{"id":2466,"date":"2024-08-17T21:41:16","date_gmt":"2024-08-17T21:41:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/?p=2466"},"modified":"2024-08-17T21:41:16","modified_gmt":"2024-08-17T21:41:16","slug":"uss-long-beach-americas-first-nuclear-powered-cruiser","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/?p=2466","title":{"rendered":"USS Long Beach: America\u2019s First Nuclear-Powered Cruiser"},"content":{"rendered":"


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By Peter Suciu<\/a><\/p>\n

C<\/span>urrently, the United States Navy is dealing with a minor \u201cnuclear disaster\u201d of sorts. It isn\u2019t an accident, however, but one of poor planning. The service has spent years and untold dollars trying to figure out how to recycle the ex-USS Enterprise<\/em> (CVN-65), the world\u2019s first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier \u2014 which was officially decommissioned in February 2017 after more than five decades in service.<\/p>\n

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The USS\u00a0Long Beach<\/em>\u00a0was a nuclear powered guided missile cruiser and the first surface warfare ship with a nuclear powerplant. It is shown here in 1983. Image:\u00a0NARA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Due to the fact that her nuclear reactors must be removed, it will be impossible to preserve the vessel as a museum, despite repeated calls from naval history buffs. It was even reported in May of 2023 that it could take upwards of five years and cost as much as $700 million to break up the ship at a commercial yard. Still another plan saw the recycling effort dragging on for 15 years and costing nearly $1.4 billion. The end of life of a nuclear-powered carrier is something that needs to be considered as the U.S. Navy will be replacing its numerous aging Nimitz<\/em>-class carriers<\/a> in the coming years.<\/p>\n

\"USS\n<\/picture>
Intended to be the first of many nuclear-powered surface warfare ships, construction began on the USS\u00a0Long Beach<\/em>\u00a0in the late 1950s. Image:\u00a0NARA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Perhaps, the United States Navy and lawmakers should have seen this problem coming long ago. The USS\u00a0Enterprise<\/em>\u00a0wasn\u2019t the first nuclear-powered warship built, nor was it the first to be retired.<\/p>\n

Origin Story<\/h2>\n

The United States was the first to harness the power of the atom, but atomic research didn\u2019t stop with the development of the atomic bomb. Rather, it proceeded apace. The Soviet Union exploded its first nuclear device in 1949; just four years after the U.S. had led the effort. The U.S. then demonstrated the vastly more-powerful hydrogen bomb, and a race for more powerful nuclear weapons continued.<\/p>\n

\"USS\n<\/picture>
The USS\u00a0Long Beach<\/em>\u00a0was built by the Bethlehem Steel Company. This undated photograph shows much of the construction approaching completion. Image:\u00a0NARA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At the same time, the power of the atom wasn\u2019t seen as limited to just destruction. The United States Navy began to conceive how nuclear power could be employed as a propulsion system, notably for its submarines. Nuclear power meant a submarine could remain submerged for extended periods of time as it could create steam power that required no oxygen and gave off no exhaust.<\/p>\n

\"hull\n<\/picture>
Launched on July 14, 1959, the hull of the USS\u00a0Long Beach<\/em>\u00a0is maneuvered in the water by a pair of tug boats. Image:\u00a0NARA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

That led to the development of the USS\u00a0Nautilus<\/em>\u00a0(SSN-571), which was launched on January 21, 1954. The boat wasn\u2019t exactly a great leap forward in technology, and apart from her revolutionary propulsion system, SSN-571 was designed along fairly conventional lines. Yet, she was noted for being the first military vessel powered by a nuclear reactor. USS\u00a0Nautilus<\/em>\u00a0ushered in the nuclear U.S. Navy, and today the service\u2019s submarine fleet is entirely nuclear-powered.<\/p>\n

\"electronics\n<\/picture>
This photo is marked with notations for some of the antennas and other electronics on the USS\u00a0Long Beach<\/em>. Image:\u00a0NARA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In addition, the sea service currently operates 10\u00a0Nimitz<\/em>-class and one\u00a0Gerald R. Ford<\/em>-class supercarriers. The former vessels will be replaced on a one-for-one basis by the latter over the next five to six decades \u2014 at least that\u2019s the current plan.<\/p>\n

\"USS\n<\/picture>
USS\u00a0Long Beach<\/em>\u00a0construction nears completion in this 1961 photograph. Image:\u00a0NARA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What is sometimes forgotten is that the USS\u00a0Enterprise<\/em>\u00a0wasn\u2019t the first surface combatant to be powered by a nuclear reactor. That distinction goes to the USS\u00a0Long Beach<\/em>\u00a0(CGN-9), which was also the final guided-missile cruiser based on a cruiser design rather than on the scaled-up destroyer hulls.<\/p>\n

Enter the USS\u00a0Long Beach<\/em><\/h2>\n

The keel for the USS\u00a0Long Beach<\/em>\u00a0was laid down in 1957 by the Bethlehem Steel Company at the Fore River Shipyard, Massachusetts. Like the USS\u00a0Nautilus<\/em>, it was a mix of the old \u2014 as noted featuring the classic cruiser design, but with a nuclear power plant.<\/p>\n

\"close\n<\/picture>
The USS\u00a0Long Beach<\/em>\u00a0has a distinctive look thanks to its extremely high bridge structure. Image:\u00a0PHCS Ron Bayles\/NARA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The 17,000-ton warship was the first cruiser to be built for the U.S. Navy since the Second World War.<\/p>\n

Originally, naval planners sought to build a frigate as a test platform, but the design was significantly increased to accommodate her armament. Her hull was expanded to accommodate various missile systems, yet retained the long, slender lines of a cruiser. The vessel was 220 meters (721 feet, three inches) in length, with a beam of 21.79 meters (71 feet, six inches), and a draught of 9.32 meters (30 feet, seven inches). The cruiser was further notable for being the first to be designed as an \u201call-missile\u201d ship instead of being armed with large guns to strike coastal targets.<\/p>\n

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Armament included a pair of forward Mk-10 launchers with Terrier surface-to-air missiles and a Mk-12 launcher with Talos surface-to-air missiles \u2014 although she was armed with a pair of 127mm (5-inch) Mk30 guns, and equipped with a helicopter landing pad at her stern.<\/p>\n

USS\u00a0Long Beach<\/em>\u00a0was unlike any cruiser before or since.<\/p>\n

\"RIM-2\n<\/picture>
This is a RIM-2 Terrier missile launcher on the USS\u00a0Long Beach<\/em>\u00a0during operations in the South China Sea in 1976. It was one of the early SAM systems used by the Navy. Image:\u00a0U.S. Navy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As an experimental platform, the USS\u00a0Long Beach<\/em>\u00a0was also the only ship of her class, powered by two C1W nuclear reactors \u2014 one for each propeller shaft \u2014 providing 59.68 MW of power. CGN-9 was capable of speeds in excess of 30 knots and had essentially unlimited range.<\/p>\n

Because of the placement of the nuclear reactors, the USS\u00a0Long Beach<\/em>\u00a0had the highest bridge structure of any warship smaller than an aircraft carrier, while it also housed the SCANFAR radar system, which comprised the AN\/SPS-32 and AN\/SPS-33 phased array radars. The nuclear-powered cruiser carried a complement of 1,160 officers and men. Because of the nuclear propulsion, the crew lived in a temperature-controlled environment, and the warship featured many amenities, including an ice cream bar!<\/p>\n

\"overhead\n<\/picture>
An overhead view of the USS\u00a0Long Beach<\/em>\u00a0underway near the coast of Southern California in 1989. Image:\u00a0PH1 Wilcox\/NARA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When she was commissioned in September 1961, CGN-9 became the third vessel named for the California coastal community. A converted German cargo ship that had been seized during the First World War was the first ship to bear the name, and a patrol frigate that saw service in the Second World War was the second.<\/p>\n

Operation Sea Orbit<\/h2>\n

A second nuclear-powered cruiser was also built in the early 1960s \u2014 the USS\u00a0Bainbridge<\/em>\u00a0(DLGN-25\/CGN-25), named to honor Commodore William Bainbridge. Also originally designed as a nuclear-powered guided-missile destroyer leader (or frigate), that vessel was later redesignated as a cruiser.<\/p>\n

\"Operation\n<\/picture>
Operation Sea Orbit was a United States Navy mission that displayed an all-nuclear surface warfare task force to the world. Image:\u00a0U.S. Navy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

DLGN-25 joined the USS\u00a0Long Beach<\/em>\u00a0and USS\u00a0Enterprise<\/em>\u00a0as the all-nuclear-powered Task Force 1 in Operation Sea Orbit, which began in July 1964, as the three warships conducted a two-month unrefueled cruise around the world, steaming 30,565 miles. It was the first such battle force of its kind in the history of naval operations.<\/p>\n

\"Operation\n<\/picture>
Task Force 1 passes through the Mediterranean Sea in formation at the start of Operation Sea Orbit. Image:\u00a0NARA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Two other world circumnavigations were made by U.S. nuclear vessels, but by submarines rather than surface combatants.<\/p>\n

The Long Beach Goes to War in Vietnam<\/h2>\n

The USS\u00a0Long Beach<\/em>\u00a0was deployed to the Western Pacific in 1966 for her first tour of duty off Vietnam, and she was stationed mainly in the northern part of the Gulf of Tonkin. The U.S. Navy had created a Positive Identification Radar Advisory Zone (PIRAZ), which allowed the warship to monitor for North Vietnamese intruder aircraft that attempted to \u201cmingle\u201d with U.S. strike aircraft returning to their carriers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"USS\n<\/picture>
The USS\u00a0Long Beach<\/em>\u00a0returns from a deployment to the PIRAZ off the coast of Vietnam. Also known as Yankee Station, the ship played an important role there. Image:\u00a0NARA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

During that first deployment, one of CGN-5\u2019s Air Intercept Controllers (AIC) directed a U.S. Navy F-4 Phantom<\/a> to engage an Antonov An-2 (NATO reporting name Colt) that had attempted to engage South Vietnamese naval units.<\/p>\n

\"USS\n<\/picture>
A port bow view of the amphibious command ship USS\u00a0Blue Ridge<\/em>\u00a0(LCC-19) and the USS\u00a0Long Beach\u00a0<\/em>leaving the Persian Gulf in 1987. Image:\u00a0PHAN Brad Dillon\/NARA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After returning to the United States in 1967, the warship returned to the Gulf of Tonkin a year later and during that deployment fired Talos missiles, which destroyed two North Vietnamese MiG-17s at a range of 112 km (70 miles) \u2014 marking the first confirmed use of a naval surface-to-air missile in combat.<\/p>\n

Rescue Duties and Later Combat Operations<\/h2>\n

While in the region during and after the war, the nuclear-powered guided-missile cruiser also provided facilities for on-board search-and-rescue helicopter operations. USS\u00a0Long Beach<\/em>\u00a0was part of the task force assembled in May 1975 to rescue American seamen after Cambodia\u2019s Khmer Rouge seized the SS\u00a0Mayaguez<\/em>\u00a0and its crew of 39 in international waters.<\/p>\n

\"sailors\n<\/picture>
Crew members of the USS\u00a0Long Beach<\/em>\u00a0haul in the high line from the USS\u00a0Sacramento<\/em>\u00a0(AOE-1) while operating in the South China Sea, June 1967. Image R.D. Moeser\/NARA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In 1980, the warship helped rescue more than 100 Vietnamese \u201cboat people\u201d who had fled the Communist regime.<\/p>\n

In the late 1970s, the Talos surface-to-air platform was deemed obsolete, and the cruiser\u2019s launchers and radars were moved and replaced by two quadruple Harpoon surface-to-surface missile launchers, while the ship received upgraded SPS-48 and SPS-49 radars. The Terrier missiles were also replaced by Standard SM-2ER SAMs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"AGM-84\n<\/picture>
AGM-84 Harpoon surface-to-surface missile canisters are loaded aboard the nuclear-powered guided missile cruiser USS\u00a0Long Beach<\/em>. Image:\u00a0NARA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In 1986, two armored box launchers for the Tomahawk cruise missile were installed, and the Harpoons were repositioned along the superstructure. Kevlar armor and a Tactical Flag Command Center were also added to the warship, while it received two Phalanx Close-in Weapon Systems (CIWS) to add to the cruiser\u2019s air defenses.<\/p>\n

The USS\u00a0Long Beach<\/em>\u00a0was later among the warships that provided support for 1987\u2019s Operation Nimble Archer, the U.S. Navy\u2019s response to the Iranian missile attack on the Kuwaiti oil tanker MV Sea Isle City at anchor off Kuwait. The U.S. conducted an attack on Iranian oil platforms that were alleged to have been used as command-and-control posts with radars to track commercial shipping.<\/p>\n

\"ASW\n<\/picture>
A SH-2F Sea Sprite of Helicopter Light Anti-Submarine Squadron (Light) 37 (HSL-37) lands on the deck of the nuclear-powered guided missile cruiser USS\u00a0Long Beach<\/em>. Image:\u00a0PH2 Jeffrey A. Elliott\/NARA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In 1991, USS\u00a0Long Beach\u00a0<\/em>took part in the coalition task force during Operation Desert Storm \u2014 the Gulf War campaign against Iraq. Later, she took part in rescue operations as part of Operation Fiery Vigil, where she helped evacuate U.S. military members from Clark Air Base and U.S. Naval Base Subic Bay following the volcanic eruption of Mount Pinatubo personnel in the Philippines.<\/p>\n

End of the Line for USS\u00a0Long Beach<\/em><\/h2>\n

While there had been plans to further upgrade the USS\u00a0Long Beach<\/em>\u00a0with the Aegis Combat System in the early 1990s, it called for her superstructure to be completely rebuilt. However, defense budget cuts after the end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union put the squeeze on upgrading the ship. Combined with the anticipated higher operating costs of operating the nuclear-powered vessel, the Pentagon decided to decommission all of the U.S. Navy\u2019s nuclear-powered surface vessels, apart from the aircraft carriers.<\/p>\n

\"USS\n<\/picture>
The USS\u00a0La Jolla<\/em>\u00a0(SSN-701), a\u00a0Los Angeles-<\/em>class attack submarine, passes the USS\u00a0Long Beach<\/em>\u00a0in 1982. Image:\u00a0PH2 Randy Hays\/NARA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Seeing the CGN-5 and CGN-25 as a success during the Cold War, the U.S. Navy went on to build the nuclear-powered USS\u00a0Truxtun<\/em>\u00a0(DLGN\/CGN-35), another destroyer leader reclassified as a cruiser; two\u00a0California<\/em>-class guided-missile cruisers; and four\u00a0Virginia<\/em>-class guided-missile cruisers.<\/p>\n

All of the warships had been retired by the end of the 1990s.<\/p>\n

\"USS\n<\/picture>
The USS\u00a0Long Beach<\/em>\u00a0prior to its final cruise before decommissioning. Visible are the updated RIM-67 Standard surface to air missiles (SAM). Image:\u00a0PH3 Brian Mcfadden\/NARA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

USS\u00a0Long Beach<\/em>\u00a0was one of the first to face retirement \u2014 after the\u00a0Virginia<\/em>-class USS\u00a0Texas<\/em>\u00a0(DLGN\/CGN-39) \u2014 and was deactivated on May 1, 1995, having seen more than 33 years of operational service. However, it took nearly 17 years for the ship to finally be sold at auction. Her inactivated ship\u2019s hull and reactor compartments remained at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Washington, as of May 2018.<\/p>\n

Nuclear Success, or Failure?<\/h2>\n

Given that it has been time-consuming and expensive to dispose of USS\u00a0Long Beach<\/em>, USS\u00a0Enterprise<\/em>, and the other nuclear-powered surface vessels, it remains unclear if this was an effective experiment.<\/p>\n

Though nuclear energy was seen as a cheap and even clean source of power, the warships proved to be expensive to build. Also, nuclear propulsion may have meant unlimited range, but the warship still needed to be supplied regularly with food and water, as well as ordnance for its weapons.<\/p>\n

\"USS\n<\/picture>
The USS\u00a0Long Beach<\/em>\u00a0enters Subic Bay, Philippines. Image:\u00a0PHCS Ron Bayles\/U.S. Navy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Today, the legacy of the USS\u00a0Long Beach<\/em>\u00a0is that nuclear power is now reserved for carriers and submarines. But that should not diminish the service over the years of this storied ship<\/p>\n

Editor\u2019s Note: Please be sure to check out The Armory Life Forum, where you can comment about our daily articles, as well as just talk guns and gear. Click the \u201cGo To Forum Thread\u201d link below to jump in!<\/em><\/p>\n

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By Peter Suciu Currently, the United States Navy is dealing with a minor \u201cnuclear disaster\u201d of sorts. It isn\u2019t an accident, however, but one of poor planning. The service has spent years and untold dollars trying to figure out how to recycle the ex-USS Enterprise (CVN-65), the world\u2019s first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier \u2014 which was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2467,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2466","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2466","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2466"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2466\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2467"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2466"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2466"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2466"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}