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). [citation needed], Long Beach was originally ordered as CLGN-160. Once refueling was complete, we went back up to 30 knots! 7 June 1975 Change of homeport to San Diego, Ca. 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. USS Long Beach (CGN-9), launched in 1959, was the first nuclear-powered guided missile cruiser in the world, serving from 1961 to 1995, including service in the Vietnam War and Gulf War. My first impression as a crew member was of responsibilities of leadership. The majority of the cruise was without drama other than the Tu-95 Bear flybys with fighters from Enterprise escorting them off their wingtips. I was selected for advancement to Chief Petty Officer (E7) during this tour. In 1976, when we were returning to San Diego from Bremerton, our Division Training Petty Officer came around asking what schools anyone wanted to attend. Navy USN USS Texas CGN-39 Ship 5 inch Cap Hat Embroidered Patch EE1521 F6D24U. She told me that she'd been interested in the HT position but after I explained the rarity of what she'd been offered, she agreed to take the air traffic controller training along with an advanced pay grade after boot camp. . We were even told not to send a female applicant, as enlistment candidates were called, for processing unless they were willing to accept a 'non-traditional' position such as an engineering job. In the late 1970s, DARPA proposed to the USN a new warship concept called the "Strike Cruiser" provisionally designated CSGN. In addition, two Phalanx CIWS close-in weapon systems were installed, along with two Harpoon surface-to-surface missile (SSM) launchers on the fantail. The guided missile frigate USS McClusky was commissioned in 1982 . She was reclassified CG (N)160 in early 1957, but was again reclassified as CG (N)9 on 1 July 1957. On our way to Hawaii, at the start of the cruise, we burned up a bearing on the starboard shaft. 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.. We went into one dive bar and didn't stay long. It was the last nuclear-powered surface combatant the Navy built. At Nuclear Power School we learned about the theory of reactor design and operation as well as learning about radiation and rudimentary chemistry. 174. 11 August 1969 Third West Pacific deployment. Editorial Guidelines and Publishing Standards. It has changed quite a bit over the years. After a period of leave and upkeep in the fall,USSLong Beach(CGN9)sailed 7 November from Long Beach for the Far East. He made an announcement on the ship's announcing system which sounded like a slam on Newport News Shipbuilding. Back then, the crew remained living on the ship or were moved onto a living barge but remained in the industrial area. [4] Long Beach was the last cruiser built with a World War II-era cruiser hull style,[5][6] as later new-build cruisers were built with different hull forms, such as the converted frigates Leahy(DLG-16), Bainbridge(DLGN-25), Belknap(DLG-26), Truxtun(DLGN-35), and the California and Virginia classes, or the Ticonderoga-class cruiser that was built on a Spruance-class destroyer hull. 197x. Bipartisan. Find Long Beach Naval Station stock photos and editorial news pictures from Getty Images. Whenever Long Beach would make a turn, it would lean in the direction of the turn first and then lean a lot in the opposite direction. After a few days in port, we returned to sea with the entireKitty Hawk Battlegroup. Needless to say, with Long Beach in port, no one was seen wearing those shirts! The Talos missiles, which could be nuclear armed, were about the size of a telephone pole and would 'sit' on the launch rail building up thrust before taking off. 25 July 1987 12th West Pacific deployment. I was told that while on station off of Vietnam, Long Beach shot down a North Vietnamese MiG with one. After overhaul and installation of new equipment at Philadelphia,USSLong Beach(CGN9)trained in the Caribbean and sailed 6 August 1963 to join the 6th Fleet in its Mediterranean peacekeeping operations. They would be replaced by the Ticonderoga (CG) and Arleigh Burke (DDG) classes, designed from the ground up with Aegis. During her second deployment to the Gulf of Tonkin, Talos missiles fired from the cruiser destroyed two Vietnamese MiG-17s at a range of 70 miles. The guidedmissile cruiser conducted extensive shakedown testing of her complex weapons and propulsion systems from 2 October to 16 December 1961. Free shipping. She arrived on PIRAZ station on the 30th and continued on that vital operation throughout most of her WestPac tour. USSLong Beach(CGN9) was originally ordered as CLG (N)160. [20], A crew member aboard the USS Long Beach may have been exposed to abnormal levels of radiation in 1963,[21] and the ship was leaking radioactive coolant in 1991. I believe, each one of my supervisors who gave their approval thought that someone above them would disapprove my request. After packing my seabag, I collected my records (medical, dental and pay) along with my transfer orders. The decision was made to decommission her in 1994. 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 A. USS Long Beach (CGN 9) (ex-CGN 160, CLGN 160) USS Long Beach (CGN-9) was the first nuclear powered surface warship in the world and the first large combatant in the US Navy with its main battery consisting of guided missiles. 28 May 1991 14th West Pacific deployment in support of Operation Provide Comfort. Naval Base Subic Bay, during the volcanic eruption of Mount Pinatubo. [15] In June of the same year, she downed another MIG,[14] this one at 61 miles (98km). USS Long Beach (CLGN-160/CGN-160/CGN-9) was a nuclear-powered guided missile cruiser in the United States Navy and the world's first nuclear-powered surface combatant. Note the massive Talos missiles pointing skyward. Kennedy. 6 August 1963 First deployment to the Mediterranean. Find Uss Long Beach stock photos and editorial news pictures from Getty Images. USS LONG BEACH, the third ship in the Navy to bear the name, was the first nuclear powered surface warship in the world and the first large combatant in the US Navy with its main battery consisting entirely of guided missiles. On the way out, he pulled out a list of places that were 'off limits' from his pocket and crossed off the place we'd just left and announced: "now we know why that place is on the list!. Technology, performance and design delivered to your inbox. Due to cuts in the defense budget after the 1991 Gulf War, as well as the higher operating costs and number of crew required compared to conventionally powered ships, the decision was made to decommission all nuclear cruisers from the Navy as their reactor cores ran down. We later rejoined the Kitty Hawk and made a port visit in Yokosuka, Japan. I was told the base would provide my travel pay. ), a Congressman from California, and commissioned on 9 September 1961. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. Since we were both engineers, we hit it off from the start. Taken from the Niagara Falls by William P. Jones, M.D. 2 December 1957 Keel laid in Bethlehem Steel Company's Fore River Shipyard, Quincy, Massachusetts. This was long before the internet and email. 4 April 1978 Eighth West Pacific deployment. Polmar, Norman "The U.S. Navy: Shipboard Radars", Learn how and when to remove this template message, Positive Identification Radar Advisory Zone, Coast Guard Special Operations Service Ribbon, List of cruisers of the United States Navy, Nuclear-powered cruisers of the United States Navy, Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, "Historic nuclear cruiser headed to scrap heap", "Ships Participating in Desert Shield / Storm as of 24 April 1991", "USS Dallas completing 36-year-run in Bremerton", "Documents Say Nuclear Ship Leaking Radioactive Coolant", https://lbpost.com/staff-blog/deactivated-uss-long-beach-sold-for-scrap, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=USS_Long_Beach_(CGN-9)&oldid=1147925725, Vietnam War cruisers of the United States, Articles needing additional references from August 2011, All articles needing additional references, All Wikipedia articles written in American English, Articles with unsourced statements from April 2017, Articles with unsourced statements from August 2019, Articles with unsourced statements from April 2018, Wikipedia articles incorporating text from the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Wikipedia articles incorporating text from the Naval Vessel Register, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0. Check out these sailors from one such ceremony back in 1953.. HMAS Melbourne is absolutely dwarfed by the Big E., View douglas healey and tyler rogoway's Articles. As a side note, the drinking age was 18 at that time. All of the plank owners were given a certificate signed by the Arkansas governor Bill Clinton designating us as honorary Arkansas Travelers. During this tour, Long Beach was responsible for directing the downing of one Soviet-made An-2 'Colt' aircraft that was attempting to engage South Vietnamese naval units. A family friend also made one Tiger Cruise but he spent most of the time in his bunk seasick. After a few days of this, the Soviets left our group. On 13 July 2012, Long Beach was sold at auction,[6] for recycling, as prescribed for nuclear-powered vessels by Code 350, at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Wash. As of May 2018, the inactivated ship's hull and reactor compartments largely remained in long-term storage there. We are looking at the nuclear powered USS Long Beach and comparing it to USS New Jersey.Please cons. I believe it was reported by the berthing where the Operations Specialists (formerly called Radarmen) slept. Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made. We made more port visits that. 17,000 tonnes 1976 design. A quick example was the Command Master Chief when I reported back to Long Beach was a nuclear-trained Machinist Mate. Once the nuclear cruiser USS Bainbridge (CGN-25) was commissioned in 1962, the three ships were almost inseparable. Long Beach received a Navy Unit Commendation for the actions. The crew berthing areas did not have any passageways through them and each one had fewer bunks in it than on Long Beach. We hadn't yet learned to formalize the mentoring process in the Navy. This is the first in our series about all things Nuclear. I explained I wanted to try Aussie cuisine and then they took me to an out of the way diner and the food was great but not much different from home. It was one powerful radar system and we had a huge contingent of Navy Electronics Technicians (ETs) embarked aboard to maintain it. My partner and I aimed for goal by the 10th of each month so we wouldn't have to work Saturdays unless our applicants couldn't go for a physical and enlistment Mondays through Fridays. I knew Long Beach's capabilities and I also knew the Chief's accommodations were a bit better on Lang Beach compared with the other ships, even though Arkansas was much newer. I was unaware that President Carter and Congress had a disagreement over the budget and there was no way I could be paid or get any travel pay. AHM. Image Credit: Creative Commons. One quick story was when the ship was in a port for a visit, he had a group of the chiefs go out with him to check out the area. Supposedly when being built, Long Beach was ready before Enterprise and received the 'billboard' arrays intended for the Big E. Besides 400Hz power, the system took a lot of 60Hz power and cooling water as well. In Electrician's Mate Class A school we learned about motors generators, shipboard distribution and troubleshooting electrical systems. There were two other prototypes at the site, an A1W (the USS Enterprise prototype) and an S1W (the USS Nautilus prototype). Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. One of my friends who was supposed to transfer around the same time as me, but was unable to get off the ship. By the 1990s, nuclear power was deemed too expensive to use on surface ships smaller than an aircraft carrier in view of defense budget cutbacks after the end of the Cold War. [7] Because of this unusually high quantity of aluminum, she was assigned the voice radio call sign "Alcoa". My regret was that my father had died from a heart attack while I was on the Arkansas and wasn't there to witness my 'pinning.' USS Bainbridge DLGN-25/CGN-25 U S Navy Jacket Patch. The USS Long Beach followed in 1961 as the first nuclear-powered cruiser with two reactors. In 1987, we were deployed to the Arabian Gulf area during the Iraq-Iran War. [3] She was the third Navy ship named after the city of Long Beach, California. The 'billboard' arrays of the AN/SPS-32/33 SCANFAR radar were gone and a new structure was erected over the aft superstructure to support the new AN/SPS-49 radar. A fire was started in the dump area. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Elliot Schaudt). When it was running it required two 200kW motor-generator sets running in parallel to provide the 400Hz power the radar demanded. For a complete history ofUSSLong Beach(CGN9) please see its DANFS page. [8] During this initial cruise, the ship served primarily as the Positive Identification Radar Advisory Zone (PIRAZ) unit in the northern Gulf of Tonkin. Your email address will not be published. It spectacularly self-destructed as ordered from the launch console in Combat Information Center. In fact, it was theUSSLong Beach(CGN-9),a warship that was originally intended to be no larger than a frigate but during the design stage was rapidly increased to thedimensions of a heavy cruiser, which has the distinction of being the first nuclear-powered surface vessel. [citation needed] The result was that LST's were unable to beach at this point due . They both can accomplish the same tasks without a huge difference in performance. Long Beach steamed over 30,000 miles in 58 days at an average speed of 25 knots, without being refueled or resupplied. Ford-Class Aircraft Carrier USS Ford. A single ship class, Long Beach was the first nuclear-powered surface warship and the last of US Navy traditional cruiser hulls (all subsequent cruisers were mostly scaled-up destroyer hulls). A comparison with the Ticonderoga class. Long Beach was the first "all-new" cruiser designed and constructed after World War II (all others were completions or conversions of cruisers begun or completed during the war). 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. [citation needed], Long Beach served as an escort for the USSMissouri(BB-63) task force, and provided aircraft carrier escort support after the Gulf War of 1991. Since he'd been a qualified diving officer on his sub, I believed him. The warship also provided facilities for an onboard search-and-rescue helicopter. [8] At commissioning, the ship was reported to have cost $320million ($2.9billion today),[9] which was over budget from earlier estimates of $250million. After flight ops, the battle group went up to 30 knots and after a couple of days, the Soviets had a replenishment ship come out and refuel the Kynda. I was correct in that there were more good examples to learn from on the Long Beach. The district had one Saturday a month when they conducted enlistments otherwise it was a Monday through Friday operation, however, if you had not made 'goal' (put your four in the war we used to say), you were expected to work on Saturdays. He died while on active duty during this tour. [17] In 1975 the ship changed home ports to Naval Base San Diego, California. In 1987 we were returning home to San Diego and because of the prevailing seas and our required course resulted in us taking seas on the port beam. Additionally, Long Beach still had a Marine Detachment and I was able to learn from the Marine First Sergeant and the Gunny. The first nuclearpower surface warship in history, USS Long Beach (CGN9) was assigned to the Atlantic Fleet and home ported at Norfolk, Va. American ships were still dry. After the order swap was approved, the sub-qualified sailors at S5G facility gave me a hard time constantly. She looked like no other ship the world had ever seen before and she definitely had her quirks. Instead of receiving a third nuclear refueling and proposed upgrade, USSLong Beach was deactivated on May 1, 1995, after more than 33 years of operational service. Long Beach was first laid out to be a smaller frigate, but then she was slated for the mounting of a Regulus nuclear cruise missile or later, four launch tubes for the Polaris missile which would occupy the space taken up by the 5"/38 caliber gun mounts and the ASROC system. 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. In 1968, the ship was redeployed to the Gulf of Tonkin, shooting down a MiG 21 jet fighter near Vinh, with a RIM-8 Talos missile on 23 May 1968,[13][14] at a range of 65 miles (105km). Initially, a Talos missile launcher was mounted to the stern of the ship, but it was later replaced by two box launchers for BGM-109 Tomahawk cruise missiles, with each launching containing four missiles. Guided missile cruiser USS Long Beach USS Long Beach (CGN-9) US Navy (1794-now) CGN-9. In addition to the active measures for defense, the ship also carried chaff to confuse radars, SLQ-32 electronic warfare equipment and cryptologic equipment. Every time I set foot on a ship, the memories of shipboard life and the unique routine that goes along with it come back to me. This next deployment began when she once again left her home on 15 April 1968. Habitability wise, Arkansas was superior to Long Beach.