Post-war
She touched at Tsingtao, China, en route, and proceeded to cruise off the newly liberated ports of Dairen and Port Arthur, Manchuria; Chefoo, Taku, Weihaiwei and Chinwangtao, China, before finally anchoring off Jinsen (now Incheon), Korea on 8 September to support the landings of Marines nearby.
After a stay 22 days, Tuscaloosa put to sea once more on 30 September, bound for Taku, China, to support Marines landing there. She next sailed for Chefoo on 6 October but, en route, received orders changing her destination to Jinsen to take on provisions.
As Chinese Nationalist and communist forces jockeyed for position to control formerly Japanese-held territory, American forces stood by in the uneasy role of observers. Tuscaloosa arrived off Chefoo, then held by the communists, on 13 October. Remaining until 3 November, she lay at anchor off the port, keeping well informed on the situation ashore through daily conferences with officials of the communist Eighth Route Army. During this period, collaborationist troops who had been loyal to the Japanese during the war, clashed with communist forces near Chefoo.
On 3 November, she put to sea, bound for Tsingtao, where the cruiser spent one evening before proceeding down the Chinese coast to call at Shanghai. There, she took on board 214 army and 118 navy passengers for "Magic Carpet" transportation home for demobilization.
She arrived in Hawaii on 26 November, where additional passenger facilities were installed, and took on board 206 more men before departing Hawaiian waters on the 28th and arriving at San Francisco on 4 December. After voyage repairs, the ship sailed for the South Pacific on 14 December, via the Solomon Islands, and proceeded to Nouméa, New Caledonia.
Tuscaloosa embarked troops at Guadalcanal, moved to the Russell Islands where she took on more passengers, and arrived at Nouméa on New Year's Day 1946. By that afternoon, the ship got underway for the west coast with more than 500 passengers.
She arrived at Pearl Harbor nine days into the new year, fueled, and picked up additional demobilized servicemen to transport home. She sailed for San Francisco on 10 January and arrived five days later. On 29 January, the men delivered, Tuscaloosa stood out of San Francisco bound for the east coast on her last cruise as an active member of the fleet.
Placed out of commission at Philadelphia on 13 February 1946, Tuscaloosa remained in reserve there until she was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 March 1959. Her hulk was sold on 25 June to the Boston Metals Company of Baltimore, Maryland, for scrapping.
Read more about this topic: USS Tuscaloosa (CA-37)
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