Louisville was launched on 1 September 1930 at the Puget Sound Navy Yard, Bremerton, Washington,[5] sponsored by Miss Jane Brown Kennedy, and commissioned on 15 January 1931, Captain Edward John Marquart in command.

In April 1934, the cruiser steamed out of San Diego to begin a nine-month voyage "showing the flag" at various ports in Central America, the Caribbean Sea, and along the gulf and east coasts.

[8] In January 1938, Louisville began a long Pacific cruise which took her to Hawaii, Samoa, Australia, and Tahiti before returning to Pearl Harbor for fleet problems.

After fleet problems off Hawaii that autumn, Louisville departed Long Beach, California, for an extended cruise through the Panama Canal to eastern South America.

[6] After a short stay at Pearl Harbor, Louisville commenced patrolling the Ellice Islands area to help protect American bases in that vicinity.

[6] Following this operation, Louisville returned to Pearl Harbor, proceeding from there to Mare Island Navy Yard, San Francisco, where her anti-aircraft armament was increased with additional 1.1 in and 20 mm cannon fitted.

Her duties, during this period of Japan's strongest efforts to establish the northern end of her "ribbon defense" in the western Aleutians, were primarily those of convoy escort, but included shore bombardment of Kiska Island.

[6] On 11 November, the cruiser departed San Francisco for Pearl Harbor, continuing, after a few days on to the South Pacific, escorting several troop transports as far as New Caledonia.

Then the cruiser turned her guns on the airfield and troop concentrations on Roi and Namur on the southern tip of the atoll, contributing to the conquest of those islands by 3 February.

During this campaign, while waiting bombardment further targets an 8-inch 55 caliber shell fired from USS Indianapolis ricocheted off the island to explode a near miss alongside Louisville starboard side causing heavy pieces of shrapnel which damaged the chiefs quarters, pierced the bulkhead, and turret No.

[6] After Eniwetok, Louisville joined TF 58, and with the fast aircraft carriers struck Japanese installations in the Palaus, in March, and bombarded Truk and Sawatan in April.

June brought preparations for the invasion of the greater Marianas, and again Louisville was the leading unit in shore bombardment operations; beginning with Saipan, where she fired continuously for the first 11 days of that engagement, through the shelling of Tinian, and ending with the assault on Guam.

Rear Admiral Theodore E. Chandler, commander of Cruiser Division 4 (CruDiv 4) was fatally injured helping the sailors man handle the fire hoses to put out the massive flames during the latter attack, and died of his wounds the following day.

Commander (later Rear Admiral) William P. McCarty took control of Louisville and managed recovery efforts in fighting fires and restoration of equipment, for which he was awarded the Silver Star.

Despite extensive damage, the cruiser shelled the beaches and shot down several enemy planes before withdrawing on 9 January 1945 and proceeding to Mare Island Navy Yard for repairs.

From Darien, where the evacuation of Allied prisoners of war was supervised, she steamed to Qingdao, where Japanese vessels in that area were surrendered by Vice Admiral Kaneko.

In mid-October, she joined the Yellow Sea force for abbreviated service before proceeding, via San Pedro, to Philadelphia, where she decommissioned on 17 June 1946 and entered the Atlantic Reserve Fleet.

Remaining with that fleet for the next 13 years, Louisville was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 March 1959, and sold on 14 September to the Marlene Blouse Corporation of New York.