World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseGuam was the final ship of the Alaska-class large cruisers of the United States Navy. She was commissioned in Sep 1944 with Captain Leland P. Lovette in command. She had her shakedown cruise off Trinidad, and returned to Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, Pennsylvania, United States for post-shakedown repairs. On 17 Jan 1945, she departed Philadelphia to join the US Navy Pacific Fleet, arriving at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, United States on 8 Feb. After a visit from Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal, she set sail from Pearl Harbor on 3 Mar and arrived at Ulithi in the Caroline Islands on 13 Mar. As a member of Task Force 58, she was among the escorting vessels for fleet carriers Enterprise and Intrepid, thus she very quickly plunged into combat as Japanese special attack aircraft attempted to plunge into the carriers. On the night of 27-28 Mar, she bombarded the Japanese airfield at Minami Daito 217 miles east of Okinawa, Japan. She remained in the region until 11 May in support of US naval operations. After replenishment at Ulithi, she joined Task Group 38.4 and once again escorted carriers as their aircraft now attacked airfields at Kyushu of the Japanese home islands. On 9 Jun 1945, sister ships Guam and Alaska, accompanied by 5 destroyers, bombarded Oki Daito. She arrived at San Pedro Bay in the Philippine Islands on 13 Jun. As the flagship of the newly formed Cruiser Task Force 95, she led patrols in the East China Sea and Yellow Sea between 16 Jul and 7 Aug against Japanese shipping. A few days later, she became Rear Admiral F. S. Low's flagship of the North China Force. On 8 Sep 1945, she made port call at Jinsen, Korea. On 14 Nov, she departed from Jinsen for San Francisco, California, United States, arriving on 5 Dec 1945. On 17 Dec, she arrived at Bayonne, New Jersey, United States where she was decommissioned in early 1947. On 1 Jun 1960, she was struck from the Navy List and sold to the Boston Metals Company of Baltimore, Maryland, United States on 24 May 1961.

Large Cruiser Guam Interactive Map

Photographs

Guam Operational Timeline