USS Worcester, lead ship of a class of two 14,700-ton light cruisers built at Camden, New Jersey, was commissioned in June 1948. After a year of service in the western Atlantic, she deployed to the Mediterranean Sea during September-December 1949 for the first of seven Sixth Fleet tours. Worcester returned to the "Med" in May 1950, but this cruise was cut short by the outbreak of the Korean War in late June. Accompanied by four destroyers, she transited the Suez Canal on 29 July 1950, en route to the Far East.

From late August to late October 1950, Worcester operated with the Seventh Fleet off Korea, escorting Task Force 77's aircraft carriers and using her six-inch guns to bombard enemy targets in support of the Inchon Invasion and the Wonsan Landings. The cruiser returned to the U.S. east coast in late November, having steamed around the World on this extended deployment. During the next half decade, Worcester made five more trips to the Mediterranean and, on two occasions, also visited ports in northern Europe.

Worcester was transferred to the Pacific Fleet in January 1956, subsequently going twice to the Western Pacific for Seventh Fleet service. She decommissioned at Mare Island, California, in December 1958, joining the Reserve Fleet there. Later shifted to Bremerton, Washington, Worcester remained in "mothballs" until December 1970, when she was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register. She was sold for scrapping in July 1972.