USS Bremerton (CA-130)

USS Bremerton (CA-130)

USS Bremerton (CA-130), named for the city of Bremerton in Washington state, was a Baltimore-class heavy cruiser laid down by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation at Camden in New Jersey on 1 February 1943, launched on 2 July 1944 by Miss Elizabeth K. McGowan and commissioned on 29 April 1945, Captain John Boyd Mallard in command.

Aboard Bremerton was a complete butcher shop, shoe shop, photo lab, two barber shops, a galley, a tailor shop, a library, a laundry plant and a fresh water distillery. The ship's fuel tanks were able to carry her from the United States to Japan and back, non-stop; and depending upon her load, she displaced up to 17,500 tons.

Over 1,000 men lived and worked aboard Bremerton. Included was a Marine Detachment of 45 men commanded by two Marine officers. The men aboard Bremerton represented almost all of the then 48 states, plus the then territories of Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippine Islands.