USS Miami ( CL - 89 ) Construction . " Miami " was laid down 2 August 1941 by Cramp Shipbuilding Co . , Philadelphia , Pa . , and launched 8 December 1942 , sponsored by Mrs . C . H . Reeder , wife of the mayor of Miami , Fla . She was commissioned 28 December 1943 , Captain John G . Crawford in command . Service history . Marianas campaign , June – October 1944 . After shakedown in the Caribbean and training along the Atlantic coast , the new light cruiser , accompanied by her sister - ships and , departed Boston on 16 April 1944 for the Pacific , via the Panama Canal and San Diego , reaching Pearl Harbor on 6 May . " Miami " joined the Fast Carrier Task Force for air strikes in June against Saipan , Tinian , Rota , Guam , Pagan , and the Bonin Islands in support of the Marianas campaign . During July , " Miami " operated west of the Marianas with the carriers as they gave close air support to ground forces struggling to take the islands . Early in August she supported raids on Iwo Jima and Haha Jima in the Bonins before steaming to Eniwetok for upkeep . Her carriers hit Peleliu and Angaur in the Palaus , 7 September , and bombed targets in the Philippines from the 12th through the 15th . During these strikes her scout planes on four occasions rescued American pilots who had been shot down in enemy waters . The cruiser continued to support strikes against the Palaus and the Philippines until returning to Saipan on the 29th for replenishment . " Miami " departed Ulithi for strikes on Okinawa on 10 – 14 October . While her task group was under air attack on the night of 12 / 13 October , " Miami " s guns brought down their first enemy plane and assisted in splashing another . Planes from her carriers hit targets on Luzon on 18 October . Battle of Leyte Gulf , October 1944 . The tempo of the Pacific war was now rising rapidly . On 20 October , the 7th Fleet landed General MacArthur on the shores of Leyte , fulfilling his pledge to the Philippines : " I shall return . " Realizing the decisive strategic importance of the Philippines Archipelago , Japan mustered all her force for a major counter - offensive to turn back the invasion . Her still formidable navy converged on Leyte Gulf from three directions : a northern force steamed above Luzon to lure the 3rd Fleet north and out of the action , a center force debouched through San Bernardino Strait and followed the coast of Samar toward Leyte , and a southern force emerged through Surigao Strait to trap and destroy the amphibious ships in the gulf . The American Navy parried these thrusts in four historic actions collectively known as the Battle for Leyte Gulf . Operating with Rear Admiral Gerald F . Bogan ' s Carrier task group , Miami protected , , , , and during the titanic struggle . Planes from the flattops located and heavily attacked the Japanese center force in the Sibuyan Sea on 24 October , sinking and so badly damaging that she was forced to retire from action . The whole Japanese center force turned back to regroup , leading Admiral Halsey to conclude that they were retiring for good . When word of the northern force off Luzon arrived that afternoon , Halsey ordered the carriers to speed north to attack . " Miami " accompanied them at flank speed as the flattops sank four Japanese carriers and several supporting ships . When Halsey learned that the center force had again reversed course and had steamed through San Bernardino Strait to threaten the American amphibious ships off the beachhead at Leyte , he ordered Bogan ' s group south to the rescue . However , the Japanese Goliaths of the center force were stopped and turned back by a handful of American Davids : three destroyers , four destroyer escorts , and six escort carriers . Nevertheless , " Miami " and her consorts managed to catch the Japanese destroyer " Nowaki " off the entrance to San Bernardino Strait . With the guns of the other cruisers and destroyers , " Miami " s six - inch guns sank her . Operations , 1944 – 45 . After participating in carrier strikes on the Philippines during November , " Miami " encountered a typhoon while operating east of Luzon on 18 December . During the morning one of the ship ' s aircraft was carried away , and in the afternoon her hull was damaged by buckling . As the storm abated the next day , she searched for survivors of damaged and lost ships . On January 1945 , the ship operated in air strikes on Formosa , Luzon , French Indochina , South China Coast , Hainan , and Hong Kong . She transited Balintang Channel , Luzon Straits , on 20 January 1945 , and the next day , while engaged in an air strike against Formosa , " Miami " sighted a Mitsubishi A6M Zero type enemy plane above the formation and shot it down . On 1 February the ship steamed close to Japan for air strikes against targets in the Tokyo area . In mid - March , " Miami " began operating east of Okinawa , and continued in that area , encountering frequent enemy air opposition , until late in April . Leaving Ulithi on 10 May 1945 , touching Pearl Harbor on the 17th , " Miami " proceeded to the United States for overhaul , arriving San Francisco on 24 May , where she remained until after the cessation of hostilities , returning to Pearl Harbor on 25 August . In September and October " Miami " operated in the Ryūkyūs accepting the surrender of the small islands north of Okinawa . After a brief visit to Yokosuka , Japan , she steamed to the Carolines and arrived at Truk on 11 November to conduct a survey of bombing damage to the famous naval base there . Post - war operations , 1945 – 47 . Ordered home on 25 November , " Miami " arrived at Long Beach on 10 December . She operated on the California coast training naval reservists until decommissioning on 30 June 1947 and entering the Pacific Reserve Fleet . " Miami " s name was struck from the Navy list on 1 September 1961 and her hulk was sold for scrapping to Nicholai Joffe Corp . , Beverly Hills , Calif . , on 26 July 1962 . Awards . " Miami " received six battle star s for World War II service .