USS Juneau CL-119 (CLAA-119)
The second of the Navy vessels to bear the name Juneau (after the capital of Alaska) the USS Juneau CL-119 was a cruiser built at Federal Shipbuilding Company in Kearny, New Jersey. She was commissioned on February 15, 1946, and Captain Rufus E. Rose was at the helm.
The Juneau CL-119 began her service in the waters of the Caribbean in 1945. She ten traveled throughout the Mediterranean until the beginning of the Korean War conflict. In 1949, she was rechristened as the CLAA-119 and headed towards the Pacific Ocean, after which the vessel began duty in Yokosuka, Japan in June of that same year. The Juneau CL-119 initially patrolled the waters near the Tsushima Strait and finally ended up in Okinawa for several months prior to a turn off the eastern coast of Korea, where she served as a daily plane guard for aircraft carriers. After undergoing repairs in California, the Juneau CL-119 once again returned to the Yokosuka, where she aided U.S. forces during air strikes against Korea.
The Juneau CL-119 served until 1959 in various positions, when she was struck from the Navy register and sold for scrap to Union Metals and Alloys Corporation of New York in the early 1960s.
The crewmembers aboard the USS Juneau CL-119 (CLAA-119) were a brave group of individuals who proudly fought in a number of Korean War conflicts. The dangers they faced may seem obvious, but there was another hidden danger in the form of asbestos aboard the vessel. Veterans who were aboard the Juneau CL-119 for any length of time should visit their doctor and undergo tests to determine whether or not they are at an increased risk of developing mesothelioma cancer, a fatal disease that has no cure and affects countless vets each year.
Last modified: December 28, 2010.
