Like many warships at the close of the war, Salt Lake City was almost immediately slated for deactivation.
She was originally ordered to report to Commander, 3rd Fleet, upon arrival on the west coast, in October, for deactivation.
On 29 October, however, she was diverted to Operation Magic Carpet duty to return veterans of the Pacific theater to the U.S.
On 14 November, she was added to the list of warships to be used as test vessels for Operation Crossroads, the Atomic Bomb Experiments and Evaluation Tests at Bikini Atoll.
She was partially stripped and her crew reduced prior to sailing to Pearl Harbor in March 1946.

Salt Lake City was used in evaluating the effects on surface vessels during an initial test with an aerial atomic bomb burst on 1 July and during the second test of a subsurface burst on 25 July.
Surviving two atomic bomb blasts, she was decommissioned on 29 August and laid up to await ultimate disposal.
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.
Like many warships at the close of the war, Salt Lake City was almost immediately slated for deactivation. She was originally ordered to report to Commander, 3rd Fleet, upon arrival on the west coast, in October, for deactivation. On 29 October, however, she was diverted to Operation Magic Carpet duty to return veterans of the Pacific theater to the U.S.
On 14 November, she was added to the list of warships to be used as test vessels for Operation Crossroads, the Atomic Bomb Experiments and Evaluation Tests at Bikini Atoll. She was partially stripped and her crew reduced prior to sailing to Pearl Harbor in March 1946.
Salt Lake City was used in evaluating the effects on surface vessels during an initial test with an aerial atomic bomb burst on 1 July and during the second test of a subsurface burst on 25 July. Surviving two atomic bomb blasts, she was decommissioned on 29 August and laid up to await ultimate disposal. 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.
USS Salt Lake City (CA-25)