USS Houston (CL-81) was a Cleveland-class light cruiser of the United States Navy, which were built during World War II.

The class was designed as a development of the earlier Brooklyn-class cruisers, the size of which had been limited by the First London Naval Treaty.

The start of the war led to the dissolution of the treaty system, but the dramatic need for new vessels precluded a new design, so the Clevelands used the same hull as their predecessors, but were significantly heavier.

Following the start of World War II in September 1939, Britain announced it would suspend the treaty for the duration of the conflict, a decision the US Navy quickly followed.

Though still neutral, the United States recognized that war was likely and the urgent need for additional ships ruled out an entirely new design, so the Clevelands were a close development of the earlier Brooklyn-class cruisers, the chief difference being the substitution of a two-gun 5 in (127 mm) dual-purpose gun mount for one of the main battery 6 in (152 mm) gun turrets.

Rated at 100,000 shaft horsepower (75,000 kW), the turbines were intended to give a top speed of 32.5 knots (60.2 km/h; 37.4 mph).

[2] The ship's belt armor ranged in thickness from 3.5 to 5 in (89 to 127 mm), with the thicker section amidships where it protected the ammunition magazines and propulsion machinery spaces.

In the resulting Battle of the Philippine Sea on 19 June, Houston contributed her anti-aircraft guns to the fleet's defense.

[6] The task force departed on 30 August to begin air strikes on the Palau Islands to prepare for the upcoming invasion of Peleliu.

[7] On 6 October, the Fast Carrier Task Force sortied to carry out a series of air strikes on Japanese targets in the western Pacific.

[3][8][9] The heavy cruiser Boston took Houston under tow to evacuate the crippled vessel, though the tugboat Pawnee had taken over the towline later that night.

The explosion ignited the starboard tank that held fuel for the ship's reconnaissance floatplanes, causing a major fire in the aircraft hangar, though the remaining crew suppressed the blaze within fifteen minutes.

Another 300 men were evacuated afterward, leaving just 200 aboard to continue damage control efforts as the ships withdrew.

There were no floating dry docks large enough to accommodate Houston, but significant hull repairs were nevertheless effected and much of the flooding was pumped out.

There, the floating dry dock ABSD-2 took the cruiser aboard, allowing the rest of the hull damage to be plated over and the remaining water pumped out.

She was allocated to the reserve fleet, remaining in the Navy's inventory until 1 March 1959, when she was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register and sold to be broken up.