USS Cincinnati (CL-6), was the third light cruiser, originally classified as a scout cruiser, built for the United States Navy. She was the third Navy ship named after the city of Cincinnati, Ohio, the first being , an ironclad commissioned in 1862, during the Civil War, and the second being , a protected cruiser, that was decommissioned in 1919. Cincinnati split her pre-war career between the Atlantic and the Pacific fleets. She served in the Scouting Fleet, based in the Atlantic, in 1924 to 1927, serving in the Pacific for a brief time in 1925 for fleet maneuvers. Cincinnati joined the Asiatic Fleet in 1927, and returned to the Atlantic from 1928 to 1932. She continued to go back and forth between oceans until March 1941, when she was assigned to Neutrality Patrol in the western Atlantic. When the United States entered World War II she was assigned to TF41, based at Recife, and used on convoy escort duties and patrols in the south Atlantic. In 1944, she sailed for the Mediterranean to support Operation Dragoon, the invasion of the south of France. After the war, she was deemed surplus and scrapped at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard in February 1946. Construction and design Cincinnati was ordered on 29 August 1916, and contracted to be built by Todd Dry Dock and Construction Company, Tacoma, Washington, on 27 August 1917. Her keel was laid on 15 May 1920, and she was launched on 23 May 1921. She was sponsored by Mrs. Charles E. Tudor, wife of the Director of Safety of Cincinnati, having been designated by the Honorable John Galvin, Mayor of Cincinnati. Cincinnati was commissioned on 1 January 1924, Captain Charles P. Nelson in command. Cincinnati was long at the waterline with an overall length of , her beam was and had a mean draft of . Her standard displacement was and at full load. Her crew, during peacetime, consisted of 29 officers and 429 enlisted men. Cincinnati was powered by four Westinghouse geared steam turbines, each driving one screw, using steam generated by 12 Yarrow boilers. The engines were designed to produce and reach a top speed of . She was designed to provide a range of at a speed of , but was only capable of at a speed of 10 knots. Cincinnatis main armament went through many changes while she was being designed. Originally she was to mount