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Memorabilia

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CO's of USS Long Beach

Notes of Interest

History

Major Deployments and Shipyard Periods of USS Long Beach

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USS Long Beach (CGN 9)

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. She was also the first American cruiser since the end of World War II built entirely new from the keel up, and, when completed, boasted the highest bridge in the world. She was also the last warship to be fitted with teakwood decks.

LONG BEACH was originally ordered as CLGN 160. She was reclassified CGN 160 in early 1957, but was again reclassified as CGN 9 on 1 July 1957. On May 1, 1995, LONG BEACH was decommissioned and stricken from the Navy list. She was then berthed at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, WA, and got her superstructure removed. LONG BEACH's hull is currently awaiting final disposal.

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Crew List:

This section contains the names of sailors who served aboard USS LONG BEACH. It is no official listing but contains the names of sailors who submitted their information.

• Click here to view the list.

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• Click here to see which USS LONG BEACH memorabilia are currently for sale on ebay.

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USS LONG BEACH Cruise Books:

• Commissioning and Mediterranean Cruise Book 1961-63
• WestPac Cruise Book 1966-67
• WestPac Cruise Book 1968
• WestPac Cruise Book 1969-70
• WestPac Cruise Book 1980
• WestPac Cruise Book 1987-88
• World Cruise Book 1989-90
• WestPac Cruise Book 1991

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USS LONG BEACH's Commanding Officers:

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Notes of Interest:

• USS LONG BEACH was authorized as USS BROOKLYN but the name was changed shortly afterwards.
• USS LONG BEACH was commissioned without any guns aboard. In April 1962, President John F. Kennedy visited the ship and it is said that he ordered the LONG BEACH to be equipped with the two 5-inch guns that were installed aboard the ship later that year.

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History of USS LONG BEACH:

USS LONG BEACH was laid down as CGN 9, 2 December 1957 by Bethlehem Steel Co., Fore River Shipyard, Quincy, Mass.; launched 14 July 1959; sponsored by Mrs. Craig Hosmer, wife of Congressman Hosmer of California; and commissioned 9 September 1961, Capt. E. P. Wilkinson in command.

The first nuclear-powered surface warship in history, LONG BEACH was assigned to the Atlantic Fleet and home ported at Norfolk, Va. The guided-missile cruiser conducted extensive shakedown testing of her complex weapons and propulsion systems from 2 October to 16 December 1961; her superlative performance proved the nuclear cruiser a highly capable and effective warship. 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.

Returning to Norfolk 7 February, she trained on the east Coast and in the Caribbean, on 10 April joining in Atlantic Fleet exercises off North Carolina and Virginia as flagship for Adm. Robert H. Dennison, Commander in Chief, Atlantic Fleet. She was reviewed by President John F. Kennedy and Vice President Lyndon B Johnson during this demonstration of naval power.

After overhaul and installation of new equipment at Philadelphia NSY, LONG BEACH trained in the Caribbean and sailed 6 August 1963 to join the 6th Fleet in its Mediterranean peacekeeping operations. She returned to Norfolk 20 December for coastal and Caribbean operations through 28 April when she sailed for the Mediterranean to join attack carrier ENTERPRISE (CVAN 65) and guided-missile frigate BAINBRIDGE (DLGN 25) in the formation of the first all nuclear powered task group 13 May. The force operated in the Mediterranean testing its unique capabilities until 31 July when it sailed under Rear Adm. Bernard M. Strean from Gibraltar on an around-the-world cruise. This operation, "Sea Orbit", reminiscent of the cruise of the Great White Fleet in 1907-09, demonstrated the strategic mobility of U.S. naval nuclear-powered surface forces independent of normal fleet logistic support. During 58 steaming days, LONG BEACH steamed over 30,000 miles at an average speed of 25 knots, without being refueled or resupplied. In the course of the voyage, numerous foreign dignitaries visited the ship during visits off both coasts of Africa and in-port calls at Karachi, Pakistan; Melbourne, Australia; Wellington, New Zealand; and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. An unqualified success, the operation proved to people the world over the tremendous increase in capabilities nuclear power brings the Navy.

LONG BEACH returned to Norfolk from this triumph 3 October to join in exercises off the east coast and in the Caribbean. On 4 June, she sailed for the Global Strategy Conference at the Naval War College, Newport, where Vice Adm. Kleber S. Masterson, Commander, 2nd Fleet, broke his flag in the ship. Back in Norfolk 23 June, LONG BEACH resumed training and upkeep prior to her transfer to the Pacific Fleet. She sailed 28 February 1966 for her new home port and namesake, Long Beach, Calif. and arrived 15 March.

The summer of 1966 was spent in training and orienting midshipmen in the tactics and operations involved in the modern nuclear Navy. After a period of leave and upkeep in the fall, LONG BEACH sailed 7 November from Long Beach for the Far East. She arrived on PIRAZ (positive identification and radar advisory zone) station on the 30th, and continued on that vital operation throughout most of her WestPac tour. From 8 to 27 April 1967, the nuclear-powered cruiser made a cruise to Sydney, Australia. On the return portion of the trip back to Subic Bay, Republic of the Philippines, the ship made a stop in "Ironbottom Sound" on 23 April for a memorial service commemorating the battles fought and lives lost there in World War II. After the wreath-laying ceremony, she steamed up "The Slot" at 30 knots, back toward a different war.

LONG BEACH arrived back at the west coast on 4 July where, after a well deserved period of rest, she resumed the exercises and operations which would keep her well prepared for her return to Vietnam the following year. This next deployment began when she once again left her home on 15 April 1968. As before, the cruiser spent most of her time on PIRAZ station, guiding the many planes which operated over North Vietnam. This tour of duty in WestPac ended with her arrival again at Long Beach on 16 November, where she remained into 1969.

From 11 August 1969, LONG BEACH sailed west once more for the Gulf of Tonkin. Through late 1969 and into early 1970 she supported Seventh Fleet air operations against North Vietnam, cycling between PIRAZ duties, radar picket and air control, and logistics or liberty stops at Pearl Harbor, Subic Bay, Hong Kong, Singapore, Manila and Bangkok. She returned to the United States in 1970 for an extended refueling and overhaul.

Beginning in March 1970, the cruiser entered Mare Island Naval Shipyard for refueling and major work that ran into late 1971, resetting the long-legged endurance that made her nuclear plant so valuable on distant stations. With the Paris peace talks stalled and the theater's tempo rising again, she completed post-overhaul trials and prepared for renewed Vietnam duty.

In March 1972, LONG BEACH deployed to the Western Pacific for what became her most intense late-war cruise. Stationed for long stretches on PIRAZ, she controlled dense strike traffic over North Vietnam during the "Easter Offensive" and the LINEBACKER campaigns, and she was credited with combat action on 26 April 1972 in the immediate aftermath of the Battle of Dong Hoi as North Vietnamese air activity surged along the coast. During this March-November tour she also carried out high-visibility search-and-rescue work. Accounts from the period record the recovery of multiple downed U.S. aviators during those months on station.

Following the January 1973 Paris Agreement, LONG BEACH remained in the Western Pacific through 1973 supporting the final phases of U.S. disengagement and regional presence tasks. In November 1974, she again deployed to WESTPAC, operating with the Seventh Fleet through June 1975 as U.S. posture in Southeast Asia transitioned after the fall of Saigon. That summer her administrative ties shifted to Southern California as the ship's homeport moved to San Diego, a prelude to renewed Pacific and Indian Ocean work.

From September 1976 to 28 March 1977, LONG BEACH ranged the Western Pacific and Indian Ocean as part of the growing U.S. blue-water presence across the Arabian Sea. In early 1977, she operated in company with ENTERPRISE (CVN 65) and TRUXTUN (CGN 35), including Exercise Merlion with Singaporean forces - one of a series of Cold War forward-presence evolutions that foreshadowed the persistent Indian Ocean carrier operations of the late 1970s.

She deployed again from 4 April to 27 October 1978, this time explicitly as part of the ENTERPRISE battle group, then entered Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in early 1979 for the first phase of a mid-life modernization. That work set the stage for a high-tempo 1980 cruise and a deeper systems refit to follow.

On 7 January 1980, LONG BEACH headed west. During the spring she performed presence and escort duties from the Philippine Sea to the Indian Ocean and took part in one of the era's defining humanitarian missions at sea. On 1 May 1980, she rescued 107 Vietnamese refugees about 250 miles southeast of Saigon - part of a broader Navy effort assisting "boat people" in the South China Sea that year - before completing a port sequence that included Guam, Subic Bay, Hong Kong, Okinawa, Pusan, Manila, Sattahip and Yokosuka. She returned that summer to begin the multi-year Phase II mid-life conversion (6 October 1980-26 March 1983), during which the original SCANFAR arrays were removed and the ship received upgraded area-air-defense sensors and weapons, including Standard SM-2 capability, Harpoon surface-strike launchers and Phalanx CIWS.

After trials and refresher training, LONG BEACH deployed again on 13 January 1984, returning to the familiar Western Pacific and Indian Ocean operating areas as the Reagan-era Navy pressed sustained forward presence. In January 1985, she entered Puget Sound once more for a focused overhaul that removed the now-obsolete Talos system and installed two four-cell Tomahawk Armored Box Launchers on the fantail. She completed that period in October 1985. Her 13 May-October 1986 WESTPAC that followed included duty alongside NEW JERSEY (BB 62) and other units - the first deployment of a modern battleship battle group to the region since the Korean War - underscoring the cruiser's role as a high-end air-defense and command platform within mixed surface action groups.

A short Pacific period in early 1987 preceded a 25 July 1987-19 January 1988 deployment that took LONG BEACH from the Western Pacific into the Indian Ocean and the Persian Gulf at the height of the "Tanker War". On 19 October 1987, she provided anti-air warfare cover during OPERATION NIMBLE ARCHER, the retaliatory strike on Iranian oil platforms executed in response to the Silkworm missile attack on the reflagged tanker SEA ISLE CITY. Air and surveillance cover for the action was provided by LONG BEACH together with cruisers GRIDLEY (CG 21) and WILLIAM H. STANDLEY (CG 32), and aircraft from RANGER (CV 61), emblematic of the ad hoc but potent U.S. surface and carrier groupings used to protect Gulf shipping during EARNEST WILL.

On 18 September 1989, the cruiser departed on a world-girdling deployment linked to PACEX '89, the largest allied naval exercise in the Pacific since World War II. The cruise combined high-end fleet operations off Northeast Asia with an extended sequence of port calls - Yokosuka and Chinhae in Northeast Asia; Hong Kong and Subic Bay in Southeast Asia; Pattaya and Singapore along the South China Sea; Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean; and Rio de Janeiro and Barbados en route back to the United States - before her return on 16 March 1990 as the Cold War ebbed.

As the Gulf War ended and post-conflict stability missions grew, LONG BEACH deployed again beginning 28 May 1991. The ship's WESTPAC/Gulf itinerary reflected two concurrent crises: participation in OPERATION PROVIDE COMFORT's post-war security and humanitarian tasks for Kurdish populations from positions in the Persian Gulf, and, in June 1991, participation in OPERATION FIERY VIGIL during the eruption of Mount Pinatubo, when U.S. naval forces evacuated tens of thousands from Clark Air Base and Subic Bay. Her port sequence on that cruise - Pearl Harbor, Subic Bay, Singapore, Phuket, Bahrain, Jebel Ali and Hong Kong - mirrored the dual focus on Southwest Asia and the Philippines.

From 8 April to 1 October 1992, LONG BEACH underwent a comprehensive overhaul at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, after which she executed counter-drug operations off Central America from May to July 1993 and again from November 1993 into early 1994 in the Caribbean, serving as "Alfa Sierra" flagship for Commander, Caribbean Squadron during FleetEx 93-1. These latter missions reflected the Navy's early-1990s shift toward maritime interdiction and regional security work as great-power confrontation receded.

On 6 May 1994, the ship's administrative homeport changed to Norfolk, Virginia, to prepare for inactivation. A formal deactivation ceremony followed on 2 July 1994 at Norfolk Naval Station. She then shifted to Newport News Shipbuilding, where her reactors were defueled and her superstructure removed. After this work, the remaining hull transited to Puget Sound. LONG BEACH was stricken and decommissioned on 1 May 1995, more than three decades after entering service.

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Major Deployments and Shipyard Periods of USS LONG BEACH:

...for additional information on the deployments read the history text above.

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USS LONG BEACH Image Gallery:

The photos below were taken by me and show the hull of the LONG BEACH laid-up at Bremerton, Wash., on March 14, 2010.

The photos below were taken by me and show the hull of the LONG BEACH laid-up at Bremerton, Wash., on May 12, 2012.

The photo below wase taken by Michael Jenning and shows the remaining hull of the LONG BEACH laid-up at Bremerton, Wash., on October 13, 2017.

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