USS Guam ( CB - 2 ) USS " Guam " ( CB - 2 ) was an large cruiser which served with the United States Navy during the end of World War II . She was the second and last ship of her class to be completed . The ship was the second vessel of the US Navy to be named after the island of Guam , an American territory in the Pacific . Due to her commissioning late in the war , " Guam " saw relatively limited service during the war . She participated in operations off Okinawa in March – July 1945 , including providing anti - aircraft defense for the carrier task force and conducting limited shore bombardment operations . She participated in sweeps for Japanese shipping in the East China and Yellow Seas in July – August 1945 . 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 . Description and construction . " Guam " was authorized under the Fleet Expansion Act on 19 July 1940 , and ordered on 9 September . She was laid down on 2 February 1942 at the New York Shipbuilding in Camden , New Jersey . She was launched on 12 November 1943 , after which fitting - out work was effected . The ship was completed by September 1944 , and she was commissioned into the US Navy on 17 September , under the command of Captain Leland Lovette . She cost the US Navy $ 67 , 053 , 828 at her completion . 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 General Electric geared steam turbine sets , each driving one propeller , and eight oil - fired Babcock & Wilcox boilers rated at and a top speed of . The ship had a cruising range of at a speed of . She carried four floatplane s , housed in two hangars , with a pair of aircraft catapult s 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 gunlaying 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 . " Guam " was laid down on 2 February 1942 by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation , in Camden , New Jersey , launched on 12 November 1943 , and commissioned on 17 September 1944 . She received the first operational SC Seahawk floatplanes in October . Service history . " Guam " left Philadelphia on 17 January 1945 , after completing her shakedown cruise off Trinidad . She proceeded through the Panama Canal to join the United States Pacific Fleet in Pearl Harbor , which she reached on 8 February . While there , Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal visited the ship . On 3 March , she departed Hawaii for Ulithi , where she joined her sister on 13 March . Shortly thereafter , " Guam " and the rest of Task Force 58 , the main strike force of the US Navy under the command of Admiral Arthur W . Radford , departed for a raid on the mainland Japanese islands of Kyushu and Shikoku . Task Force 58 arrived off Japan on the morning of 18 March and was quickly attacked by Japanese kamikaze s and bombers . " Guam " was detached from the unit to escort the badly damaged carrier back to port , which lasted until 22 March . " Guam " then returned to Task Force 58 , assigned to Cruiser Division 16 , part of Task Group 58 . 4 , and steamed to Okinawa . On the night of 27 – 28 March , " Guam " and the rest of Cruiser Division 16 bombarded the airfield on Minamidaitō . After concluding the bombardment , " Guam " returned to the carrier screen while they conducted operations off Nansei Shoto until 11 May . The ship then steamed to Ulithi for periodic maintenance and to replenish ammunition and supplies . She then returned to Okinawa , assigned to Task Group 38 . 4 of William Halsey ' s Third Fleet . She continued to provide anti - aircraft defense for the carriers while they launched fighter sweeps of Kyushu . " Guam " and " Alaska " bombarded Oki Daitō for an hour and a half on 9 June , after which they steamed to San Pedro Bay in the Leyte Gulf , arriving on 13 June . After returning to Okinawa in July , " Guam " was assigned to Cruiser Task Force 95 , where she served as the flagship , along with her sister " Alaska " , under the command of Rear Admiral Francis S . Low . On 16 July , " Guam " and " Alaska " conducted a sweep into the East China and Yellow Seas to sink Japanese shipping . They have 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 , and they returned to Okinawa by 7 August . Shortly after returning to Okinawa , " Guam " became the flagship of the North China Force , again commanded by Rear Admiral Low . The unit was tasked with showing the flag in the region , including the ports of Tsingtao , Port Arthur , and Dalian . On 8 September , " Guam " entered Jinsen , Korea , to assist in the occupation of the country . She left Jinsen on 14 November bound for San Francisco , carrying a group of Army soldiers back to the United States . She arrived in port on 3 December and departed two days later for Bayonne , New Jersey , arriving on the 17th . She remained there until she was decommissioned on 17 February 1947 . She was then assigned to the Atlantic Reserve Fleet , where she remained until she was stricken from the navy list on 1 June 1960 . She was sold on 24 May 1961 for $ 423 , 076 to the Boston Metals Company in Baltimore . She was towed to the shipbreakers on 10 July 1961 . " Guam " had served on 29 months on active duty . In the course of her career , she received two battle star s for her service during World War II .