Editing Alaska-class cruiser (section)

== Construction ==

Of the six ''Alaska''-class cruisers that were planned, only three were laid down. The first two, {{USS|Alaska|CB-1|2}} and {{USS|Guam|CB-2|2}}, were completed by the [[New York Shipbuilding Corporation]]. Construction of {{USS|Hawaii|CB-3|2}}, the third, was suspended on 16 April 1947 when she was 84% complete.<ref name="Hawaii DANFS"/><ref name=Dulin189/> The last three, ''Philippines'', ''Puerto Rico'', and ''Samoa'', were delayed since all available materials and slipways were allocated to higher priority ships, such as aircraft carriers, [[destroyer]]s, and [[submarine]]s. Construction had still not begun when steel shortages<ref>Fitzsimons, Volume 1, 59.</ref> and a realization that these "cruiser-killers" had no more cruisers to hunt—as the fleets of Japanese cruisers had already been defeated by aircraft and submarines—made the ships "[[white elephants]]".<ref name="Conway's"/> As a result, construction of the last three members of the class never began, and they were officially cancelled on 24 June 1943.<ref name="Philippines DANFS">{{cite DANFS | title = Philippines | url = http://hazegray.org/danfs/cruisers/cb4.htm | access-date=15 October 2008|short=yes|link=no| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081023071417/http://www.hazegray.org/danfs/cruisers/cb4.htm| archive-date= 23 October 2008 | url-status= live}}</ref><ref name="Puerto Rico DANFS">{{cite DANFS | title = Puerto Rico | url = http://hazegray.org/danfs/cruisers/cb5.htm | access-date=15 October 2008|short=yes|link=no| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081023071422/http://www.hazegray.org/danfs/cruisers/cb5.htm| archive-date= 23 October 2008 | url-status= live}}</ref><ref name="Samoa DANFS">{{cite DANFS | title = Samoa | url = http://hazegray.org/danfs/cruisers/cb6.htm | access-date=15 October 2008|short=yes|link=no| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081020163118/http://www.hazegray.org/danfs/cruisers/cb6.htm| archive-date= 20 October 2008 | url-status= live}}</ref>