USS Vincennes (CL-64)

History: The third USS Vincennes (CL-64) was a Cleveland-class light cruiser of the United States Navy that saw action in the Pacific during the later half of World War II.

Decommissioned on 10 September 1946, Vincennes never returned to active service with the Fleet. She was one of the Cleveland class ships surveyed for conversion to guided missile configuration like her sisters Little Rock and Providence, but other ships were selected instead. Struck from the Navy list on 1 April 1966, she was sunk as a target in missile experiments in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Southern California near Point Mugu, on 28 October 1969.

Class: The Cleveland class was a group of light cruisers built for the U.S. Navy during World War II. The ships were designed with the goal of increased cruising range, anti-aircraft armament, torpedo protection, etc., compared with earlier U.S. cruisers. Fifty-two ships of this class were originally planned, but nine of them were completed as the light aircraft carriers of the Independence class, and two of them were completed to a somewhat different design, with more compact superstructures and just a single stack. These two were called the Fargo class. Of the 27 Cleveland-class cruisers that were commissioned, one (Galveston) was completed as a guided missile cruiser and five were later modified as Galveston and Providence-class guided missile cruisers. Following the naming convention at the time, all the ships completed as cruisers were named for US cities and towns.

Nationality: The U.S. is a country of 50 states covering a vast swath of North America, with Alaska in the northwest and Hawaii extending the nation’s presence into the Pacific Ocean. Major Atlantic Coast cities are New York, a global finance and culture center, and capital Washington, DC. Midwestern metropolis Chicago is known for influential architecture and on the west coast, Los Angeles' Hollywood is famed for filmmaking.