The nuclear-powered missile cruiser USS Long Beach (CGN-9) ushered in a new Era in naval history - the era of over-the-horizon, surgically accurate maritime warfare using missile weapons. The world's first missile cruiser. The world's first nuclear-powered cruiser.
Long Beach was laid down on December 2, 1957 at the Bethlehem Steel Co. and on September 9, 1961 entered the US Navy. The unique ship served in the fleet for 33 years, having covered over a million nautical miles during this period.
Long Beach was created as an air defense and anti-aircraft defense escort cruiser for operational interaction with the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Enterprise. The ship first received an experimental AN / SPS-32 phased array radar (which became the prototype of AN / SPY-1), thanks to which Long Beach acquired the characteristic high superstructure, which made it the tallest cruiser in the world.
The cruiser's armament included 3 new missile systems at once:
- Medium-range air defense system Terrier (2 launchers, 102 missiles ammunition)
- SAM long-range Talos (1 launcher, 52 missile ammunition, the affected area at a range of -80 nautical miles)
- ASROS anti-submarine missile system (ammunition -24 rocket torpedoes)
During the modernization in the late 70s, the Talos air defense system was dismantled. Instead, eight ALB (Armored Launch Box) launchers for BGM-109 Tomahawk missiles and two quadruple Mk 141 launchers for launching the Harpoon anti-ship missile system appeared as part of the cruiser's armament. The ship was also equipped with 2 Falanga self-defense systems, the Terrier air defense system was replaced with a modern Standard-2 (RIM-67).
In the period from July 31 to October 3, 1964, the cruiser took part in Operation Sea Orbit, together with the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Enterprise and the nuclear-powered cruiser Bainbridge. For 2 months the squadron made a round-the-world voyage without a single call to the port.
Since October 1966, the ship has been on combat duty in the Gulf of Tonkin for almost a year, performing the functions of the command center of carrier-based aviation. During her watch, the cruiser twice repelled attacks from Vietnamese aircraft, shooting down two MiGs. In 1968, Long Beach returned to combat patrols to the shores of Vietnam.
The last major milestone in the history of the cruiser was the participation in Operation Desert Storm, where Long Beach acted as an escort and helipad for the search and rescue forces.
In 1995, due to the physical deterioration of the cruiser structure, Long Beach was excluded from the Navy and is currently awaiting disposal. The decision to turn the cruiser into a museum was rejected due to radiation safety.
Due to the extremely high cost, Long Beach became the only ship in the series, the "white elephant of the fleet". Despite this, the project turned out to be successful from the technical point of view, and all the unique mechanisms and weapons systems tested on the cruiser Long Beach were found to be effective and were adopted by ships of other series.
