The new cruiser departed from Boston on 19 April 1937 for her shakedown cruise which took her to Stockholm, Sweden; Helsinki, Finland; Le Havre, France; and Portsmouth, England.

[4] Early in January 1938, Vincennes was assigned to Cruiser Division 7 (CruDiv 7), Scouting Force, and steamed through the Panama Canal to San Diego, California.

In March, the ship participated in Fleet Problem XIX in the Hawaiian area before returning to San Pedro, California, for operations off the west coast for the remainder of the year.

[4] Following an overhaul at the Mare Island Navy Yard which lasted through April 1939, the cruiser returned east, transited the Panama Canal on 6 June, in company with Quincy, Tuscaloosa, and San Francisco and anchored in Hampton Roads on the 13th.

On 1 September 1939, the day on which Adolf Hitler's legions marched into Poland and commenced hostilities in Europe, Vincennes lay at anchor off Tompkinsville, New York.

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."

[4] Vincennes joined other Fleet units for landing exercises at Culebra, Puerto Rico, on 4 February 1941 and sent her 50 ft (15 m) boats to assist in unloading and troop debarkation drills.

The cruiser then fired simulated gunfire support operations with her main and secondary batteries in exercises which foreshadowed her future combat role in the South Pacific.

[4] For the remainder of February, the ship continued her landing support operations with Transport Divisions 2 and 7 (TransDivs 2 and 7), anchoring on occasion at Mayagüez or Guayanilla, Puerto Rico.

Conducting operations out of Puerto Rican waters, Vincennes called at Pernambuco, Brazil, on 17 March and got underway for Cape Town, South Africa, on the 20th.

After a brief post-voyage period of repairs, the heavy cruiser sailed for the Virginia Capes, where she rendezvoused with Ranger and Sampson, proceeded on to Bermuda, and dropped anchor in Grassy Bay on 30 April.

[4] After continuing her duties with the Neutrality Patrol into the autumn as American naval forces in the North Atlantic found themselves engaged in a de facto war with Germany, Vincennes undertook another mission to South African waters.

Walls of water mercilessly pounded the ships of the convoy, and waves battered Vincennes, smashing a motor whaleboat to pieces and ripping a SOC Seagull floatplane from its "moorings" on the storm-lashed well-deck amidships.

[4] After having safely convoyed her charges to Cape Town, where she arrived on 9 December, Vincennes departed South African waters on the 16th, bound, via Trinidad, for Hampton Roads.

Accordingly, all 16 of the heavily loaded Mitchells, laden with bombs and extra fuel, rose from Hornet's spray-slicked flight deck and climbed unsteadily into the leaden gray skies.

TF 17's radar soon picked them up 15 mi (24 km) out, and Yorktown launched planes to intercept as her screen deployed to bring an optimum concentration of anti-aircraft fire to bear upon the approaching enemy.

[4] Screening for transport squadron "X-ray", slated to participate in the Guadalcanal landings, Vincennes, in company with San Juan and Quincy, joined TF 62 on 26 July.

As flagship for Task Group 62.3 (TG 62.3), Vincennes remained on station in the covering force in the transport area before undertaking further approach and landing exercise support drills.

At daybreak, beneath overcast skies, the ship catapulted her scout planes and then unlimbered her main and secondary batteries to commence shore bombardment.

While the thunder of the supporting ships' gunfire reverberated across the waters, Marines disembarked from their landing craft and stormed ashore to meet initially light resistance on the island.

27 Mitsubishi G4M "Betty" bombers swept in, in a low-level torpedo attack and ran a gauntlet of gunfire from the transports and their escorting cruisers and destroyers.

While Jarvis limped away from Lunga Point, Vincennes and her sisters Quincy and Astoria steamed, as the northern escort force, to a position off Savo Island to screen the vulnerable transports which were still unloading off the invasion beaches.

Captain Frederick Lois Riefkohl of Vincennes assumed that the enemy ships reportedly en route from Rabaul were going to launch and support another air attack early the following morning.

[5] Riefkohl subsequently wrote: "The magnificent Vincennes, which we were all so proud of, and which I had the honor to command since 23 April 1941, rolled over and then sank at about 0250, 9 August 1942, about 2½ miles east of Savo Island … Solomons Group, in some 500 fathoms [910 m] of water.

"[4] The wreck of USS Vincennes was discovered in early 2015 during a sonar mapping project of Iron Bottom Sound led by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen.