After I was born, he went back on active duty. We anchored in the harbor after dodging a few protest boats. 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. USS Long Beach/Aegis (CGN-9) AAW Refit for FY77-78-79 con,cept artist. It was an electrician's nightmare and broke down frequently. . 7 November 1966 First West Pacific deployment. 8 April 1992 Comprehensive overhaul, Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. Long Beach deployed to the region beginning 28 May 1991 to support Operation Provide Comfort, which was after Operation Desert Storm was over and major hostilities had ended in late February 1991. A fire was started in the dump area. For a nuclear-powered warship based in San Diego, this usually meant a trip to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Washington. They didn't realize that although recruiting is important, naval reactors were even more influential and filling Chief billets at sea was a high priority! Long Beach had two pressurized water reactors, two main engines, twin screws and twin rudders. USSLong Beach(CGN9)arrived back at the west coast on 4 July where, after a welldeserved period of rest, she resumed the exercises and operations which would keep her well prepared for her return to Vietnam the following year. She was reclassified CGN-160 in early 1957, but was again reclassified as CGN-9 on 1 July 1957. USS LONG BEACH was the first nuclear powered guided missile cruiser. [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. After this work was completed in the winter of 1995 the hull was towed through the Panama Canal to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. 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. This article includes a list of ships with the same or similar names. Additionally, Long Beach seemed to have a constant two to three-degree port list. Consequently, she was redesigned and expanded to a . The 1984 deployment was different than my previous deployments on Long Beach from the start. [citation needed], There was originally a plan to fully upgrade Long Beach with an Aegis Combat System in the early 1990s, requiring that her superstructure be completely rebuilt. When the lighting shop needed a leading Petty Officer, the E Division Leading Petty Officer looked to the senior Second Class Petty Officers, but none wanted the position. 197x. It was commissioned on September 9, 1961, under Capt. 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). He was a Talos missile Gunner's Mate and they had a problem with the missile handling system so he was unable to leave the ship before they sailed from Subic. 400 Hz motor-generator maintenance school was six weeks long and in San Diego, so I would also get six weeks at home with my family. [citation needed]. He told me to put a request through the district CO and if approved he'd give me a spot on the Long Beach. It was an interesting time as we did a lot of system testing that is only performed during the acceptance of the ship by the Navy. 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.' 1982. [18], In 1980 the vessel rescued 114 Vietnamese boat people off the coast of Vietnam. The monolithic superstructure atop her otherwise graceful 721' cruiser hull makes it impossible to confuse Long Beach with any other ship. After checking out both the Air Force and Navy, I decided to enlist in the Navy's Nuclear Propulsion Program as I felt it offered me the most interesting and challenging training. After a period of leave and upkeep in the fall,USSLong Beach(CGN9)sailed 7 November from Long Beach for the Far East. 25 July 1987 12th West Pacific deployment. NavalShips: USS Long Beach CGN-9Episode 2 of NavalShips(VERSION2)USS Long Beach (CGN-9), the Nuclear Cruiser. I asked for and was assigned as Recruiter-In-Charge of Navy Recruiting Station (NRS) Orange, California. 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. My first impression as a crew member was of responsibilities of leadership. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. This was a challenging time in the Navy. The two five-inch guns were added at the . nuclear Aegis strike cruiser). I believe, each one of my supervisors who gave their approval thought that someone above them would disapprove my request. 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. Because of this, Long Beach also had plenty of chill water cooling available. 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). 15 September 1976 Seventh West Pacific deployment. A friend and I were sitting on one of the bits on the port side when he pointed out a periscope about 30 yards of the port beam. Aug 30, 2016 #4. in the chapter on "Nuclear Destroyers And Frigates" in Friedman's book "US Destroyers History", he states that for FY77 congress allocated $371m in funding to begin conversion of Long Beach to a CSGN (ie. I was told that while on station off of Vietnam, Long Beach shot down a North Vietnamese MiG with one. TheLong Beach I returned to wasn't greatly different from the ship I'd left before. 6 May 1994 Change of homeport to Norfolk, Virginia. 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. [8], The summer of 1966 was spent in training and orienting midshipmen in the tactics and operations involved in the modern nuclear Navy. This meant I wore the Chief's uniform for eleven months before getting the pay of a Chief. Long Beach left San Diego in September of 1976 on what was my first Western Pacific cruise (WESTPAC). In Electrician's Mate Class A school we learned about motors generators, shipboard distribution and troubleshooting electrical systems. This was long before the internet and email. So this is the story of a ship, but also of the journey of a man that built his reputation largely on the deck plates of that vessel during one of the most interesting times in the U.S. Navy's history. 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. While there, we noticed the Navy Exchange had t-shirts for sale calling USS Reeves (CG-24) 'the only real cruiser in town.' The second USS Long Beach (PF-34) was a Tacoma-class frigate in commission from 1943 to 1945. $11.66. In July of 2012, the hull of the Long Beach was sold for recycling as prescribed for nuclear-powered vessels by Code 350 at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Washington. 28 May 1991 14th West Pacific deployment in support of Operation Provide Comfort. 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. 1968. The Standard SM-2ER missiles and the associated modern electronics replaced the obsolete Terrier system. My wife arranged a flight from Sacramento to San Diego so we could drive to the base located near Chicago. A few of my shipmates and I went to one of the nearby pubs for an adult beverage. Select from premium Long Beach Naval Station of the highest quality. The first- of-class shipthe first new U.S. aircraft carrier design in 40 yearswill spend several days conducting builders sea trials, a comprehensive test of many of the ships key systems and technologies. The warship also provided facilities for an onboard search-and-rescue helicopter. On September 9, 1961, the ship was commissioned at the Boston Navy Shipyard, From January to October 1985, the TOMAHAWK cruise missile system was installed onboard at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, replacing the previously removed TALOS system. We pointed out to the Cheng that having an 'Atomic Weapons Officer' seemed counter that message. We wound up a few miles away from the town at a party. When I arrived, I requested permission to enter and when I entered, my father was sitting there drinking coffee with the battalion commander. 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. I was able to share a cup of coffee with them and remember thinking "this isn't going to be too tough.". The guidedmissile cruiser conducted extensive shakedown testing of her complex weapons and propulsion systems from 2 October to 16 December 1961; her performance proved the nuclear cruiser a capable warship. A family friend also made one Tiger Cruise but he spent most of the time in his bunk seasick. Habitability wise, Arkansas was superior to Long Beach. [19] In June, 1991, Long Beach took part in Operation Fiery Vigil, evacuating U.S. military personnel from two bases in the Philippines, Clark Air Base and U.S. When it was running it required two 200kW motor-generator sets running in parallel to provide the 400Hz power the radar demanded. On 4 June 1965 she sailed for the Global Strategy Conference at the Naval War College, Newport, where Vice Admiral Kleber S. Masterson, Commander Second Fleet broke his flag on the ship. It was interesting driving from the right-hand side of the car and driving on the 'wrong' side of the road! Both ships were open for visitors. Even a slight sea would cause Long Beach to roll but you became used to it. [citation needed], The original weapons suite consisted of:[citation needed], The ship went through several modifications by the time she was decommissioned. When we left port after a few hours, the Engineering Officer (aka Cheng or Chief Engineer) had the supervisors go around and ensure the watch-standers hadn't indulged in adult beverages. It was an interesting time to be a recruiter. [8], Returning to Norfolk, Virginia 7 February 1962, Long Beach, trained off the east coast and in the Caribbean. Soon after we noticed the Victor III on the surface, dead in the water. 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! Arkansas' missile launcher and gun mount positions seemed poorly thought out to me. One of the reasons Long Beach was a single-ship class was because she was an experimental platform for these radars, which were precursors to the AN/SPY-1 phased array systems later installed on Aegis equipped Ticonderoga-class cruisers and Arleigh Burke-class destroyers. On my second tour, I don't remember a lot of problems with it but most of us wouldn't ride in it because we didn't want to get stuck in it. They were both unique designs, each a kind of 'one-off' which generally doesn't do well for ship designs. Generally, we couldn't turn it on until we were at least three miles away from an airport for safety reasons. We knew it was a Victor III because of the unique device on the stern vertical fin for the sub's towed array sonar system. This is the story of Master Chief Douglas Healeys Navy journey and the historic and enigmatic ship he kept coming back to. Revell. The crew berthing areas did not have any passageways through them and each one had fewer bunks in it than on Long Beach. In addition to the active measures for defense, the ship also carried chaff to confuse radars, SLQ-32 electronic warfare equipment and cryptologic equipment. Enterprise had eight reactors while Long Beach had two. Most naval history buffs can tell you that the USSNautilus(SSN-571) was theworlds first operational nuclear-powered submarine, while USSEnterprise(CVN-65) was thefirst nuclear-powered aircraft carrier yet many may wrongly assume that the carrier was also the first United State Navy surface warship to be powered by nuclear energy. Select from premium Uss Long Beach of the highest quality. He was a Master Chief Storekeeper (E-9) at the time of his passing in April of 1980. If I correctly remember, I was number two or three. In addition, two Phalanx CIWS close-in weapon systems were installed, along with two Harpoon surface-to-surface missile (SSM) launchers on the fantail. Free shipping. Letters could take a couple of weeks to travel between the ship and home. [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. I flew across the Pacific on a charter (Flying Tigers) to Travis Air Base near Sacramento, California. 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. The Senior Chief Sonarman dismissed the sighting but when the submarine breached, the Sonarman ran down to the Combat Information Center! 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