USS Alaska ( CB - 1 ) USS " Alaska " ( CB - 1 ) was the lead ship of the of large cruisers which served with the United States Navy during the end of World War II . She was the first of two ships of her class to be completed , followed only by ; four other ships were ordered but were not completed before the end of the war . " Alaska " was the third vessel of the US Navy to be named after what was then the territory of Alaska . She was laid down on 17 December 1941 , ten days after the outbreak of war , was launched in August 1943 by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation , in Camden , New Jersey , and was commissioned in June 1944 . She was armed with a main battery of nine guns in three triple turrets and had a top speed of . Due to being commissioned late in the war , " Alaska " saw relatively limited service . She participated in operations off Iwo Jima and Okinawa in February – July 1945 , including providing anti - aircraft defense for a carrier task force and conducting limited shore bombardment operations . She shot down several Japanese aircraft off Okinawa , including a possible Ohka piloted rocket - bomb . In July – August 1945 she participated in sweeps for Japanese shipping in the East China and Yellow Seas . After the end of the war , she assisted in the occupation of Korea and transported a contingent of US Army troops back to the United States . She was decommissioned in February 1947 and placed in reserve , where she remained until she was stricken in 1960 and sold for scrapping the following year . Construction . " Alaska " was authorized under the Fleet Expansion Act on 19 July 1940 , and ordered on 9 September . On 17 December 1941 she was laid down at New York Shipbuilding in Camden , New Jersey . She was launched on 15 August 1943 , sponsored by the wife of the governor of Alaska , after which fitting - out work was effected . The ship was completed by June 1944 , and was commissioned into the US Navy on 17 June , under the command of Captain Peter K . Fischler . The ship was long overall and had a beam of and a draft of . She displaced as designed and up to at full combat load . The ship was powered by four - shaft General Electric geared steam turbines and eight oil - fired Babcock & Wilcox boilers rated at , generating a top speed of . The ship had a cruising range of at a speed of . She carried four OS2U Kingfisher or SC Seahawk seaplanes , with a pair of steam catapults mounted amidships . The ship was armed with a main battery of nine 12 inch L / 50 Mark 8 guns in three triple gun turret s , two in a superfiring pair forward and one aft of the superstructure . The secondary battery consisted of twelve 5 - inch L / 38 dual - purpose gun s in six twin turrets . Two were placed on the centerline superfiring over the main battery turrets , fore and aft , and the remaining four turrets were placed on the corners of the superstructure . The light anti - aircraft battery consisted of 56 quad - mounted Bofors guns and 34 single - mounted Oerlikon guns . A pair of Mk 34 gun directors aided gun laying for the main battery , while two Mk 37 directors controlled the 5 - inch guns and a Mk 57 director aided the 40 mm guns . The main armored belt was thick , while the gun turrets had thick faces . The main armored deck was thick . Service history . After her commissioning , " Alaska " steamed down to Hampton Roads , escorted by the destroyers and . The ship was then deployed for a shakedown cruise , first in the Chesapeake Bay and then into the Caribbean , off Trinidad . On the cruise she was escorted by the destroyers and . After completing the cruise " Alaska " returned to the Philadelphia Navy Yard for some minor alterations , including the installation of four Mk 57 fire control directors for her 5 - inch guns . On 12 November she left Philadelphia in the company of the destroyer - minelayer , bound for two weeks of sea trials off Guantanamo Bay , Cuba . On 2 December she left Cuba for the Pacific , transiting the Panama Canal two days later , and reaching San Diego on 12 December . There her gun crews trained for shore bombardment and anti - aircraft fire . Pacific deployment . On 8 January 1945 , " Alaska " left California for Hawaii , arriving in Pearl Harbor on 13 January . There she participated in further training and was assigned to Task Group 12 . 2 , which departed for Ulithi on 29 January . The Task Group reached Ulithi on 6 February and was merged into Task Group 58 . 5 , part of Task Force 58 , the Fast Carrier Task Force . Task Group 58 . 5 was assigned to provide anti - aircraft defense for the aircraft carrier s ; " Alaska " was assigned to the carriers and . The fleet sailed for Japan on 10 February to conduct air strikes against Tokyo and the surrounding airfields . The Japanese did not attack the fleet during the operation . " Alaska " was then transferred to Task Group 58 . 4 and assigned to support the assault on Iwo Jima . She served in the screen for the carriers off Iwo Jima for nineteen days , after which time she had to return to Ulithi to replenish fuel and supplies . " Alaska " remained with TG 58 . 4 for the Battle of Okinawa . She was assigned to screen the carriers and ; the fleet left Ulithi on 14 March and reached its operational area southeast of Kyushu four days later . The first air strikes on Okinawa began that day , and claimed 17 Japanese aircraft destroyed on the ground . Here , " Alaska " finally saw combat , as the Japanese launched a major air strike on the American fleet . Her anti - aircraft gunners destroyed a Yokosuka P1Y bomber attempting to crash into " Intrepid " . Shortly thereafter , " Alaska " was warned that American aircraft were in the vicinity . About ten minutes later , her gunners spotted an unidentified aircraft , approaching in what they thought was a threatening manner ; they shot down what turned out to be an F6F Hellcat fighter , though the pilot was uninjured . Later that afternoon , " Alaska " shot down a second Japanese bomber , a Yokosuka D4Y . The following day , the carrier was badly damaged by several bomb hits and a kamikaze . " Alaska " and her sister , two other cruisers , and several destroyers were detached to create Task Group 58 . 2 . 9 to escort the crippled " Franklin " back to Ulithi . On the voyage back to port , another D4Y bomber attacked " Franklin " , though the ships were unable to shoot it down . Gunfire from one of the 5 - inch guns accidentally caused flash burns on several men standing nearby ; these were the only casualties suffered by her crew during the war . " Alaska " then took on the role of fighter director ; using her anti - air search radar she vectored fighters to intercept and destroy a Kawasaki Ki - 45 heavy fighter . On 22 March , the ships reached Ulithi and " Alaska " was detached to rejoin TG 58 . 4 . After returning to her unit , " Alaska " continued to screen for the aircraft carriers off Okinawa . On 27 March she was detached to conduct a bombardment of Minamidaitō . She was joined by " Guam " , two light cruisers , and Destroyer Squadron 47 . On the night of 27 – 28 March , she fired forty - five 12 - inch shells and three hundred and fifty - two 5 - inch rounds at the island . The ships rejoined TG 58 . 4 at a refueling point , after which they returned to Okinawa to support the landings when they began on 1 April . On the evening of 11 April , " Alaska " shot down one Japanese plane , assisted in the destruction of another , and claimed what might have been an Ohka piloted rocket - bomb . On 16 April , the ship shot down another three aircraft and assisted with three others . Throughout the rest of the month , her heavy anti - aircraft fire succeeded in driving off Japanese bombers . " Alaska " then returned to Ulithi to resupply , arriving on 14 May . She was then assigned to TG 38 . 4 , the reorganized carrier task force . The fleet then returned to Okinawa , where " Alaska " continued in her anti - aircraft defense role . On 9 June , she and " Guam " bombarded Oki Daitō . TG 38 . 4 then steamed to San Pedro Bay in the Leyte Gulf for rest and maintenance ; the ship remained there from 13 June until 13 July , when she was assigned to Cruiser Task Force 95 along with her sister " Guam " , under the command of Rear Admiral Francis S . Low . On 16 July , " Alaska " and " Guam " conducted a sweep into the East China and Yellow Seas to sink Japanese shipping vessels . They had only limited success , however , and returned to the fleet on 23 July . They then joined a major raid , which included three battleships and three escort carrier s , into the estuary of the Yangtze River off Shanghai . Again , the operation met with limited success . Post - war operations . In the course of her service during World War II , " Alaska " was awarded three battle star s . On 30 August " Alaska " left Okinawa for Japan to participate in the 7th Fleet occupation force . She arrived in Incheon , Korea on 8 September and supported Army operations there until 26 September , when she left for Tsingtao , China , arriving the following day . There , she supported the 6th Marine Division until 13 November , when she returned to Incheon to take on Army soldiers as part of Operation Magic Carpet , the mass repatriation of millions of American servicemen from Asia and Europe . " Alaska " left Incheon with a contingent of soldiers bound for San Francisco . After reaching San Francisco , she left for the Atlantic , via the Panama Canal , which she transited on 13 December . The ship arrived in the Boston Navy Yard on 18 December , where preparations were made to place the ship in reserve . She left Boston on 1 February 1946 for Bayonne , New Jersey , where she would be berthed in reserve . She arrived there the following day , and on 13 August , she was remove from active service , though she would not be decommissioned until 17 February 1947 . Conversion proposals . In 1958 , the Bureau of Ships prepared two feasibility studies to see if " Alaska " and " Guam " were suitable to be converted to guided missile cruisers . The first study involved removing all of the guns in favor of four different missile systems . This was seen , at $ 160 million , as too costly , so the second study was made up . This study left the forward batteries — the two 12 ″ triple turrets and three of the 5 " dual turrets — in place and added a reduced version of the first plan for the aft . This would have cost $ 82 million , and was still seen as too cost - prohibitive . As a result , the conversion proposal was abandoned and the ship was instead stricken from the naval registry on 1 June 1960 . On 30 June she was sold to the Lipsett Division of Luria Brothers to broken up for scrap .