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== World War II ==
For almost four years, the ships of the ''New Orleans'' class were assigned to the most urgent of front line duties, and thus, became involved in more than their share of deadly action. ''Astoria'', ''Quincy'' and ''Vincennes'' were quickly sunk in the [[Battle of Savo Island]], 8 – 9 Aug 1942. Although three of their number were lost, the ships proved to be well designed. ''New Orleans'', ''Minneapolis'' and ''San Francisco'' were also seriously damaged in early war engagements in the [[Pacific War|Pacific]]. These engagements included the [[Naval Battle of Guadalcanal]], in which ''San Francisco'' engaged enemy ships at point blank range, and the [[Battle of Tassafaronga]] where ''Minneapolis'' and ''New Orleans'' took heavy damage and losses from [[Type 93 torpedo|Long Lance torpedo]]es. Damage control work and skillful seamanship kept these ships afloat to continue to fight through the end of the war.
''New Orleans''-class cruisers were found at every major naval skirmish of World War II in the Pacific despite the fact there were only four of the seven units remaining after the first year of war. They were some of the most used and hardest fought ships of the US Navy during the war. Three ships of this class were among the [[most decorated US ships of World War II]]. ''San Francisco'' earned<ref name="Wiper 2000 58">{{cite book|last=Wiper|first=Steve|title=New Orleans Class Cruisers|year=2000|publisher=Classic Warships Publishing|location=Tucson, Az|pages=58}}</ref> 17 [[Service star|Battle Stars]] and a [[Presidential Unit Citation (United States)|Presidential Unit Citation]], ''New Orleans'' earned<ref>{{cite book|last=Brown|first=Herbert C.|title=Hell at Tassafaronga|year=2001|publisher=Morris Publishing|location=Kearney, NE|pages=199}}</ref> 17 Battle Stars, and ''Minneapolis'' earned<ref name="Wiper 2000 58"/> 17 Battle Stars as well. As a class, they earned a total of 64 Battle Stars and a Presidential Unit Citation.<ref name="Wiper 2000 58"/>
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