USS Long Beach (CGN-9) - History

History

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. Her keel was laid down on 2 December 1957 by Bethlehem Steel Co., Fore River Shipyard, Quincy, Massachusetts. She was launched 14 July 1959, sponsored by the wife of Craig Hosmer, Congressman from California. She was commissioned on 9 September 1961, with Captain Eugene P. Wilkinson in command.

Long Beach served in the Atlantic Fleet from her commissioning in 1961 until completing her first refueling in early 1966, when the cruiser was transferred from the home port of Norfolk, Virginia to Long Beach, California.

In May 1964, Long Beach joined the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CVN-65) and the guided missile cruiser USS Bainbridge (DLGN-25) to form the all-nuclear-powered Task Force 1. At the end of July, the three warships began Operation Sea Orbit, a two-month unrefueled cruise around the world. It was the first all-nuclear battle formation in the history of naval operations.

In October 1966, the Long Beach deployed for the first of a number of cruises to the Western Pacific. During this initial cruise, the cruiser served primarily as the Positive Identification Radar Advisory Zone (PIRAZ) unit in the northern Gulf of Tonkin. As such, her main responsibility was to "sanitize" returning US air strikes, ensuring that no enemy aircraft were attempting to evade identification by hiding amongst returning friendlies. Additionally, the ship provided support for an on-board Search and Rescue (SAR) helicopter unit. During this tour, the 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. The shoot-down was executed by an F-4 Phantom II fighter under the control of a Long Beach Air Intercept Controller (AIC). The cruiser returned to Long Beach, California, in July 1967, and was redeployed to the Gulf of Tonkin in 1968, shooting down two MiG fighter planes with her RIM-8 Talos missiles.

After Vietnam the Long Beach performed routine duties in the Western Pacific and Indian Ocean, although in 1975 she served escort duties for an ad-hoc US task force during the Mayagüez incident. In 1980 the vessel rescued 114 Vietnamese boat people off the coast of Vietnam. In 1979, and again from 1980 to 1983, the Long Beach returned to Puget Sound to undergo a mid-life conversion, during which time she was fitted with BGM-109 Tomahawk cruise missiles. The Long Beach deployed throughout the 1980s and provided support during the Gulf War of 1991.

Due to cuts in the defense budget after the Gulf War, the decision was made to decommission all nuclear cruisers from the Navy as their reactor cores ran down. As Long Beach had been refueled during her 1970 refit, her second refueling was due in the early to mid 1990s. As a consequence, a decision was taken to decommission her in 1994.

A deactivation ceremony occurred on 2 July 1994 at Norfolk Naval Station, and the ship was then towed over to Newport News Shipbuilding where her entire superstructure was removed and her reactors were defueled and removed, along with any radioactive parts. After this work was completed in the winter of 1995 the hull was towed through the Panama Canal to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. The Long Beach was stricken on 1 May 1995, over 33 years after she had entered service.

On July 13, 2012, the Long Beach was sold for recycling as prescribed for nuclear powered vessels by Code 350 of Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, WA.