This vintage USS St. Paul CA73 rare navy mesh trucker hat from Otto Cap is a must-have for any collector or fan of military history. The adjustable size and classic blue color make it a versatile addition to any wardrobe. As a trucker hat, it offers a unique style and features an adjustable closure for a comfortable fit.
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USS Saint Paul (CA-73), a Baltimore-class cruiser, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for Saint Paul, Minnesota.
Her keel was laid down as Rochester on 3 February 1943 by the Bethlehem Steel Company in Quincy, Massachusetts. She was launched on 16 September 1944 sponsored by Mrs. Marie Gordon McDonough,[1] wife of John J. McDonough, then mayor of Saint Paul; and commissioned on 17 February 1945, Captain Ernest H. von Heimburg in command. She was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 31 July 1978, and was sold for scrapping in January 1980.
World War II
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After shakedown in the Caribbean Sea, Saint Paul departed Boston, Massachusetts, on 15 May 1945 and headed for the Pacific. From 8–30 June, she underwent training out of Pearl Harbor and sailed on 2 July to join Task Force 38 (TF 38). This fast carrier striking force completed replenishment at sea on 23 July and then proceeded to launching points for strikes against Honshū, Japan's largest island. From 24 July to 10 August, Saint Paul screened the carriers as they delivered heavy air strikes on Kure, Kobe, and the Tokyo area in southern Honshū, then at Maizuru and various airfields in northern Honshū. During this period, Saint Paul also bombarded industrial targets: first on textile mills at Hamamatsu during the night of 29 July, and then on 9 August at iron and steel works in Kamaishi, firing the war's last hostile salvo from a major ship. Typhoon warnings canceled air operations from 11 to 14 August. Then, those launched that morning were recalled, after peace negotiations gave promise of Japan's surrender. On 15 August, all offensive operations against Japan were stopped.
Saint Paul, with other units of the Third Fleet, retired to the southeast to patrol the coast while awaiting orders. On 27 August, she steamed into Sagami Wan to support United States occupation forces. On 1 September, she entered Tokyo Bay and was there during the formal surrender ceremony the next day.
Post-World War II
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Saint Paul remained in Japanese waters for occupation duty until she was ordered to Shanghai on 5 November to become flagship of TF 73. She navigated the Huangpu River, anchored off the Shanghai Bund on 10 November; she remained there until early in 1946. On 21 December 1945 she was in collision with the Chinese (ex-Japanese) landing craft LST144, which was driven against the bow of Saint Paul by the force of the current. The landing craft sustained severe damage, the cruiser slight damage to the bow area.[2]
On 7 January 1946, Saint Paul departed Shanghai in company with Keith and returned to the Naval Shipyard, Terminal Island, California, on 28 January 1946 for a brief refit to make good the collision damage. In May, the ship made a round trip to Pearl Harbor. Returning to Terminal Island on 1 August, she was overhauled to prepare for additional Far East duty.[3] From 1–15 February 1947, she conducted refresher training at San Diego, California.
Following her return to Shanghai in March, Saint Paul resumed operations as flagship for TF 71 until returning to the United States in November. Next, came training operations along the West Coast, including cruises for Naval Reservists from April–May. From August–December, she deployed to the western Pacific, serving in Japanese and Chinese waters. Back in the United States, she was converted from catapult to helicopter configuration before serving again in the Far East from April through October 1949.
When hostilities broke out in the Korean War in June 1950, Saint Paul was conducting a midshipman training cruise from San Francisco, California, to Pearl Harbor. She disembarked the future naval officers and proceeded late in July to the western Pacific where she joined Task Group 77.3 (TG 77.3) on patrol in the Formosa Strait. Saint Paul remained on patrol between Formosa and mainland China from 27 August to 1 November. She then moved north into the Sea of Japan to join TF 77, and commenced combat operations off the northeast coast of Korea on 9 November. On 17 November, she provided gunfire support to the United Nations troops advancing on Chongjin. That day, shrapnel from a near miss by a shell from a Communist shore battery injured six men at gun mount stations. The cruiser destroyed the enemy emplacement with counter-battery fire and continued her support mission.
As the Chinese Communists began massive attacks late in November, United Nations forces commenced a general withdrawal to consolidate and hold south of the 38th parallel. Saint Paul provided close support for the Republic of Korea I Corps on their east flank as they withdrew from Hapsu, and along the coast, as they retired from Chongjin. On 2 December, she moved north again, conducted night harassing missions above Chongjin, then moved south to support the withdrawal of the Republic of Korea Capital Division to Kyongsong Man. She entered the harbor at Wonsan on 3 December to provide a curtain of shellfire around that city as United Nations forces and equipment were moved to Hungnam; then followed the forces there, and remained to cover the evacuation of that city and harbor between 10 December and 24 December. (The now restored SS Lane Victory was one of the ships protected by her cover fire.)
From 21 to 31 January 1951, Saint Paul conducted shore bombardment missions north of Inchon where, on 26 January, she was again fired upon by shore batteries. On 7 April, in TF 74, with Wallace L. Lind, Massey, Fort Marion and Begor, Saint Paul helped to carry out raids on rail lines and tunnels utilizing 250 commandos of the 41st Independent Royal Marines. These highly successful destructive raids slowed down the enemy's resupply efforts, forcing the Communists to attempt to repair or rebuild the rail facilities by night while hiding the work crews and locomotives in tunnels by day.
Saint Paul returned to the United States for yard work at San Francisco, California, from June to September, then conducted underway training before sailing on 5 November for Korea. She arrived off Wonsan on 27 November and commenced gun strike missions in support of the UN blockade. During the following weeks, she bombarded strategic points at Hungnam, Songjin, and Chongjin. In December, she served as an antiaircraft escort for TF 77, and, following a holiday trip to Japan, returned to operations off the coast of North Korea. In April 1952, Saint Paul participated in combined air-sea attacks against the ports of Wonsan and Chongjin.
On 21 April, while the cruiser was engaged in gun fire support operations, a sudden and serious powder fire broke out in her forward 8-inch (203 mm) turret. Thirty men died. The explosion occurred in the turret's left gun, which was loaded but had the breech open. The gun captain thought the weapon had fired and told the gun's rammerman to ram another projectile into the gun's breech. The gun blew up, setting off two other powder bags in the powder hoist.[4]
Before returning to Japan for repairs, however, Saint Paul carried out gunstrikes on railroad targets near Songjin, during which she captured nine North Koreans from a small boat. Following a brief stay in port and two weeks on the gun line, she headed home and reached Long Beach, California, on 24 June.
On 28 February 1953, Saint Paul departed the West Coast for her third Korean tour and was in action again by April. In mid-June, she assisted in the recapture of Anchor Hill. With New Jersey, she provided close support to the Korean Army in a ground assault on this key position south of Kosong. The cruiser was fired upon many times by 75 mm and 105 mm guns, and observed numerous near misses, some only ten yards away. But on 11 July at Wonsan, she received her only direct hit from a shore battery. No one was wounded, and only her 3-inch (76.2 mm) antiaircraft mount was damaged. On 27 July, at 2159, she conducted her last gunstrike and had the distinction of firing the last round shot at sea in the war. The shell, autographed by Rear Admiral Harry Sanders, was fired at an enemy gun emplacement. The truce was effective at 2200. Saint Paul then commenced patrol duties along the east coast of Korea.
Post-Korea
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Saint Paul returned to the western Pacific again in May 1954; and, later that year, she was on hand when the Chinese Communists were threatening the Nationalist Chinese islands of the Quemoy Islands group. From 19 November 1954 to 12 July 1955, she operated with the 7th Fleet in Japanese and Chinese waters, particularly between Taiwan and the Chinese mainland, playing a major role in protecting United States interests in the Far East. She returned to Long Beach, California, for repairs and an overhaul which included enclosing the command and flag bridge levels. Following this work she was back in the western Pacific from 15 August 1955 to 10 January 1956 serving as flagship for the 7th Fleet.
Saint Paul returned to Long Beach, California, in February and subsequently moved to Bremerton, Washington, for upkeep and overhaul. This overhaul period included removing the forward 5" gun turret and adding a large deck house between the funnels to accommodate enhanced flagship facilities. This work was completed by late summer, and in September, she became flagship for the 1st Fleet and entertained the Secretary of the Navy during a fleet review at Long Beach. She departed that port on 6 November; and, after refresher training at San Diego, California, arrived at Yokosuka, Japan, on 29 September to relieve Rochester as 7th Fleet flagship. She spent most of her time in Keelung or Kaohsiung, Taiwan, with periods of training in the Philippines and port calls at Buckner Bay, Hong Kong, Manila, and Sasebo. On 26 April 1957, she headed home.
Saint Paul arrived at Long Beach, California, on 21 May and subsequently cruised along the West Coast, as far north as Seattle, Washington, until she sailed once more on 3 February 1958 for the Far East. She made an extensive cruise beginning at Pearl Harbor. Thence she steamed to Wellington, New Zealand; proceeded past Guadalcanal and north through the Solomon Islands to New Georgia; visited the Caroline Islands; and ended at Yokosuka on 9 March. She repeated her past WestPac deployments with duties as flagship, and exercises in the Philippines, before returning to Long Beach on 25 August for maintenance and upkeep. Sailing from Long Beach, California, on 4 May 1959, Saint Paul became the first major United States Navy ship to be homeported in the Far East since before World War II. Based at Yokosuka, she did not return to Long Beach until 39 months later.
In late 1963 through summer 1964, as one of the only World War II cruisers still in commission and still in her wartime all-gun configuration (several others were in commission, but had been extensively modernized into guided missile cruisers), Saint Paul was extensively used in the filming of the motion picture In Harm's Way, starring John Wayne. In the movie, it is apparent that the ship has been slightly modified according to the standard of the Baltimore class - the front 5-inch cannon turret has been removed, leading to the larger gap between the bridge and second 8-inch turret, so in the movie the cruiser no longer has 12 5-inch guns, but only 10 5-inch guns. In addition, her original 40mm quadruple turrets had been replaced with 3-inch twin turrets. The ship was never mentioned by her actual name (her large hull number on the bow was painted over), but was simply referred to as "Old Swayback" and was supposedly commanded by Wayne's character as a captain, served as his flagship as a rear admiral, and was later sunk during a crucial battle with the Japanese.
After her movie filming stint was over, she assumed duties as 1st Fleet flagship and did not return to WestPac until 1966. From that year, she made five successful deployments with the 7th Fleet in operations off North and South Vietnam, providing gunfire support to allied troops. Reminiscent of her Korean operations, Saint Paul was hit on 1 September 1967 by a shell which struck her starboard bow, near the water line. None of her crew was injured; and her engineers repaired the slight damage, enabling her to continue her mission. For her service, Saint Paul earned the Navy Unit Commendation and two Meritorious Unit Commendations.
At San Diego, California on 7 December 1970, Saint Paul began inactivation procedures. She sailed to Bremerton, Washington, on 1 February 1971, where she was decommissioned on 30 April after 26 continuous years of active service to her country, and was placed in reserve with the Puget Sound Group of the Pacific Reserve Fleet.
Saint Paul was the last all-gun Baltimore-class cruiser in US Navy service while Chicago and Columbus soldiered on until 1980 as Albany-class guided missile cruisers.
Struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 31 July 1978, Saint Paul was sold for scrapping in January 1980.
Saint Paul's ship's bell is now displayed in Saint Paul City Hall on the third floor between the city council and mayoral offices, in an area also containing a listing of the United States Naval Reserve personnel from Saint Paul who served aboard the destroyer USS Ward (DD-139) when she fired the first American shots of World War II.
Combat Action Ribbon with two gold stars
Navy Unit Commendation
Meritorious Unit Commendation with star
Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with one battle star
World War II Victory Medal
Navy Occupation Medal with "ASIA" clasp
China Service Medal
National Defense Service Medal with star
Korean Service Medal with eight battle stars
Vietnam Service Medal with nine battle stars
Korean Presidential Unit Citation
Vietnam Cross of Gallantry with palm
United Nations Korea Medal
Korean War Service Medal
Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal
A trucker hat, mesh cap or netback cap is a type of baseball cap. It is also sometimes known as a "gimme [as in 'give me'] cap" or a "feed cap" because this style of hat originated during the 1970s as a promotional give-away from U.S. feed or farming supply companies to farmers, truck drivers, or other rural workers
From the 1930s until the 1960s, truckers were provided with a type of peaked cap known as a mechanic's cap. This often bore the logo of the haulage company,[2] and was later adopted by the 1950s greaser subculture. By the early 1970s, this cap had been replaced with the modern five piece mesh trucker hats, which were given away at truck stops by companies like Mountain Dew, Dekalb, Budweiser, Shell Oil, or John Deere to advertise their products.[3]
The design of a trucker cap is similar to that of a baseball cap, with a slightly curved bill in front, a cap constructed from six almost triangular gores, and a button on top. Instead of being made of cotton fabric like a typical baseball cap, the front section of a trucker hat above the bill is foam, and the rest is plastic mesh for breathability. The foam front of the hat stands up straight and stiff, which makes the trucker hat taller than most baseball caps. There is an adjustable plastic snap or hook-and-loop closure in the back to ensure that one size fits most. This design was intended to make the cap much cooler in the sun or hot weather for the comfort of the wearer.[4]
The original feed caps bore company logos on the front foam section of the cap, either printed or as a patch sewn on. These companies typically had a rural clientele, such as the local feed store or John Deere tractors. Trucker-style hats can now be found with other pictures, logos, flags, camouflage, or humorous sayings on the front. Trucker hats are still available as promotional items.
In the early 2000s, the trucker hat became a mainstream fashion trend, predominantly among suburban American youth associated with the hip-hop,[5] Chrome Hearts,[6] pop punk and skater subcultures.[7] This came about with a sense of irony due to the hat's rural or blue collar association and typically older demographic.[8] It has frequently been donned by celebrities; musician Pharrell Williams and actor Ashton Kutcher in particular helped make the hat fashionable. However, in a 2008 interview with Fashion Rocks magazine, singer Justin Timberlake claimed that, while Kutcher has been cited for popularizing the trucker hat, Timberlake had been wearing them since the age of seventeen.[9] The trucker hat trend was lampooned in the King of the Hill episode "Grand Theft Arlen", in which teenagers confuse Hank Hill by asking where he bought his Strickland Propane cap and questioning its irony.[10]
Comedian Judah Friedlander is known for his signature trucker hats, which bear various humorous phrases. Having worn trucker hats since the 1980s, Friedlander claims a fondness for them and has ignored any rejecting or embracing fashion trends surrounding the hats throughout the decades. In a 2007 interview, he stated:
I was never into anything trendy. If I'm ever doing something that happens to be trendy, it's probably a coincidence and I don't even realize it's trendy. Just a note: I've been making and wearing trucker hats for years—since the '80s actually, when those were pretty much the only kind of hats you could get. I remember about 10 years ago, people used to make fun of me for wearing trucker style hats. And then when they became trendy a couple years ago, those same people came up to me and said shyly, 'Uhm, where do you get your hats? I need to get some.' Years ago, some people used to get angry with me for wearing them and someone even called me racist for wearing a trucker hat 'cause I looked like a redneck. I bet now, some people think I'm a loser for wearing them because now they're out of fashion. But you know what, I never wore 'em to be 'in' or trendy or cool. I just like 'em. And I'll be wearing them long after they're a not a trend.[11]
In recent times, many outlaw country, punk, metal, blues and rock musicians have worn trucker hats on stage and in photographs. This includes Scott H. Biram, Bob Wayne of the Outlaw Carnies, Hank Williams III, Gary Lindsey of Assjack and Black Eyed Vermillion, Zach Shedd of Assjack and Hank III's Damn Band, Shawn "McNasty" McWilliams also of the Damn Band, Patrick Stump of Fall Out Boy, Dave "Shep" Shepherd & "Dixie" Dave Collins of Weedeater, and many others.[citation needed]
Trucker hats are also worn by Early Cuyler from Squidbillies, who wears a different hat in each episode (and sometimes multiple hats within a single episode).
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of its active battle fleet alone exceeding the next 13 navies combined, including 11 allies or partner nations of the United States as of 2009.[8][9] It has the highest combined battle fleet tonnage[10][8] (4,635,628 tonnes as of 2023)[11] and the world's largest aircraft carrier fleet, with 12 in service, two new carriers under construction, and five other carriers planned. With 336,978 personnel on active duty and 101,583 in the Ready Reserve, the United States Navy is the third largest of the United States military service branches in terms of personnel. It has 299 deployable combat vessels and about 4,012 operational aircraft as of July 18, 2023.
The United States Navy traces its origins to the Continental Navy, which was established during the American Revolutionary War and was effectively disbanded as a separate entity shortly thereafter. After suffering significant loss of goods and personnel at the hands of the Barbary pirates from Algiers, the United States Congress passed the Naval Act of 1794 for the construction of six heavy frigates, the first ships of the Navy. The United States Navy played a major role in the American Civil War by blockading the Confederacy and seizing control of its rivers. It played the central role in the World War II defeat of Imperial Japan. The United States Navy emerged from World War II as the most powerful navy in the world. The modern United States Navy maintains a sizable global presence, deploying in strength in such areas as the Western Pacific, the Mediterranean, and the Indian Ocean. It is a blue-water navy with the ability to project force onto the littoral regions of the world, engage in forward deployments during peacetime and rapidly respond to regional crises, making it a frequent actor in American foreign and military policy.
The United States Navy is part of the Department of the Navy, alongside the United States Marine Corps, which is its coequal sister service. The Department of the Navy is headed by the civilian secretary of the Navy. The Department of the Navy is itself a military department of the Department of Defense, which is headed by the secretary of defense. The chief of naval operations (CNO) is the most senior Navy officer serving in the Department of the Navy.