The Ships of Battlegroup: United States Guam (BC-2)

Displacement	27,000 tons	Belt Armor	9 inches
Overall Length	808.5 feet	Deck Armor	2.75 inches
Beam	91 feet	Main Turret Armor	13 inches
Speed	33 knots	Main Guns	9 × 12″

The Alaska class of six fast battlecruisers was intended to counter reports that Japan was building fast ships with 12 inch guns to operate with their already potent heavy cruisers as surface raiders. All the new ships were to be named after American territories.

When the rumor of Japanese raiders proved false (a clever Japanese "disinformation" campaign was apparently behind the reports), only the Alaska and Guam were completed. Interestingly, when the Japanese got word of these new ships, they then planned a "counter" class with 14 inch guns that was never built. As it was, the Alaska class was now without a real mission. The ships were never called "battlecruisers" by the United States Navy but always referred to as "large cruisers", although they were longer than any United States battleships except for the Iowa class behemoths. Since they were fast enough to accompany the fast carriers, they were employed similarly to the fast battleships (and fast cruisers) during the war.

Laid down on February 2, 1942; launched on November 21, 1943 and commissioned on September 17, 1944, the Guam carried a main armament of nine 12 inch main guns mounted three per turret; two centerline superfiring forward and one centerline aft. The 12 inch guns were an improved model from those mounted in the old Arkansas with more range and punch. Guam escorted the big flattops in their sweeps across the western Pacific from March 1945 through the end of the war. The vessels of his class had extremely short active careers and later proposals to turn them into missile cruisers came to nothing.

Guam was decommissioned in 1947 and remained in mothballs until struck from the Naval Vessel Register on June 1, 1960. She was scrapped in Newark, New Jersey starting in August 1961.

For a foreign ships intended as surface raiders, see: Gneisenau and Scharnhorst .

Where did we get all these fascinating historical tidbits and factoids? See the Bibliography for the culprits. Only one of these ships was needed for the game, so why choose Guam instead of Alaska ? Because Craig lived on Guam during his formative years and he has never been to Alaska, that’s why. "Guam is good!" "Don’t knock the rock!"