Her bridge wings, damaged during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal and removed during repairs, are now mounted on a promontory in Golden Gate National Recreation Area.

San Francisco was laid down on 9 September 1931 at the Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, California, under the supervision of Naval constructor Charles W. Fisher Jr.; launched on 9 March 1933; sponsored by Miss Barbara M. Bailly; and commissioned on 10 February 1934, Captain Royal E. Ingersoll in command.

After an extensive shakedown cruise – which included operations off Mexico, in Hawaiian waters, off Washington and British Columbia, and a voyage to the Panama Canal Zone – the cruiser returned to the Mare Island Navy Yard.

The cruiser carried freight and passengers to San Juan, Puerto Rico, thence sailed for a patrol of the West Indies as far south as Trinidad.

Transiting the Panama Canal in late February, she called at San Pedro and, in March, continued on to her new home port, Pearl Harbor, where she rejoined CruDiv 6.

In early May 1941, she became flagship of CruDiv 6; and, at the end of July, she moved east for a cruise to Long Beach, California, returning to Hawaii on 27 August.

In September, the flag of CruDiv 6 was hauled down; and on 11 October, San Francisco entered the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard for an overhaul which was scheduled for completion on 25 December.

San Francisco arrived in the Samoan area on 18 January, and on the 24th was detached to continue coverage for the transports while the remainder of the task force and TF 17 conducted offensive operations to the northwest.

On the night of 9–10 March, TFs 11 and 17 entered the Gulf of Papua, whence, at dawn, Lexington and Yorktown launched their aircraft to cross the Owen Stanley Range and attack the Japanese at Salamaua and Lae.

At the end of May, she headed west, escorting convoy PW 2076, made up of transports carrying the 37th Army Division, destined for Suva, and special troops bound for Australia.

On the morning of 17 September, San Francisco, Juneau, and five destroyers put back to sea to rendezvous with TF 17 and resume coverage of reinforcement convoys.

On 7 October 1942, TF 64 (minus Chester and Minneapolis) departed from Espiritu Santo, the New Hebrides, and moved back into the Solomons to cover Allied reinforcements and to intercept similar operations by the Japanese.

On 31 October 1942, the newly designated TF 65 departed from Espiritu Santo, the ships again headed into the Solomon Islands to cover troop landings on Guadalcanal.

The torpedo passed alongside, but the plane crashed into San Francisco's control aft, swung around that structure, and plunged over the port side into the sea.

[6] At about 0400, San Francisco, all her compasses out, followed Helena and Juneau through Sealark Channel en route to Espiritu Santo for initial repairs.

An hour later, Juneau took a torpedo on her port side from I-26, striking in the vicinity of the bridge; the ship's keel had been broken during the battle, leaving her an easy target for the enemy submarine.

"The entire ship seemed to explode in one mighty column of brown and white smoke and flame which rose easily a thousand feet in the air.

Unfortunately, the 100+ survivors (out of a total complement of 697) of Juneau were forced to wait eight days for rescue while floating in the ocean, exposed to the elements and enduring both thirst and shark attacks.

She patrolled the western approaches to the area; participated in the assault and occupation of Attu in May and of Kiska in July; and performed escort duties.

On 29 January, the division, screened by destroyers, left the formation and moved against Japanese installations on Maloelap to neutralize them during the conquest of Kwajalein.

On 19 February, the group split; Intrepid, with two destroyers, continued toward Pearl Harbor, while San Francisco and the remaining ships headed for Majuro.

From 18 to 20 July, she shelled enemy positions, supported beach demolition units, and provided night harassing and defense repair interdiction in the Agat and Faci Point areas.

The force then headed for the Bashi Channel and a five-day, high-speed strike against enemy surface units in the South China Sea and against installations along the coast of Indochina.

The next day, San Francisco closed on Iwo Jima with other cruisers and assumed fire support duties, which she continued until 23 February.

On 25 March, she approached Kerama Retto, west of Okinawa, and furnished fire support for minesweeping and underwater demolition operations.

That night, she retired and the next morning moved back in to support the landings and supply counter battery fire on Aka, Keruma, Zamami, and Yakabi Islands.

On 6 April, the cruiser retired to Kerama Retto, refueled and took on ammunition, assisted in splashing a Nakajima B6N "Jill" torpedo bomber, then rejoined TF 54 off Okinawa as that force underwent another air raid.

On 11 April, air attacks increased, and the next day, San Francisco set an Aichi D3A "Val" dive bomber on fire.

After a show of force in the Yellow Sea and Gulf of Pohai areas, she covered minesweeping operations, and on 8 October anchored at Inchon, Korea.

Decommissioned on 10 February, she was berthed with the Philadelphia Group of the Atlantic Reserve Fleet until 1 March 1959, when her name was struck from the Naval Vessel Register.