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USS Long Beach (CLGN-160/CGN-160/CGN-9) was a nuclear-powered guided missile cruiser in the United States Navy and the world's first nuclear-powered surface combatant. [3] She was the third Navy ship named after the city of Long Beach, California.
In the early 1960s, the United States Navy was the world's first to have nuclear-powered cruisers as part of its fleet. The first such ship was USS Long Beach (CGN-9). Commissioned in late summer 1961, she was the world's first nuclear-powered surface combatant. She was followed a year later by USS Bainbridge (DLGN-25).
Bainbridge returned to the Mediterranean Sea in May 1964, this time joining Enterprise and the guided missile cruiser Long Beach to form the all-nuclear-powered Task Force 1. At the end of July, the three nuclear powered ships began Operation "Sea Orbit", a 30,565 mile, 65 day unrefueled cruise around the world. [5] [6]
Operation Sea Orbit was the 1964 circumnavigation of Task Force One of the United States Navy, consisting of the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise and her escorts, the cruisers USS Long Beach, and USS Bainbridge. This all-nuclear-powered unit sailed 30,565 miles around the world for sixty-five days without refueling. [1] [2]
The last ship to be assigned a hull number in the Heavy and Light Cruiser sequence would be the 1950s era nuclear powered Long Beach, though this ship would be assigned another number and designation under the guided missile cruiser hull classification before launch. Long Beach class (CLGN/CGN-160) Long Beach, completed as CGN-9 (1961)
For almost 40 years, the U.S. Navy had nuclear powered cruisers as a part of its fleet, beginning in 1961 with the commissioning of USS Long Beach (CGN-9) and ending in 1998 with the decommissioning of USS Arkansas (CGN-41). The Navy had a total nine nuclear cruisers spread across five different classes.
The Long Beach was deemed too expensive and was decommissioned in 1995 instead of receiving its third nuclear refueling and proposed upgrade. It was sold for scrap in 2012 at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. Currently the United States does not have any nuclear cruisers. [citation needed]
Two of these nuclear reactors were installed on each of the Bainbridge, Truxtun, California, and Virginia classes of guided missile cruisers.The only nuclear-powered cruiser in the United States Navy not equipped with a D2G reactor was the world's first nuclear cruiser, the USS Long Beach, which used two C1W reactors.