Light cruiser USS Birmingham passing a line to the tugboat Tooronga in Port Phillip Bay, Melbourne, November 8th 1945.

USS Birmingham is the ship that went alongside the stricken carrier USS Princeton on Oct 24, 1944 during the battle of Leyte Gulf to help fight fires and suffered extensive damage to her superstructure and considerable casualties (229 killed instantly, 400 wounded, and four men missing) when a large topside explosion shook the doomed carrier.
Ship details: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Birmingham_(CL-62)