Guided missile cruiser USS Long Beach USS Long Beach (CGN-9) US Navy (1794-now) CGN-9. There are several penalties of nuclear-powered surface combatants. 7 November 1966 First West Pacific deployment. . I asked for and was assigned as Recruiter-In-Charge of Navy Recruiting Station (NRS) Orange, California. The Crossing The Line Ceremony goes way, way back. I was told the base would provide my travel pay. [18] 9 January 1980, Long Beach returned to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard to undergo a mid-life conversion, during which time the SCANFAR system, consisting of the AN/SPS-32 and AN/SPS-33 radars, was removed from the forward superstructure and enhanced flagship facilities were installed, along with modern radars like the AN/SPS-48. She was the U.S. Navy's first nuclear-powered surface combatant and was absolutely packed with. [14], Long Beach received a Combat Action Ribbon for action on 26 April 1972,[16] a few days after the Battle of ng Hi. It's often a time when system updates and advancements are applied, as well. USS Long Beach Long Beach, first nuclear-powered cruiser, launched by the U.S. Navy in 1959. [citation needed], The high box-like superstructure contained the SCANFAR system, consisting of the AN/SPS-32 and AN/SPS-33 phased array radars. He got out of the Navy but stayed a drilling reservist. Afterward, we had a 'steel beach' cookout with burgers, hot dogs, and other cookout fare, but no alcohol. This is the first in our series about all things Nuclear. USS Bainbridge DLGN-25/CGN-25 U S Navy Jacket Patch. $12.84. 1969. This open space was first planned to accommodate the mounting of a Regulus nuclear-armed cruise missile, but was then changed to four launch tubes for the Polaris missile. Between 28 December and 6 January 1962 she conducted operational tests of her missiles off Puerto Rico, then sailed for Bremerhaven, Germany, arriving 15 January for courtesy calls in north European ports. She was the only ship of her class. The cruiser served in the Atlantic Fleet from 1961 to 1966. 15 September 1976 Seventh West Pacific deployment. I met some locals from the RAAF (the Royal Australian Air Force) and asked them to take me to their favorite local restaurant and we ended up at a KFC! As before,USSLong Beach(CGN9) spent most of her time on PIRAZ station, guiding the many planes which operated over North Vietnam. When I reported aboardLong Beach at NAS Coronado, I looked up at the ship in awe. 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). [8] At commissioning, the ship was reported to have cost $320million ($2.9billion today),[9] which was over budget from earlier estimates of $250million. Your email address will not be published. A 423 foot section of the hull (propulsion block) remain at PSNS as of May 2018. It was an electrician's nightmare and broke down frequently. The cruiser returned to Long Beach, California, in July 1967. The majority of the cruise was without drama other than the Tu-95 Bear flybys with fighters from Enterprise escorting them off their wingtips. Long Beach was also planned to have the Regulus cruise missile but that program was dropped also. Find Uss Long Beach stock photos and editorial news pictures from Getty Images. This tour of duty in West Pac ended with her arrival again at Long Beach on 16 November. On 10 April, she joined Atlantic Fleet as flagship for Admiral Robert L. Dennison, Commander in Chief, Atlantic Fleet, for exercises off the coasts of U.S. states North Carolina and Virginia. We later rejoined the Kitty Hawk and made a port visit in Yokosuka, Japan. An interesting note is that whenLong Beach pulled out, she left about 375 sailors behind who didn't get back to the ship before it left to avoid the storm. Upon arriving, we were told that we'd only be in port for a few hours and that only crew members with official business would be allowed off of the ship. The state of Arkansas also helped sponsor a commissioning party for the ship's crew. Free shipping. Up on the bridge, which was on the 010 level, the ship's rolling motions were amplified dramatically because of the height. Nimitz is underway in the 3rd Fleet Area of Operations. 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. 12, 2022) Sailors aboard USS Nimitz (CVN 68) assemble on the flight deck and form a human 100 to commemorate the centennial of the aircraft carrier. He was a Master Chief Storekeeper (E-9) at the time of his passing in April of 1980. We are looking at the nuclear powered USS Long Beach and comparing it to USS New Jersey.Please cons. [10], During construction in January 1960, it was widely reported that Long Beach was sabotaged when anti-mine (degaussing) electrical cables were found to have been intentionally cut in three places. 28 April 1964 Second deployment to the Mediterranean for "Nuclear Task Force One". At Nuclear Power Prototype Training, I was assigned to the S5G reactor prototype (designed as the USS Narwhal's power plant) where we learned the 'hands-on' operation of a naval nuclear reactor. 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. We had an impromptu exercise with a Soviet Kynda class cruiser when they took up plane guard during my first deployment. Consequently, she was redesigned and expanded to a . This involved completing basic engineering qualifications, damage control qualifications and my electrical watch station qualifications, both as a roving electrician and for monitoring the ship's electrical distribution system. I submitted my request and it was approved all of the way up the chain. Long Beach received a Navy Unit Commendation for the actions. 11 August 1969 Third West Pacific deployment. The guidedmissile cruiser conducted extensive shakedown testing of her complex weapons and propulsion systems from 2 October to 16 December 1961. First, there's the high cost of training and keeping the crew. I believe, each one of my supervisors who gave their approval thought that someone above them would disapprove my request. At some point, Bainbridge required some maintenance and during my first tour on Long Beach, Truxtun had replaced Bainbridge as the third ship of the 'nuclear trio.' This was a challenging time in the Navy. 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. Long Beach was decommissioned on 1 May 1995 instead of receiving her third nuclear refueling and proposed upgrade. 174. During this time, it was decided the Navy needed more recruits from the Hispanic community. [7] Because of this unusually high quantity of aluminum, she was assigned the voice radio call sign "Alcoa". Once refueling was complete, we went back up to 30 knots! They both can accomplish the same tasks without a huge difference in performance. I flew across the Pacific on a charter (Flying Tigers) to Travis Air Base near Sacramento, California. Arkansas had a bit less than one-half the number of Long Beach's crew. The newer model takes less to operate but in my opinion, the older model is more stylish. USS LONG BEACH got underway on nuclear power for the first time on the morning of July 5, 1961. A big AN/SPS-48 radar dish was also mounted on the forward mast. Hardbound cover with paper dust-jacket, large 9 x 12 format, 239 pages, group portraits by division, each sailor identified in sub-captions, and many scenes of shipboard life. Generally, we couldn't turn it on until we were at least three miles away from an airport for safety reasons. In addition, two Phalanx CIWS close-in weapon systems were installed, along with two Harpoon surface-to-surface missile (SSM) launchers on the fantail. My most prominent memory of Talos is from a missile exercise before our 1978 deployment. He made an announcement on the ship's announcing system which sounded like a slam on Newport News Shipbuilding. Fortunately for me, my wife had a sister who lived near the base and was able to pick me up. She was reclassified CGN-160 in early 1957, but was again reclassified as CGN-9 on 1 July 1957. After that experience, I was very reluctant to send a female applicant for processing until I was working a booth at the Long Beach Grand Prix and met a Reserve Second Class who was a female and she relayed to me that her recruiter had been the guy who was the Chief Recruiter! Nimitz is the first in its class and the oldest commissioned aircraft carrier afloat., carrying with it a legacy of innovation, evolution and dominance. One hundred years later, Nimitz and Ford-class aircraft carriers are the cornerstone of the Navys ability to maintain sea control and project power ashore. 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. 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. Letters could take a couple of weeks to travel between the ship and home. One of the division's sailors failed to show up for the duty and the division-leading Petty Officer, an E6, was ordered to take the missing man's place. The USS Long Beach (CGN-9) was a Long Beach-class cruiser laid down on December 2, 1957, and launched on July 14, 1959. Politics. We went into one dive bar and didn't stay long. The USS Long Beach is a former battleship belonging to the U.S. Navy. The USS Long Beach was commissioned in 1961 and was the world's first nuclear-powered surface ship and the last true cruiser built by the United States after World War II. The missile launchers each created a large no-fire zone for the guns both forward and aft. [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. Now a Senior Editor for 1945, Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer who has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers and websites. Soon after we noticed the Victor III on the surface, dead in the water. 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. It was during this cruise that my orders to Class C School at NTC Great Lakes in Illinois came. USS Long Beach (CLGN-160/CGN-160/CGN-9) was a nuclear-powered guided missile cruiser in the United States Navy. 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.. They were escorted by USS Fletcher, USS Jenkins, USS Long Beach and USS Glendale. TheLong Beach I returned to wasn't greatly different from the ship I'd left before. According to my friend, it can be very challenging maintaining periscope depth and if the sub is not trimmed correctly, it can easily breach (pop up to the surface). 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. Later in my career, when I was a senior chief (E8) on the COMNAVSURFPAC/COMNAVAIRPAC Nuclear Propulsion Mobile Training Team, I was instrumental in getting funds put into yard maintenance to move the crew ashore out of the industrial area. E. P. Wilkinson in command. 7 January 1980 Ninth West Pacific deployment. Additionally, Long Beach seemed to have a constant two to three-degree port list. 2022Recurrent Ventures. On the fantail, Long Beach had the Talos missile system. Considering Arkansas and Long Beach each had essentially the same role in a battle group, I've always felt Long Beach was more capable. They had no idea where we were and as we gradually turned on different radars, they finally came flying right down to where we were. So without further adieu, in Master Chief Healey's own words, let's begin: My dad was a career Navy man. At Nuclear Power School we learned about the theory of reactor design and operation as well as learning about radiation and rudimentary chemistry. 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.". Short amateur documentary on the historic naval. After a period of leave and upkeep in the fall, Long Beach sailed 7 November 1966 from Long Beach for the Far East. I received orders to a nuclear ballistic missile submarine (SSBN) in New London, Connecticut instead. Long Beach at her commissioning on September 9th, 1961. Taken from the Niagara Falls by William P. 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Accomplish the same tasks without a huge difference in performance guided missile cruiser USS Long Beach and USS Glendale,.
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