|
USS ''Long Beach'' (CLGN-160/CGN-160/CGN-9) was a nuclear-powered guided missile cruiser in the United States Navy. She was the only ship of her class and the third Navy ship named after the city of Long Beach, California. ''Long Beach'' was laid down 2 December 1957, launched 14 July 1959 and commissioned 9 September 1961. ''Long Beach'' deployed to Vietnam during the war and served numerous times in the Western Pacific, Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf. ''Long Beach'' was celebrated as the first nuclear‑powered surface warship in 1961, but just over 30 years later, nuclear power was deemed too expensive to use on surface ships smaller than an aircraft carrier. ''Long Beach'' was decommissioned in the post-cold war draw down instead of refueling her 1 May 1995. What remained of the hull after the superstructure had been removed was sold for scrap in 2012 at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. == Configuration == The ship was designed as an "all-missile" ship from the very beginning, but was fitted with two 5"/38 caliber gun mounts amidships on the orders of President Kennedy. ''Long Beach'' was also the last cruiser built on a traditional long, lean cruiser hull; later new-build cruisers were actually converted frigates (DLG/CG , , , , and the ''California'' and ''Virginia'' classes) or uprated destroyers (the DDG/CG ''Ticonderoga'' class was built on a ''Spruance'' class destroyer hull). ''Long Beach'' was first laid out to be a smaller frigate, but expanded to a cruiser hull due to the ship being slated for the Regulus nuclear cruise missile or, later, 4 launching tubes for the Polaris missile, which would occupy the space taken up by the 5"/38 caliber gun mounts and the ASROC system. The open space just aft of the bridge "box" was to be the area for these. In addition to steel, ''Long Beach'' was built with 450 tons of structural aluminum. Because of this unusually high quantity of aluminum, she was assigned the voice radio call sign "Alcoa".〔 The ship was propelled by two nuclear reactors, one for each propeller shaft, and was capable of speeds in excess of 30 knots (56 km/h). The high box-like superstructure contained the SCANFAR system, consisting of the AN/SPS-32 and AN/SPS-33 phased array radars. One of the reasons ''Long Beach'' was a one-ship class was because it was an experimental platform for these radars, which were precursors to the AN/SPY-1 phased array systems later installed on Aegis warships (''Ticonderoga''-class cruisers and ''Arleigh Burke''-class destroyers). At the time, ''Long Beach'' had the highest bridge of any ship smaller than an aircraft carrier. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「USS Long Beach (CGN-9)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|