Arkansas carried fewer missiles than Long Beach and lacked a separate ASROC launcher so some magazine space in the rotary mechanism had to be reserved for ASROC missiles. Taken from the Niagara Falls by William P. Jones, M.D. 2022Recurrent Ventures. One of my friends who was supposed to transfer around the same time as me, but was unable to get off the ship. AHM. Beginning 5 January 1985 the BGM-109 Tomahawk cruise missile system was installed with two 4-cell Armored Box Launchers on the fantail, with the Harpoon launchers resited. The state of Arkansas also helped sponsor a commissioning party for the ship's crew. As one of a couple of 400 Hz maintenance techs onboard, it helped me advance in rate also. Long Beach left San Diego in September of 1976 on what was my first Western Pacific cruise (WESTPAC). After almost every deployment, ships go through what is called an 'inter-deployment maintenance period' due to the complexity of the systems on the ships and the normal wear and tear of use. The billboard arrays, and the big superstructure they were mounted on, made the ship a bit top heavy as well. As a result, you learned to eat fast and get up so a shipmate could sit down and eat. (ASSOCIATED PRESS). Construction of nuclear-powered surface ships is only done at Newport News Shipyard and the maintenance is only done at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard, Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Norfolk Naval Shipyard, and the Portsmouth Naval shipyard, in addition to Newport News Shipbuilding. He stated "Newport News Shipbuilding used to have 'commitment to quality' on a rock at the entrance to the shipyard but now that rock is in a museum.. However, the space was eventually occupied by the 5"/38 caliber gun mounts and the ASROC system. She was the first nuclear-powered surface warship in the world, the first cruiser since the end of WWII designed and built new from the keel up, and was the first US Navy ship equipped with guided missiles as the main armament. The majority of the complicated work would be accomplished by the shipyard workers but the ship's crew would have maintenance to accomplish as well. 6 May 1994 Change of homeport to Norfolk, Virginia. She had scored exceptionally high on the ASVAB (military entrance exam) and would have been eligible for almost any position if all were open to women, such as the nuclear propulsion field which was closed to women at that time. More Long Beach was originally designed without any guns and rumor has it that during sea trials someone asked one of the NAVSEA representatives what the ship would do if a patrol boat came up and shot at them and it was decided to install the five-inch guns. A few of my shipmates and I went to one of the nearby pubs for an adult beverage. [3] She was the third Navy ship named after the city of Long Beach, California . We went up into the northern Sea of Japan and while steaming in formation, a Russian Victor III submarine breached right in the middle of our formation. There were two recruiters assigned, including me. I asked what billets were available and was told they were on California, Texas, Arkansas and Long Beach. worlds first operational nuclear-powered submarine, Video: Ukraine Is Blowing Up Russian Tanks and Posting it on Twitter, America Needs to Support Ukraine to Stop World War III, Ron DeSantis Is Finally Striking Back Against Donald Trump, Lauren Boebert Just Declared War on Pete Buttigieg. Enterprise was the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier andLong Beach was the first nuclear-powered surface warship. The Standard SM-2ER missiles and the associated modern electronics replaced the obsolete Terrier system. [citation needed], Long Beach was originally ordered as CLGN-160. The first place I sailed to after joining Long Beach was Puget Sound Naval Shipyard (PSNS) in Washington. I finished the course in just under a week. I asked for and was assigned as Recruiter-In-Charge of Navy Recruiting Station (NRS) Orange, California. Another unique thing is thatLong Beach had an elevator that went from the main deck up to the 010 level (main bridge). (U.S. Navy photo by Chief Mass Communication Specialist Christopher Delano). She served in the US Navy until 1921, then in the US Merchant Marine, and was scrapped in 1924. [18], In 1980 the vessel rescued 114 Vietnamese boat people off the coast of Vietnam. The ship was originally designed with "all-missile" armament, but was fitted with two 5"/38 caliber gun mounts amidships on the orders of President John F. Long Beach, CA 8/30/1968 CREDIT: Neil Leifer Vietnam War: View of people on USS New Jersey Iowa-class battleship during Family Day at Long Beach Naval Shipyard. This next deployment began when she once again left her home on 15 April 1968. The bearing lost all of the oil from its sump and got so hot it damaged the shaft. After this work was completed in the winter of 1995 the hull was towed through the Panama Canal to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. He regularly writes about military hardware, and is the author of several books on military headgear includingA Gallery of Military Headdress, which is available on Amazon.com. As an experimental platform,Long Beachwas the only ship of her class. I remember him serving on USS Bigelow, a Forrest Sherman class destroyer homeported in Mayport, Florida from 1960 to 1965, then at the Navy Supply Corps School in Athens, Georgia from 1965 to 1967. She was also the last cruiser built for the U.S. Navy as a cruiser design as all subsequent cruiser classes were essentially built on scaled-up destroyer hulls or converted from existing cruisers. The USS Long Beach (CGN 9) and the USS Intrepid (CVS 11) at Subic Bay in June 1967. Long Beach was laid down 2 December 1957, launched 14 July 1959 and commissioned 9 September 1961 under the command of then-Captain Eugene Parks Wilkinson, who previously served as the first commanding officer of the world's first nuclear-powered vessel, the submarine USSNautilus(SSN-571). In Electrician's Mate Class A school we learned about motors generators, shipboard distribution and troubleshooting electrical systems. She arrived on PIRAZ station on the 30th and continued on that vital operation throughout most of her WestPac tour. USS Long Beach 1961 Revell Model Ship Kit Unbuilt H-424:169 Made in USA Pre-Owned $74.99 Buy It Now +$7.95 shipping Benefits charity Sponsored Vintage Revell USS Long Beach Atomic Cruiser Model Kit #05053 1/500 Brand New (1) $50.00 Buy It Now +$12.55 shipping Sponsored VINTAGE Revell 1968 USS LONG BEACH INSTRUCTIONS ONLY Pre-Owned $13.00 Buy It Now [8], Long Beach returned to Norfolk from this cruise 3 October 1964 to join in exercises off the east coast and in the Caribbean. Your email address will not be published. After a period of leave and upkeep in the fall, Long Beach sailed 7 November 1966 from Long Beach for the Far East. Oct 2012 - Auctioned off and sold for scrapping, 1 September 1987 2 September 1987 Persian Gulf, 20 September 1987 26 September 1987 Persian Gulf, 29 September 1987 28 October 1987 Persian Gulf, 30 October 1987 29 November 1987 Persian Gulf, 17 January 1990 31 January 1990 Persian Gulf, This page was last edited on 3 April 2023, at 02:04. Those of us who had been on Long Beach called Arkansas a 'cruiser with a forged birth certificate' since most of the official plans and manuals referred to the ship as a DLGN (nuclear powered guided missile destroyer), not a CGN (nuclear powered guided missile cruiser). USS Long Beach, which was the third ship to be named after the California city, was laid down in December 1957 and launched in July 1959. Every time we pulled into port in Subic Bay, we had workers over fiddling with it. 1982. Some of the protesters told me it wasn't anything against us, our ship or America, they were getting well paid to protest and they'd protest their own mom for the right amount. The USS Long Beach is a former battleship belonging to the U.S. Navy. I was one of the first Electrician's Mates to qualify at S5G. 1964. The Long Beach had been refueled during her 1970, 1980, and 1992 refits. Just as Kitty Hawk started to move away from Wabash, they passed a canex (cancel the exercise) call over ship-to-ship communications followed by "I think we (theKitty Hawk) hit something.". Long Beach was also planned to have the Regulus cruise missile but that program was dropped also. This almost got me in big trouble as I was told to move some 115-volt receptacles in the flag conference room. 28 May 1991 14th West Pacific deployment in support of Operation Provide Comfort. For nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, the lack of stack gases and their corrosive effect on aircraft is another major benefit. Learn about the amazing history of this formidable naval vessel and join in with former shipmates to read of their sea stories and what life was really like aboard the Gray Lady in our groups and forum; from the bridge down to the nuclear reactors in engineering - and it's all 100% FREE - NO . Peter is also aContributing Writerfor Forbes. In the late 1970s, DARPA proposed to the USN a new warship concept called the "Strike Cruiser" provisionally designated CSGN. [citation needed], The original weapons suite consisted of:[citation needed], The ship went through several modifications by the time she was decommissioned. The Crossing The Line Ceremony goes way, way back. 1969. Prior to Electrician's Mate Class A school, I attended Basic Electricity/Electronics school at NTC San Diego. I looked around and saw khakis with shiny black shoes and heard I only wanted one at the end of the table where I sit from the admiral in charge of Cruiser-Destroyer Group 1 (we were the flagship). The task force completed the 30,216 nautical mile voyage in 65 days. The guidedmissile cruiser conducted extensive shakedown testing of her complex weapons and propulsion systems from 2 October to 16 December 1961. In July 2012,Long Beachwas sold at auction for recycling. It was an interesting time to be a recruiter. ; launched 14 July 1959; sponsored by Mrs. Craig Hosmer, wife of Congressmen Hosmer of California; and commissioned 9 September 1961, Capt. At 721 feet long, over 17,000 tons displacement and a crew of over 1,100 Sailors and Marines (there was a Marine detachment embarked), she was a truly impressive ship! [8] At commissioning, the ship was reported to have cost $320million ($2.9billion today),[9] which was over budget from earlier estimates of $250million. Since E division was in charge of the movies for the ship, I went to the local Navy motion picture office to get new movies for the crew to watch. In order to get back to the west coast, I took a shore duty assignment as a recruiter in the Los Angeles Navy Recruiting District. [8], The summer of 1966 was spent in training and orienting midshipmen in the tactics and operations involved in the modern nuclear Navy. It also helped thatLong Beach was homeported in San Diego while the others were based in Alameda, California. The watch in Damage Control Central claimed he saw 47 degrees on the clinometer. It was during this cruise that my orders to Class C School at NTC Great Lakes in Illinois came. After I was born, he went back on active duty. 6 August 1963 First deployment to the Mediterranean. This is the first in our series about all things Nuclear. I asked what he had offered her and was told it was a special air traffic controller school which was a rare offering. USS LONG BEACH got underway on nuclear power for the first time on the morning of July 5, 1961. Eugene P. Wilkinson's command with the hull number CGN-9 and served in the U.S. Navy for 34 years until it was decommissioned on May 1, 1995. It was an interesting time to be a recruiter traffic controller school which was a rare offering Navy named... 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