Cruiser? Battleship? Something in between maybe

By looking at the profile of the warship below, you would be likely to think it a late-WWII era U.S. heavy cruiser, perhaps of the big 13,000-ton Oregon City-class or maybe even an example of the hulking 21,000-ton Des Moines-class. Going bigger, she could even be a 45,000-ton North Carolina-class fast battleship.

You would be wrong on all accounts there, buddy.

The below is the Alaska-class large cruiser (naval geeks will fight you to the death if you call her a “battlecruiser”) USS Guam (CB-2) off Trinidad on 13 November 1944 during her shakedown cruise– some 75 years ago this week.

U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph. Catalog #: NH 67519

Guam, the second U.S. Navy warship named after the far-flung strategic territory, commissioned 17 September 1944 and came to WWII much too late to thoroughly prove herself. Armed with nine 12-inch L/50 Mark…