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After commissioning, light cruiser Honolulu made a shakedown cruise to England and the Caribbean. Leaving New York in May 1939, Honolulu transferred to the Pacific Fleet in June of the same year. In November of 1940, Honolulu shifted home ports to Pearl Harbor following a short refit at Puget Sound, becoming flagship, Cruisers, Battle Force and also of Cruiser Division 9. On December 7, 1941 Honolulu was moored at the Navy Yard piers, receiving slight damage to her hull aft from a near-miss bomb. No Honolulu crewman were killed or injured that day.
During the early months of World War II, Honolulu escorted convoys to and from the U.S. and Australia. By May 1942 she was operating in the Aleutian Islands, bombarding Kiska on August 7th and covering the American landings on Adak. Following a short refit, Honolulu operated in the Guadalcanal area, participating in the Battle of Tassafaronga where she was undamaged in a battle that damaged three American heavy cruisers and sank another. Honolulu’s gunfire helped sink a Japanese destroyer. Honolulu continued in the thick of the fighting in the Solomons, conducting shore bombardments and participating in the Battle of Kula Gulf (as flagship) and the Battle of Kolombangara (both in July of 1943), where she was hit by two torpedoes, a dud in the stern and one that blew off most of the bow up to the capstans. Honolulu survived, but Japanese light cruiser Jintsu did not. No one on Honolulu was killed however, and a four-month yard period at Pearl Harbor and Mare Island repaired the damage and also upgraded the ship with more anti-aircraft weapons and new radars.
Honolulu returned to combat operations in November of 1943, in time for the Bougainville campaign, bombarding Bougainville Island on December 27th. Following this action, Honolulu remained in the Solomons area providing gunfire support wherever needed, ending with a bombardment of the Green Islands in February of 1944. Honolulu then became part of the 535-ship task force assigned to capture the Marianas Islands. Honolulu bombarded southeastern Saipan in June of 1944, followed by Guam later the same month. Honolulu remained on station off Guam for three weeks, providing call fire and night illumination for the Marines and Soldiers ashore. In October, Honolulu provided gunfire support for the landings at Leyte, in the Philippines.
On October 20, 1994, a Japanese torpedo plane put a torpedo in Honolulu on the port side near turret No. 3. Sixty men were killed in the blast and five more died later when Honolulu was hit by friendly gunfire while trying to maneuver out of the area.
Honolulu returned to Norfolk, Virginia on December 20, 1944 for permanent repairs that took her out of the rest of the war. Honolulu was decommissioned at the Philadelphia Navy Yard on February 3, 1947 and was scrapped in 1949. (DBoyer 2007)
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