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The Longest Ship in the World! The U.S. Navy recruit who is asked, 'What is the longest ship in the world?' ranks with seasoned Sailors when he answers: 'the USS Pittsburgh!' The USS Pittsburgh has a special place in naval history. Only part of her story lies in her Battle Scars and decorations- two Battle Stars, the Navy Occupation Service Medal and the China Service Medal for meritorious peacetime service.
In 1945, the quick retort of her guns covered our ground troops in the assault and occupation of Iwo Jima. She rescued 34 men of the flaming USS Franklin, when it had been hit by two 500 lb bombs, then saved the crippled carrier while fighting off enemy planes. Within the month she was at Okinawa resisting heavy air raids. Here two of her Scout planes located missing men in the heaving waters and daringly plucked them out under enemy fire. But her greatest adventure and claim to fame came when a typhoon at sea launched 'the longest ship in the world.' At 6:00 in the evening of June 4th 1945, the winds became gusty and throughout the night the barometer crept ominously down. By early morning, the Pittsburgh was battling 100 foot waves in a screaming wind. All at once, near the bow, the deck buckled. Then the entire bow shot upward and with a roar, it ripped completely off! Pittsburgh was masterfully maneuvered backward to keep her stern from being rammed by her own bow, which was tossing freely in the water. For seven hours the crew labored against the pounding sea to shore the gaping forward bulkhead. Incredibly, without a single man lost, Pittsburgh arrived in Guam-- a ship without a bow! There, a false bow was fitted on her before she sailed back to the United States for permanent repair. The original bow of the cruiser was later towed to Guam. Admiral William Halsey dubbed it 'a suburb of Pittsburgh' and, to this day, the USS Pittsburgh is called 'the Longest Ship in the World', with hundreds of miles between her bow and stern.
