USS Portland (CA–33), the lead ship of her class of heavy cruiser, was the first ship of the United States Navy named after the city of Portland, Maine. Launched in 1932, she saw a number of training and goodwill cruises in the interwar period. In World War II, she saw extensive service beginning at the 1942 Battle of Coral Sea, where she escorted the aircraft carrier Yorktown and picked up survivors from the sunken carrier Lexington. She screened for Yorktown again in the Battle of Midway, picking up her survivors as well. She then supported the carrier Enterprise during the initial phase of the Guadalcanal Campaign later that year, and was torpedoed during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal. The torpedo inflicted heavy damage which put her out of action for six months as she was repaired in