USS Louisville (CL/CA-28), a Northampton-class cruiser, was the third ship of the United States Navy to be named for the city of Louisville, Kentucky. She was active throughout the Pacific War. USS Louisville was the first large warship to be built in a drydock.
Louisville was launched on 1 September 1930 at the Puget Sound Navy Yard, Bremerton, Washington, sponsored by Miss Jane Brown Kennedy, and commissioned on 15 January 1931, Captain Edward John Marquart in command. Louisville since the commissioning day has carried, on the prominent bulkhead, a shoe of the great stallion, Man o' War, as a talisman against evil.
She was originally classified as a light cruiser, CL-28, because of her thin armor. Effective 1 July 1931, Louisville was redesignated a heavy cruiser, CA-28, because of her 8-inch guns in accordance with the provisions of the London Naval Treaty of 1930. Wiki