Editing Alaska-class cruiser (section)

== Service history ==
[[Image:Aerial view of USS Guam (CB-2) off Trinidad, 13 November 1944 (NH 97132).jpg|thumb|right|{{USS|Guam|CB-2|2}} during her shakedown cruise on 13 November 1944]]

{{USS|Alaska|CB-1|2}} and {{USS|Guam|CB-2|2}} served with the U.S. Navy during the last year of World War II, forming Cruiser Division 16 commanded by [[Rear admiral (United States)|Rear Admiral]] [[Francis S. Low]], USN.<ref>{{cite book |title= History of United States Naval Operations in World War II, Volume 14: Victory in the Pacific, 1945 |last= Morison |first= Samuel Eliot |author-link= Samuel Eliot Morison |year= 2004 |publisher= [[United States Naval Institute|Naval Institute Press]] |location= [[Annapolis, Maryland]] |isbn= 978-1-59114-579-0 |pages= 21, 307, 310, 355, 385 |url= http://www.usni.org/store/books/catalog-holiday-2011/books-naval-history-enthusiast-holiday-2011/breaking-bismarcks-barr |access-date= 19 July 2014 |quote= Hereafter referred to as: Morison, ''Victory in the Pacific'' |archive-date= 11 August 2014 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140811054431/http://www.usni.org/store/books/catalog-holiday-2011/books-naval-history-enthusiast-holiday-2011/breaking-bismarcks-barr |url-status= live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Admiral Francis S. Low, US Navy 15 August 1894&nbsp;– 22 January 1964 |url=http://www.history.navy.mil/bios/low_franciss.htm |publisher=[[Naval History & Heritage Command]] |year=2014 |access-date=11 July 2014 |quote=Adapted from the biographical sketch for Admiral Francis S. Low, Navy Biographies Branch, 23 July 1956; now part of the Modern Biography Files, Navy Department Library, Naval History & Heritage Command. |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140726131522/http://www.history.navy.mil/bios/low_franciss.htm |archive-date=26 July 2014 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=United States Pacific Fleet Organization – 1 May 1945 |url=http://www.history.navy.mil/library/online/uspacificfleetorg.htm |publisher=[[Naval History & Heritage Command]] |year=2014 |access-date=11 July 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140521235217/http://www.history.navy.mil/library/online/uspacificfleetorg.htm |archive-date=21 May 2014 }}</ref> Similar to the {{sclass|Iowa|battleship|0}} [[fast battleship]]s, their firepower was useful in [[Naval gunfire support|shore bombardment]], and their speed made them excellent fast carrier escorts, a role for which the two had become celebrated within the fleet by the war's end.<ref name=Miller200/> Both ''Alaska'' and ''Guam'' protected {{USS|Franklin|CV-13|2}} when she was on her way to be repaired in Guam after being hit by two Japanese bombs. Afterward, ''Alaska'' supported the [[Battle of Okinawa|landings on Okinawa]], while ''Guam'' went to [[Leyte-Samar Naval Base|San Pedro Bay]] to become the leader of a new task force, Cruiser [[Task Force 95]], under the overall command of Vice Admiral [[Jesse B. Oldendorf]]. ''Guam'', joined by ''Alaska'', four light cruisers, and nine destroyers, led the task force into the [[East China Sea|East China]] and [[Yellow Sea]]s to conduct raids upon shipping; however, they encountered only Chinese [[Junk (ship)|junks]].<ref name="Alaska DANFS"/><ref name="Guam DANFS"/>

After the war, both ships served as part of [[Task Force 71]], the designation for the [[U.S. Seventh Fleet]]'s North China Naval Force. Its mission was to support the [[United States Army Military Government in Korea|American occupation of southern Korea]].<ref>{{cite journal |last= Marolda |first= Edward J. |date= October 2011 |title= Asian Warm-up to the Cold War |url= http://www.usni.org/magazines/navalhistory/2011-10/asian-warm-cold-war |journal= [[United States Naval Institute#Naval History|Naval History]] |publisher= [[United States Naval Institute]] |volume= 25 |issue= 5 |pages= 27–28 |access-date= 5 July 2014 |archive-date= 12 August 2014 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140812054721/http://www.usni.org/magazines/navalhistory/2011-10/asian-warm-cold-war |url-status= live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first= Barlow |last= Jeffrey G. |title= From Hot War to Cold: The U.S. Navy and National Security Affairs, 1945–1955 |year= 2009 |publisher= [[Stanford University Press]] |location= [[Palo Alto, California]] |isbn= 978-0-8047-5666-2 |page= 129 |url= http://www.sup.org/book.cgi?id=9916 |access-date= 9 July 2014 |quote= Hereafter referred to as: Bartow. ''From Hot War to Cold.'' |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140702011952/http://sup.org/book.cgi?id=9916 |archive-date= 2 July 2014 }}</ref> This included executing various show-the-flag operations along the western coast of Korea as well as in the [[Bohai Sea]]. These naval demonstrations preceded [[Battle of Inchon|Operation Chromite]], the amphibious landing of U.S. Army ground forces at [[Incheon]], Korea, on 10 September 1950.<ref>Bartow. ''From Hot War to Cold,'' pp. 129–130.</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title= Report of Surrender and Occupation of Japan dated 9 May 1946 |url= http://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a438971.pdf |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140727001951/http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a438971.pdf |url-status= live |archive-date= 27 July 2014 |access-date= 11 July 2014 |quote=Part III – THE SURRENDER AND OCCUPATION OF KOREA, p. 111}}</ref> Subsequently, both ships returned to the United States in mid-December 1945, and they were decommissioned and "[[Reserve fleet|mothballed]]" in 1947,<ref name="Alaska DANFS"/><ref name="Guam DANFS"/> after having spent 32&nbsp;months (''Alaska'') and 29&nbsp;months (''Guam'') in service.<ref name=Dulin179/>

In 1958, the [[Bureau of Ships]] prepared two feasibility studies to explore whether ''Alaska'' and ''Guam'' could be suitably converted into [[guided-missile cruiser]]s. The first study involved removing all of the guns in favor of four different missile systems. At $160&nbsp;million, the cost of this proposed removal was seen as prohibitive, so a second study was initiated. The study left the forward batteries (the two 12-inch triple turrets and three of the 5-inch dual turrets) unchanged, and added a reduced version of the first plan on the stern of the ship. Even though the proposals would have cost approximately half as much as the first study's plan ($82&nbsp;million), it was still seen as too expensive.<ref name=Dulin187>Dulin and Garzke 187.</ref> As a result, both ships were stricken from the [[Naval Vessel Register]] on 1 June 1960. ''Alaska'' was sold for scrap on 30 June 1960, and ''Guam'' on 24 May 1961.<ref name="Alaska DANFS"/><ref name="Guam DANFS"/>
The still-incomplete {{USS|Hawaii|CB-3|2}} was considered for a conversion to be the Navy's first guided-missile cruiser;{{efn-ua|A similar proposal was made to convert the uncompleted ''Iowa''-class battleship {{USS|Kentucky|BB-66|6}} into the first guided-missile battleship, but as with the proposal for ''Hawaii'' this conversion never materialized, and ''Kentucky'' was scrapped in 1958.}} this thought lasted until 26 February 1952, when a different conversion to a "[[command ship|large command ship]]" was contemplated. In anticipation of the conversion, her [[hull classification symbol|classification]] was changed to CBC-1. This would have made her a "larger sister" to {{USS|Northampton|CLC-1|2}},<ref name="Conway's"/> but a year and a half later (9 October 1954) she was re-designated CB-3. ''Hawaii'' was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 9 June 1958 and was sold for scrap in 1959.<ref name="Hawaii DANFS"/>