She was the second ship to bear the name. Green in command. The New Orleans -class cruisers were the last U. Such ships, with a limit of 10, tons standard displacement and 8-inch caliber main guns may be referred to as "treaty cruisers. The term "heavy cruiser" was not defined until the London Naval Treaty in This ship and Quincy were a slightly improved version of the New Orleans -class design.
For the next two months, she operated out of Norfolk in the vicinity of the Chesapeake lightship and the southern drill grounds. On 1 September , the day on which Adolf Hitler 's legions marched into Poland and commenced hostilities in Europe, Vincennes lay at anchor off Tompkinsville, New York. Late in May, as German troops were smashing Allied defenses in France, Vincennes received orders to immediately transit to the Azores and then, receive further direction.
However, the cryptologic code machine failed once Vincennes arrived at Ponta Delgada. Unable to receive follow-on orders, the Vincennes remained in port from 4—6 June until the code machine was repaired by an enlisted sailor, Lewis Lee Edwards, using an emory board file to remove corrosion from the code machine's electrical contacts. For his actions, Edwards was offered a naval officer's commission.
With her communications reestablished, the Vincennes received urgent orders to proceed to French Morocco to receive a shipment of gold from the French Currency Gold Reserves for transport to the United States preventing it from being captured by Nazi Germany a few days later. While at anchor at Casablanca , the ship received word of Italy 's declaration of war upon France, the "stab in the back" condemned by President Franklin Roosevelt soon thereafter.
Vincennes ' commanding officer — Captain John R. Beardall later to become Naval Aide to the President — noted subsequently in his official report of the cruise that "it was apparent that the French bitterly resented this [the declaration of war] and despised Italy for her actions. Operating once again in the Caribbean, the heavy cruiser fired battle practice and gunnery exercises in company with Wichita through 18 January, when the two cruisers proceeded for Portland Bight , Jamaica.
