USS Vincennes (CL-64) - Construction and Commissioning

Construction and Commissioning

She was originally laid down as Flint (CL-64) on 7 March 1942 at Quincy, Massachusetts by the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Company's Fore River plant. While the ship was under construction, however, the Battle of Savo Island occurred in August 1942, during which engagement the heavy cruiser Vincennes (CA-44) had been sunk. In order to perpetuate the name, Flint was renamed Vincennes on 16 October 1942. Launched on 17 July 1943, Vincennes was sponsored by Mrs. Arthur A. Osborn, the former Miss Harriet V. Kimmell, who had sponsored the first cruiser of the name.

Commissioned on 21 January 1944, Capt. Arthur D. Brown in command, Vincennes fitted-out at her builders' yard into late February, undergoing her sea trials soon thereafter. From 25 February to the last day of March, Vincennes sailed to the British West Indies and back on her shakedown cruise. With brief stopovers in the Chesapeake Bay region, the new light cruiser "shook down" principally in the Gulf of Paria, near Trinidad.