She was laid down on 9 June 1927, by the American Brown Boveri Electric Corporation, a subsidiary of the New York Shipbuilding Corporation,[4] at Camden, New Jersey; launched on 23 January 1929, sponsored by Helen Budge,[5][6] a granddaughter of leading Mormon missionary William Budge; and commissioned on 11 December 1929, at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Captain Frederick Lansing Oliver in command.

Salt Lake City returned to San Pedro on 15 June and resumed West Coast operations until sailing for Hawaii on 25 April 1937.

[7] On 7 December 1941, when the United States was brought into World War II by the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Salt Lake City—under the command of Capt.

Ellis M. Zacharias—was with the Enterprise task group 200 nmi (230 mi; 370 km) west of Pearl Harbor, returning from Wake Island, when they received word of the attack.

The group immediately launched scouting planes in hopes of catching possible stragglers from the Japanese force, but the search proved fruitless.

The first—I-70—was sunk by dive bombers from Enterprise; the second—sighted ahead of the group on the surface—was engaged with gunfire by Salt Lake City as the ships maneuvered to avoid torpedoes.

[7] In February, Enterprise's task force carried out air strikes in the eastern Marshalls at Wotje, Maloelap, and Kwajalein to reduce enemy seaplane bases.

While conducting shore bombardment during those strikes, Salt Lake City came under air attack and assisted in downing two Japanese bombers.

Although the task force moved fast, it had only reached a point some 450 mi (390 nmi; 720 km) east of Tulagi by 8 May, the day of the Battle of the Coral Sea.

What followed was essentially a retirement, and Salt Lake City operated as cover with her group; on the 11th off the New Hebrides, and from the 12th-16th eastward from Efate and Santa Cruz.

[7] The campaign in the Solomons had developed into a grim struggle requiring the US Navy to commit heavy and light cruisers to savage night battles.

TF 64 was formed around Salt Lake City, Boise, Helena, and San Francisco to attack the "Tokyo Express", a steady flow of Japanese vessels maintaining reinforcement and resupply to Guadalcanal.

Land-based search-plane reports came in that an enemy force was steaming down The Slot; that night, TF 64 moved to the vicinity of Savo Island to intercept it.

The American cruisers opened fire and continued scoring hits for a full seven minutes before the confused Japanese realized what was taking place.

Of the American ships, Salt Lake City sustained three major hits during the action; Boise was severely damaged but managed to rejoin the group under her own power; and Duncan was left gutted off Savo Island.

Under cover of a thick smoke screen and aggressive torpedo attacks by the destroyers, the American cruisers were able to make an evasive turn, which for a while allowed the range to open.

To obtain adequate intelligence for planning the Marshalls operation, the Gilbert Islands would have to be secured for use as a staging area and launch point for photographic missions.

Salt Lake City joined on the 13th off Funafuti, Ellice Islands, following the carriers' fueling rendezvous at Espiritu Santo.

From 29 January-17 February 1944, she conducted shore bombardment at Wotje and Taroa islands which were bypassed and cut off from support as the major forces concentrated on Majuro, Eniwetok, and Kwajalein.

On 30 March–1 April, Salt Lake City participated in raids on Palau, Yap, Ulithi, and Woleai in the western Caroline Islands archipelago.

The cruisers then moved to Saipan for patrol duty after which, on 6 October, they proceeded to Marcus Island to create a diversion in connection with raids on Formosa.

[7] In October, during the second Battle of the Philippine Sea, Salt Lake City returned to screen and support duty with the carrier strike groups against Japanese bases and surface craft.

From 8 November 1944 – 25 January 1945, she operated with CruDiv 5, TF 54, in bombardment against the Volcano Islands to neutralize airfields through which the Japanese staged bombing raids on the B-29 Superfortresses based at Saipan.

[7] Salt Lake City provided call-fire at Iwo Jima until 13 March, and then concentrated her activities at Okinawa until 28 May, when she put into Leyte for repairs and upkeep.

She returned to Okinawa to cover minesweeping operations and general patrol in the East China Sea as part of Task Force 95 on 6 July.

While en route to Adak, she received word on 31 August to proceed to northern Honshū, Japan, to cover the occupation of Ominato Naval Base.

She was sunk as a target hull on 25 May 1948, 130 mi (110 nmi; 210 km) off the coast of Southern California and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 18 June 1948.

[12] Salt Lake City received 11 battle stars for her World War II service, and a Navy Unit Commendation for her actions during the Aleutian Campaign.

It served as a testing analogue for USS Pensacola's then-pending relocation, as the latter vessel's gameplay stats had been reduced to reflect her new placement earlier in the game's progression.

[13][14] In August 2021, the University of Utah football team announced they would use grey uniforms during their 20 November 2021 game against Oregon to pay tribute to the Salt Lake City including "dazzle-camo accents" on the shoulders and sides of the pants and a single battle star on the right shoulder — 11 altogether when the team is on the field — that represents the 11 battle stars the ship earned in its 19-year history.