After commissioning in 1923, the Omaha operated on the Pacific coast, Caribbean Sea, Brazil and Central America. In 1937, she became grounded on a reek in the Bahamas.
By June 1941, the Omaha was involved with Neutrality Patrols near Brazil with the intention of enforcing a blockade against Germany by intercepting and boarding vessels that might be involved in commercial endeavors for Germany.
CAPTURE OF THE ODENWALD
The German blockade runner Odenwald was sighted 6 November 1941 by the Omaha and the destroyer USS Somers ((DD-381). It was pretending to be an American ship by the name of SS Willmoto and carrying a large cargo of much-needed rubber. This ended up being the last time Navy personnel received prize money for the capture of a blockade runner.
This was a month and a day before the attack on Pearl Harbor which plunged the U.S. into World War II.
The Omaha then patrolled the Atlantic and Caribbean Seas and made quite a few rescues of survivors of sunken Allied ships.
--GreGen
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