USS Guam (CB-2)

Guam as she appeared in 1944

The ship was 808 feet 6 inches (246.43 m) long overall and had a beam of 91 ft 1 in (27.76 m) and a draft of 31 ft 10 in (9.70 m). She displaced 29,779 long tons (30,257 t) as designed and up to 34,253 long tons (34,803 t) 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 150,000 shaft horsepower (110,000 kW) and a top speed of 33 knots (61 km/h; 38 mph). The ship had a cruising range of 12,000 nautical miles (22,000 km; 14,000 mi) at a speed of 15 kn (28 km/h; 17 mph).[1][2] She carried four floatplanes, housed in two hangars,[3] with a pair of aircraft catapults mounted amidships.[4]

The ship was armed with a main battery of nine 12 in (305 mm) L/50 Mark 8 guns in three triple gun turrets, two in a superfiring pair forward and one aft of the superstructure.[Note 1] The secondary battery consisted of twelve 5-inch L/38 dual-purpose guns 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 40 mm (1.6 in) Bofors guns and 34 single-mounted 20 mm (0.79 in) Oerlikon guns.[1] 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.[5] The main armored belt was 9 in (229 mm) thick, while the gun turrets had 12.8 in (325 mm) thick faces. The main armored deck was 4 in (102 mm) thick.[1]

Guam was authorized under the Fleet Expansion Act on 19 July 1940, and ordered on 9 September.[6] She was laid down on 2 February 1942 at the New York Shipbuilding in Camden, New Jersey. She was launched on 21 November 1943 with the sponsorship of Mrs. Annabel McMillin (née Parlett), wife of former Governor of Guam George J. McMillin (who was being held by the Japanese as a prisoner of war at the time), 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.[7][8] She cost the US Navy $67,053,828 at her completion.[9]

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 Alaska 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 kamikazes and bombers. Guam was detached from the unit to escort the badly damaged carrier Franklin back to port, which lasted until 22 March.[9]

Guam under air attack, in 1945.

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.[9] 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.[10]

After returning to Okinawa in July, Guam was assigned to Cruiser Task Force 95, where she served as the flagship,[9] along with her sister Alaska, under the command of Rear Admiral Francis S. Low.[11] On 16 July, Guam and Alaska conducted a sweep into the East China and Yellow Seas to sink Japanese shipping. 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 carriers, into the estuary of the Yangtze River off Shanghai. Again, the operation met with limited success,[12] and they returned to Okinawa by 7 August.[9]

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.[13] Guam had served only 29 months on active duty.[14]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to USS Guam (CB-2).

• Cressman, Robert (2000). The Official Chronology of the U.S. Navy in World War II. Annapolis, Maryland: US Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-149-1.
• Dulin, Robert O., Jr.; Garzke, William H., Jr. (1976). Battleships: United States Battleships in World War II. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-174-2.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Egan, Robert S. (March 1971). "The US Navy's Battlecruisers". Warship International. International Naval Research Organization. VIII (1): 28–51.
• Friedman, Norman (1984). U.S. Cruisers: An Illustrated Design History. Annapolis, Maryland: US Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-718-6.
• Gardiner, Robert; Chesneau, Roger (1980). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1922–1946. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-913-8.
• Rohwer, Jürgen (2005). Chronology of the War at Sea, 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two. Annapolis, Maryland: US Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-59114-119-2.
• Swanborough, Gordon; Bowers, Peter M. (1990). United States Navy Aircraft Since 1911 (3rd ed.). London: Putnam Aeronautical Books. ISBN 0-85177-838-0.