JOINT RESOLUTION COMMEMORATING THE 75TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE COMMISSIONING OF THE DECORATED WORLD WAR II CRUISER USS PORTLAND

WHEREAS,  this year marks the 75th anniversary of the commissioning of the cruiser USS Portland, one of 2 vessels to bear the name of a Maine city in battle in World War II; and

WHEREAS,  the cruiser USS Portland earned 16 Battle Stars from 1942 to 1945 in World War II, serving from the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941 to the Japanese surrender in September 1945 and ranking as one of the most decorated ships of the entire war; and

WHEREAS,  the USS Portland was commissioned at the Boston Navy Yard on February 23, 1933 and sailed on her shakedown cruise to South America in April 1933; and

WHEREAS,  the USS Portland was diverted from that cruise to search the North Atlantic for the downed United States Navy airship the USS Akron, and in 1937 searched the Northwest Pacific for the lost American aviator Amelia Earhart, actions symbolic of the scores of search and rescue missions the ship undertook in its career; and

WHEREAS,  President Franklin D. Roosevelt chose the USS Portland as his flagship and lead gunboat in the 1930s on expeditions to South America, Panama and Alaska; and

WHEREAS,  the USS Portland was the first United States vessel to intercept and decode the Japanese orders to attack Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 and initiated the first warning; and

WHEREAS,  the USS Portland participated in almost every major naval activity in the Pacific Theater in World War II, including the Battle of the Coral Sea in 1942, the Battle of Midway in 1942, the Guadalcanal Campaign in 1942 and 1943, the battle for the Marshall Islands in 1944 and the battles at Leyte Gulf and Luzon in 1944 to 1945, the world’s largest sea battle; and the USS Portland took the surrender of Japanese forces at Truk Atoll on September 2, 1945; and

WHEREAS,  the USS Portland was known as the "Sweet Pea," defeating 2 Japanese Imperial battleships in close combat and saving hundreds of American sailors in search and rescue missions during 12 years of dedicated service in peace and war, and is recorded as one of the greatest American fighting ships; and

WHEREAS,  the USS Portland was decommissioned in 1946; and

WHEREAS,  the mainmast and navigation shield of the USS Portland today stand facing the sea atop the Eastern Promenade in the City of Portland, marking as well the United States-Russian North Atlantic Convoy Memorial, symbolizing Maine’s history and heritage of "they that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters"; now, therefore, be it

That We, the Members of the One Hundred and Twenty-third Legislature now assembled in the First Special Session, on behalf of the people we represent, take this opportunity to commemorate the 75th Anniversary of the commissioning of the USS Portland, and to honor the memory of her service and the hundreds of sailors and officers who served their country upon her in war and peace.