USS Alaska (CB-1)

A territory acquired by the United States from Russia in 1867. Alaska, located in the far northwestern corner of the North American continent and separated from the contiguous 48 states by Canada, was admitted to the Union as the 49th state in 1959.

The third Alaska (CB-1), the first of a class of "large cruisers" designed as a compromise to achieve a fast cruiser with a relatively heavy main battery, was laid down on 17 December 1941 at Camden, N.J., by the New York Shipbuilding Corp.; launched on 15 August 1943; sponsored by Mrs. Ernest Gruening, wife of the Honorable Ernest Gruening, Governor of Alaska; and commissioned at the Philadelphia Navy Yard on 17 June 1944, Capt. Peter K. Fischler in command.

Following post-commissioning fitting out at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Alaska stood down the Delaware River on 6 August 1944, bound for Hampton Roads, escorted by Simpson (DD-221) and Broome (DD-210). She then conducted an intensive shakedown, first in Chesapeake Bay and then in the Gulf of Paria, off Trinidad, British West Indies, escorted by Bainbridge (DD-246) and Decatur (DD-341). Steaming via Annapolis, Md., and Norfolk, Alaska returned to the Philadelphia Navy Yard, where the large cruiser underwent changes and alterations to her fire control suite: the fitting of four Mk. 57 directors for her five-inch battery.

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From the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, compiled by the Naval History and Heritage Command (Alaska III (CB-1)). A work of the United States Government, in the public domain.