USS Los Angeles - Definition and Overview

Three ships and one airship of the United States Navy have been named USS Los Angeles, after the city of Los Angeles, California.

1. The first Los Angeles was a naval overseas tanker built by the Union Iron Works in San Francisco, California for the Union Oil Company, and launched in 1916. After commissioning on 9 August 1917, she operated along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts making numerous trans-Atlantic crossings carrying fuel oil to Brest, France, and Portsmouth and Davenport, England. In 1919, after the end of World War I, she was decommissioned and returned to her former owners.
2. The second, Los Angeles (ZR-3), was an airship built by Germany and in use from 1924 to 1932.
3. The third, Los Angeles (CA-135), was a heavy cruiser commissioned at the very end of World War II, active during the Korean War, and decommissioned in 1963.
4. The fourth, Los Angeles (SSN-688), is the lead ship of the Los Angeles class (aka "688s") of nuclear attack submarine, commissioned in 1976 and on active service as of 2005.