USS Vicksburg (CL-86)

A city in Mississippi located on a bluff at the mouth of the Yazoo River; founded in 1812; and named for Newitt Vick (1766-1819), the owner of a plantation on the present site of the city. During the American Civil War (1861-1865), Union General Ulysses S. Grant besieged the city from 19 May to 4 July 1863. The Confederate garrison surrendered, giving the North control of the Mississippi River and its tributaries, and contributing greatly to the eventual overall Union victory.

The third ship named Vicksburg . The first Vicksburg , a wooden steamer converted to a screw gunboat, served from 1863-1865. The second Vicksburg (Gunboat No. 11) was reclassified to a patrol gunboat (PG-11) on 17 July 1920, and served from 1897-1921. The name Vicksburg was also assigned to a light cruiser (CL-81) on 28 December 1940, but she was renamed Houston on 12 October 1942, in honor of heavy cruiser Houston (CA-30), sunk by the Japanese in the Battle of Sunda Strait, Netherlands East Indies (Indonesia), on 1 March 1942.

Cheyenne (CL-86) was laid down on 26 October 1942 at Newport News, Va., by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Co., but, exactly one month later, was renamed Vicksburg. The light cruiser was launched on 14 December 1943; sponsored by Miss Muriel Hamilton, the daughter of Mayor J. C. Hamilton, of Vicksburg, Miss.; and commissioned at Norfolk Navy Yard, Va., on 12 June 1944, Capt. William C. Vose in command.

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From the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, compiled by the Naval History and Heritage Command (Vicksburg III (CL-86)). A work of the United States Government, in the public domain.