USS Augusta, a 9050-ton Northampton class light cruiser, was built at Newport News, Virginia. Commissioned in January 1931, she spent her first two years in the Atlantic and Caribbean areas, serving as flagship of the Scouting Force during much of this time. She was reclassified as a heavy cruiser in July 1931, receiving the new designator CA-31 at that time. In February 1932, Augusta went to the Pacific and in October 1933 was sent to the Far East to become the Asiatic Fleet's flagship. Over the next seven years she cruised extensively, visiting ports in Japan, the Soviet Union, China, the Philippines, Indo-China, Thailand, Singapore, the Dutch East Indies, and Australia. After war began between Japan and China in July 1937, Augusta was very active in Chinese waters, protecting American interests and observing the hostilities. In mid-August 1937, while off Shanghai, she was accidently bombed by Chinese aircraft, but suffered no damage or casualties. However, a few days later, another accident, this time involving a Chinese anti-aircraft shell, killed a member of her crew.

Relieved as Asiatic Fleet flagship in November 1940, Augusta returned home for overhaul and modernization. She transited the Panama Canal in April 1941 and became flagship of the Atlantic Fleet early in May. In August, Augusta carried President Franklin D. Roosevelt to Newfoundland to take part in the conference that produced the Atlantic Charter. For the remainder of 1941 and into 1942, as relations with Germany moved from "short of war" tensions to declared conflict, Augusta continued as fleet flagship, operating in the western Atlantic from Canadian waters to the West Indies.

When U.S. forces invaded Morocco in November 1942, Augusta served as operation flagship and used her eight-inch guns to engage French shore batteries and warships. She escorted a convoy to Scotland in mid-1943 and operated with the British Home Fleet for much of the rest of that year. The cruiser was an active participant in the invasions of Normandy and Southern France in June and August 1944, shelling enemy targets ashore and protecting the amphibious forces from counter-attacks. In July 1945, after the end of the European war, Augusta carried President Harry S. Truman across the Atlantic for the Potsdam Conference and brought him back to the U.S. once the meetings were concluded.

Augusta spent November and December 1945 transporting service personnel back to the United States from Europe. Decommissioned in July 1946, she was at the Philadelphia Navy Yard as part of the Atlantic Reserve Fleet for the next thirteen years. USS Augusta was sold for scrapping in November 1959.