USS San Juan ( CL - 54 ) The second US Navy ship to be named USS San Juan and the first to be named for the city of San Juan , Puerto Rico , USS " San Juan " ( CL - 54 ) , an " Atlanta " - class light cruiser of the United States Navy of World War II . She was laid down on 15 May 1940 by the Bethlehem Steel Co . ( Fore River ) , Quincy , Massachusetts ; launched on 6 September 1941 ; sponsored by Mrs . Margarita Coll de Santori ; and commissioned on 28 February 1942 , Captain James E . Maher in command . Service history . 1942 . After shakedown in the Atlantic , " San Juan " departed from Hampton Roads , Virginia on 5 June 1942 as part of a carrier task group formed around and bound for the Pacific . The group got underway from San Diego on 30 June escorting a large group of troop transports destined for the Solomon Islands where the Navy was about to launch the first major American amphibious operation of the war . Following rehearsal in the Fiji Islands , " San Juan " provided gunfire support for the landings at Tulagi on 7 August 1942 . On the night of 8 – 9 August , she was patrolling the eastern approaches to the transport area between Tulagi and Guadalcanal when gun flashes indicated that fighting was taking place in the western approaches . The action turned out to be the Battle of Savo Island , in which an enemy cruiser force sank four Allied cruisers . " San Juan " retired from the forward area with the empty transports on the 9th and escorted them to Noumea . She then rejoined " Wasp " and operated with the carrier force for several weeks between the New Hebrides and the Solomons , on guard against a Japanese carrier attack . However , when this strike materialized on 24 August , " San Juan " had withdrawn to refuel and thus missed the Battle of the Eastern Solomons . was hit in the battle , and " San Juan " , which had damaged a gun mount off Guadalcanal , escorted the carrier to Pearl Harbor , arriving on 10 September 1942 . On 5 October , the cruiser again headed for the South Pacific , stopping first at Funafuti in the Ellice Islands to deliver a deck load of 20 mm guns to the marines who had just landed there . She then carried out a raid through the Gilberts sinking two Japanese patrol vessels on 16 October . Disembarking Japanese prisoners at Espiritu Santo , the cruiser joined " Enterprise " on the 23rd . Three days later , after patrol planes had made contact with enemy carrier forces , the Battle of Santa Cruz Islands was fought in which was lost and " Enterprise " damaged while the Japanese suffered severe losses in aircraft and pilots . During the last dive - bombing attack on the formation , one bomb passed through " San Juan " s stern , flooding several compartments and damaging , though not disabling , her rudder . She arrived at Nouméa with the task force on 30 October and then spent ten days at Sydney , Australia , receiving permanent repairs . " San Juan " joined at Nadi , Viti Levu Island , in the Fijis on 24 November . 1943 . From December 1942 to June 1943 , " San Juan " was based at Nouméa and operated in the Coral Sea , both with carrier groups and alone . At the end of June 1943 , during the occupation of New Georgia , " San Juan " s carrier group patrolled the Coral Sea for 26 days to prevent enemy interference . Late in July , the force made a quick stop at Nouméa and moved to the New Hebrides , first to Havannah Harbor , Efate , and later to Espiritu Santo . On 1 November , the " Saratoga " group , including " San Juan " , neutralized airfields on Bougainville and Rabaul while Allied forces landed on Bougainville . In the middle of November , the task group acted as a covering force for the occupation of the Gilberts . " San Juan " then joined on a raid on Kwajalein in the Marshalls , fighting off persistent torpedo plane attacks on 4 – 5 December . Detached on 6 December , the cruiser returned to the United States for overhaul at Mare Island . 1944 . " San Juan " rejoined " Saratoga " off Pearl Harbor on 19 January 1944 and the force covered the occupation of Eniwetok in February . " San Juan " next escorted and in strikes on Palau , Yap , and Ulithi on 30 March and 1 April . On 7 April , the cruiser joined the new , which covered the landings at Hollandia in April and then struck at Truk on 29 – 30 April . After returning to bases in the Marshalls , the " Hornet " group began support of the Marianas campaign in early June , striking at Iwo Jima and Chichi Jima in the Bonins , while American troops landed on Saipan . " San Juan " helped guard her group during the Battle of the Philippine Sea when American naval air power decisively defeated a Japanese counterattack to save the Marianas , and , in doing so , all but wiped out Japanese naval air strength . After a short stop at Eniwetok , " San Juan " escorted and during July as they covered the capture of Guam with strikes on Iwo Jima and Chichi Jima . After a strike on Palau and Ulithi , " San Juan " was ordered to San Francisco for overhaul , and departed from Eniwetok on 4 August escorting " Yorktown " . Following refresher training at San Diego and Pearl Harbor , " San Juan " joined " Lexington " s task group at Ulithi on 21 November . In early December , she screened the carriers in strikes on Formosa and Luzon in support of landings on Mindoro . During this operation , she was sent alone within scouting range of Japanese airfields in an effort to draw out Japanese aircraft by radio deception , but none rose to the bait . On 18 – 19 December , the force was battered by a typhoon , and returned to Ulithi on Christmas Eve . 1945 . Underway again six days later , the carriers covered the occupation of Luzon with strikes on Formosa , Okinawa , and Luzon from 3 – 9 January 1945 , and then from 10 – 20 January raided ports and shipping in the South China Sea , particularly Saigon , Cam Ranh Bay , and Hong Kong . After replenishing at Ulithi , " San Juan " escorted " Hornet " in air strikes on Tokyo during the Iwo Jima operation in February and then returned to Ulithi on 1 March to prepare for the Okinawa invasion . " San Juan " rejoined " Hornet " on 22 March and , until 30 April , operated with her to the north and east of Nansei Shoto , interrupting her regular occupation of supporting air strikes and replenishment at sea with a bombardment , on 21 April , of Minami Daito Shima , a small island about 180 mi ( 290 km ) from Okinawa . Planes from " San Juan " s group helped sink the giant on 7 April . After nine days at Ulithi , the " Hornet " group was back on station off Nansei Shoto for strikes on targets in Japan . " San Juan " arrived in Leyte Gulf on 13 June for repairs and then joined , on 1 July for more strikes on the Japanese home islands . She was at sea when the news of the Japanese capitulation was received on 15 August , and , on the 27th , after 59 days at sea , she joined the van forces for the triumphal entry of the 3rd Fleet into Sagami Wan , just outside Tokyo Bay . " San Juan " s embarked unit commander , Commodore Rodger W . Simpson , was assigned responsibility for freeing , caring for , and evacuating Allied prisoners of war in Japan . On 29 August , the ship entered Tokyo Bay and landed parties which liberated prisoners at camps at Omori and Ofuna and the Shanagawa hospital . The former prisoners were transferred to hospital ships and . After evacuating camps in the Tokyo Bay 2area , " San Juan " moved to the Nagoya - Hamamatsu area to the south and then to the Sendai - Kamanishi area to the north . On completing her liberation duty , the cruiser moored on 23 September next to the last Japanese battleship , " Nagato " , at Yokosuka shifting to an outer anchorage there on 28 October . She sailed for the United States on 14 November , disembarked Commodore Simpson at Pearl Harbor , and continued to the US with homewardbound troops , arriving on 29 November . Three days later , she sailed on " Magic Carpet " duty to Nouméa and Tutuila , returning to San Pedro , California on 9 January 1946 with a full load of troops . Decommissioning and sale . The cruiser arrived at Bremerton , Washington , for inactivation on 24 January 1946 , and was decommissioned and placed in reserve there on 9 November 1946 . " San Juan " was redesignated CLAA - 54 on 28 February 1949 . She was struck from the Navy list on 1 March 1959 and sold on 31 October 1961 to National Metal and Steel Corporation , Terminal Island , Los Angeles , California , for scrapping . Awards . " San Juan " received 13 battle star s for her World War II service .