgent work." Details of the availability assignment, however, touched off a "little war" between the Bureau of Ships (BuShips) and CINCLANT. Since BuShips had no word concerning the President's plans, they issued orders to hold Augusta at New York Navy Yard for extended repairs. On 22 June, Admiral King informed BuShips, however, that alterations to the heavy cruiser "for possible use by the President were initiated by the Commander in Chief, Atlantic Fleet, after conversations with the President" and that the alteration should be limited to accomplish only "essential" items. Augusta remained in the yard at New York from 23 June to 2 July, after which time she resumed operations along the eastern seaboard, in waters off Hilton Head and Charleston, S.C. (4 July to 5 July), Hampton Roads (6 July to 7 July) before she returned to Newport on 8 July. She remained there into August.
During that time, details for the meeting between President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill were worked out and plans set in motion to bring it to pass. While Churchill was making the Atlantic crossing in the modern battleship HMS Prince of Wales, the President was on his way; he departed Washington, D.C. at 1100 on 3 August, his ultimate destination the Submarine Base at New London, Connecticut, where he embarked with his party on board the Presidential yacht USS Potomac, which, in company with her escort, USS Calypso, soon sailed for Appogansett Bay. There the President did some fishing and entertained guests (the Crown Princess of Norway, Martha, among others). Ultimately, at 2223 on 4 August, Potomac anchored in Menemsha Bight, Vineyard Sound, Mass., joining Augusta, which had already arrived. Tuscaloosa (CA-37) and five destroyers lay nearby.
At 05:30 on 5 August, Potomac came alongside Augusta and moored, the President and his party embarking in the heavy cruiser at 0617. For security purposes, the President's flag, however, remained in Potomac while she, accompanied by Calypso, transited the Cape Cod Canal to New England waters. A Secret Serviceman, approximating the President in size and affecting the Chief Executive's mannerisms when visible from a distance, played a starring role in the drama. Press releases issued daily from Potomac led all who read them to believe that "FDR" was really embarked in his yacht on a pleasure cruise.
Meanwhile, Augusta, accompanied by Tuscaloosa and their screening destroyers, stood out of Vineyard Sound at 0640, at 20 knots (37 km/h), passing the Nantucket Shoals Lightship at 1125. Increasing speed slightly during the night, the ships steamed on, darkened. Outside of a brief two-hour period the following day, 6 August, when the formation encountered heavy fog which forced them to slow to 14 knots (26 km/h), the ships maintained a 20 to 21 knot (37 to 39 km/h) pace for the rest of the voyage to Argentia, Newfoundland. Ultimately, on the morning of 7 August 1941, Augusta and her consorts stood into Ship Harbor, Placentia Bay, and anchored to await the arrival of Prime Minister Churchill.
During the forenoon, the Chief Executive indulged in one of his favorite leisure activities, fishing, from Augustas forecastle. Roosevelt "caught a large and ugly fish which could not be identified by name and which he directed be preserved and delivered to the Smithsonian Institute upon return to Washington." At 1335 the President left the ship in a whaleboat to fish in the nearby waters, taking with him members of his party and his son, Ensign Franklin D. Roosevelt, Jr., USNR, an officer in the destroyer Mayrant (DD-403) on temporary duty as his father's aide. Later, after a somewhat less than successful fishing expedition, the President inspected the waterfront and the base development at Argentia.
On 9 August, Prime Minister Churchill arrived at Argentia aboard HMS Prince of Wales, the arrival of the battleship being viewed by the President and his party; Churchill visited the President at 1100 that day, and lunched with him in his cabin. Admiral King entertained members of the respective staffs at a luncheon in his cabin. The heavy cruiser also embarked Harry Hopkins, who had come across from England on board Prince of Wales. The Prime Minister later dined with the President, and ultimately left Augusta at 2345.
The following day, McDougal (DD-358) came alongside and embarked the President and his party, transporting them to Prince of Wales for divine services, an inspection of the battleship's topsides, and a luncheon. President Roosevelt again entertained the Prime Minister on board Augusta that evening. On 11 August and 12 August, Prime Minister Churchill and members of his staff came on board the heavy cruiser for conferences with the President and his aides; from these discussions emerged the famed "Atlantic Charter." On the latter day, the final draft of the "Eight Points" of the charter was completed. With the meeting having been completed, President Roosevelt and his staff assembled on Augustas quarterdeck at 1450 on 12 August to bid Prime Minister Churchill and his staff farewell. With the ship's guard and band paraded, the parting ended with the playing of God Save the King. A little over two hours later, Prince of Wales passed close aboard and rendered passing honors, after which the band stuck up Auld Lang Syne. Soon thereafter, Augusta got underway in company with Tuscaloosa and their screening destroyers, en route to Blue Hill Bay, Maine, to rendezvous with Potomac and Calypso.
The following day, a dense fog prompted the ships to reduce speed, and the President and the members of his staff rested, preparing for the transfer to the Potomac. The following morning, 14 August, off Cape Sable, Nova Scotia, President Roosevelt went on deck to witness the operations of the first aircraft escort vessel (later CVE), USS Long Island (AVG-1), the prototype of a ship type that the Chief Executive had avidly pushed toward development. Long Island launched three Brewster F2A-2s by the catapult method and six Curtiss SOCs by conventional carrier takeoff. That afternoon on board Augusta, Admiral King hosted a farewell luncheon for the President.
Augusta anchored at Blue Hill Bay at 1228 on 14 August, and shortly thereafter, Potomac moored alongside to commence the transfer of baggage and other gear, ultimately casting off at 1418 for passage to Rockland, Maine.
Augusta returned to Narragansett Bay on 15 August, and remained there for ten days, putting into the New York Navy Yard soon thereafter. She returned to Newport on 29 August. Admiral King retained Augusta as his flagship through the autumn, while she operated between Newport and Bermuda. During this time, she also briefly embarked Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox.
The day of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, 7 December 1941, found Augusta moored at Buoy 7, Newport. From that day until the 11th, she operated out of Newport; she remained in port until 11 January 1942. During this time, on 5 January