She was laid down on 15 April 1935 by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation, Camden, New Jersey; launched on 13 March 1938; sponsored by Mrs. Dorothea Kays Moonan; and commissioned at Philadelphia Navy Yard on 3 October 1938.

She continued to Santos, Brazil, then to Buenos Aires, Argentina, to Montevideo, Uruguay, and finally to San Juan, Puerto Rico.

From June 1939 until April 1940, she toured the west coast with ports of call in Santa Cruz, San Francisco, California, Portland, Oregon, and points in between.

Observers on board the Phoenix sighted the rising sun of Japan on planes coming in low over Ford Island and a few seconds later the ship's guns took them under fire.

The Phoenix escaped the disaster unharmed and shortly after noon was underway to join the cruisers St. Louis and Detroit and several destroyers in an impromptu task force searching, unsuccessfully, for the enemy aircraft carriers.

[5][6] Of particular significance, this convoy carried troops, fifty crated P-40 fighter aircraft intended for the Philippines and Java, munitions, supplies, and officers selected by the War Department to form the core of what was to become MacArthur's headquarters in the Southwest Pacific Area Command.

[7][8] The plan had been that on relief of Phoenix by a British cruiser in the vicinity of Cocos Island she would escort Langley and Sea Witch to Java.

[7] Instead Langley and Sea Witch were destined to break with the convoy for Tjilatjap, Java under orders from Admiral Helfrich received the day after departure from Fremantle and proceed independently to deliver their aircraft.

[9] Phoenix turned over escort of the Colombo bound ships about 300 miles west of Cocos Island to HMS Enterprise on 28 February and returned to Fremantle on 5 March 1942.

[11] The Phoenix departed Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, for overhaul in the Philadelphia Navy Yard in July 1943 before carrying Secretary of State Cordell Hull to Casablanca.

[1] On 26 December, in company with the cruiser Nashville, she bombarded the Cape Gloucester area of New Britain, smashing shore installations in a four-hour shelling.

Phoenix shelled the shore in the Humboldt Bay-Hollandia area as the troops went ashore on 22 April, and supported them as they consolidated their gains and prepared for further attacks along the northwest coast of the big island.

Phoenix shelled the Wakde and Sawar Airfields on the night of 29–30 April to neutralize the danger of air attack on newly won Allied positions on New Guinea.

After a running fight of three hours at long range, Phoenix assisted in damaging the destroyer Shigure, which was hit by two 6-inch (152 mm) shells that disabled her forward turret, but was unable to accomplish much else as she and her sisters broke off action.

[1][13] With Boise and ten destroyers, Phoenix sortied from Seeadler Harbor in the Admiralties and bombarded shore defenses before American forces landed on Noemfoor Island on 2 July.

The cruisers shelled nearby Halmahera Island to cover the landing and protect the assault forces as they went ashore against continuing light opposition.

Her batteries silenced an enemy strong point holding up the advance of a battalion of the 19th Infantry Regiment and continued to furnish effective callfire.

Almost at the same instant, hits from Phoenix's 5 in (130 mm) guns set another plane afire but could not prevent it from diving into the starboard bow of Ammen.

This gave the Allies a base from which to strike at Japan's shipping lanes through the South China Sea and to soften up Luzon for forthcoming landings.

[1] En route to Lingayen Gulf for the invasion of Luzon, lookouts on board Phoenix sighted the conning tower of a diving submarine in the Mindanao Sea off Siquijor.

She was commissioned in the Argentine Navy as Diecisiete de Octubre (C-4) on 17 October 1951, renamed ARA General Belgrano in 1956, and upgraded in 1967–68 with new Dutch radars and British Sea Cat anti-aircraft missiles.