Did you know how the USS Louisville became a real “ladykiller”?

The heavy cruiser USS Louisville, involved in a freak “ladykiller” accident
(Photo: Naval History & Heritage Command)

Many sailors are ladykillers, meaning dashing, attractive young men. The crew of the American cruiser USS Louisville, however, unwittingly became “ladykillers” in a far more literal and tragic way on February 13, 1938, when 17 women (and a man and a seven-year-old boy) found them to be a crew to die for.
 
Built between 1928 and 1930, Louisville was the first large warship in history to be constructed in a drydock. She was originally designed as a light cruiser with thin armor, but was redesignated as a heavy cruiser so her 8-inch (200 mm) guns would be in compliance with the London Naval Treaty. She spent her first years participating in naval exercises, making good will visits to Latin-American countries and serving as a training ship.

USS Louisville being struck by a kamikaze plane later in her career
(Photo: Naval History & Heritage Command)

Louisville went on a Pacific cruise to Hawaii, Samoa, Australia and Tahiti in early 1938. When she was departing from Sidney Harbour on February 13, she was followed by scores of vessels trying to take a closer look. One of those vessels was the Rodney. Not to be confused with the British battleship HMS Rodney that would participate in the hunt for the Bismarck (Hunting the Bismarck – Part I) (Part II), this Rodney was a local ferry boat licensed to carry 151 passengers on the main deck and 60 upstairs on the top deck.

Sailors aboard USS Louisville on the day of the fatal accident
(Photo: Sidney Morning Herald)

About 100 of Rodney’s passengers, many of them the girlfriends of sailors aboard the Louisville, went upstairs to have a better view, making the boat very top-heavy. The boat’s master started a maneuver to move from the starboard side of the cruiser to the port side and get a look at that, too. Crossing the Louisville’s wash made the boat wobble precariously, just as the passengers rushed from one side of the top deck to the other. The top-heaviness, the sudden shift in balance, and possibly the wash added up, causing Rodney to suddenly capsize and sink within minutes.

Rodney moments before she capsized 
(Photo: Sidney Morning Herald)

Nearby boats and launches rushed to the rescue, along with the Louisville; some of the sailors jumped into the water even before orders were given to rescue the imperiled passengers. 19 people, 17 of them women, died despite the rescue effort: some were knocked unconscious and sank, while others were trapped on the main deck below the roof. 

Sailors from USS Louisville rescuing victims
(Photo: unknown photographer)

Louisville provided medical aid to those who were brought onboard after the accident, then sailed on to Melbourne. The cruiser’s seaplane dropped a laurel as part of a ceremony two days later, and some of the crew flew to Sidney the next weekend to attend the funerals. Rodney was raised, repaired and continued to serve as a ferry under a different name until the 70s or 80s, sinking for good in 2004.
 
Louisville went on to serve in World War II. In 1939, she transported over 148 million dollars’ worth of British gold to the U.S. for safekeeping. She later served in the Pacific and survived extensive damage from two kamikaze hits. During the Aleutian campaign, she provided artillery support during the liberation of Attu and the troubled landings on Kiska. (Operation Cottage) 

USS Louisville in the Aleutian Islands
(Photo: Naval History & Heritage Command)
 

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