The End of an Era
All things must pass.
Many years ago somewhere in the Gulf of Tonkin, I believe, we were in line for a “bullets and beans” UNREP (Underway Replenishment for you Army types). It was standard practice for a ship ‘floor it” when the last line was dropped and pull away quickly so the next ship could get alongside and begin their UNREP. I was on deck with the working party getting ready and someone yelled “Damn look at that!” I hadn’t been paying much attention in that there were more immediate matters at hand. We all pretty much stopped and gawked at the ship pulling away… It looked like a huge haze grey speedboat with ROOSTER TAIL no less!
That was my first look at the USS Long Beach CGN-9.
So it was with a bit of melancholy that I noted: World’s first nuclear cruiser up for auction as scrap
The world’s first nuclear-powered surface warship, the USS Long Beach, was put up for auction as scrap metal on Tuesday to be dismantled and recycled, after spending the past 17 years mothballed in a naval shipyard in Washington state.
The 720-foot (219-metre) vessel, the first American cruiser since the end of World War Two to be built new from the keel up, boasted the world’s highest bridge and was the last such U.S. vessel with teakwood decks, according to Navy history.
Category: Geezer Alert!, Navy
It’s always a shame to see these beauties decommissioned, mothballed, and finally go the way of most ships, on a trek to the scrap yard, or out to sea to be a reef somewhere.
I’m fortunate, in that the only one I ever gave any money toward saving is still with us, and that’s the USS Missouri.
Sad to see her go – 6 years onboard in the mid to late 80’s.
Strike hard – Strike home
Or as we liked to say – Strike hard – Strike for home. Lots of friends and memories from those days
ET1 Robert Barker – RC1 Division LPO
PintoNag #1: At least one of the ships I served on is listed as being “disposed of a target”.
There’s a link in the article above that says they are gonna start doing that again.
No. 1:
YAY !! — I walked her deck years ago, at Bremerton.
GEN McARTHUR was aboard !!
So when is the Navy going to start mothballing Admiral billets? In WW2 Navy had 100+ ships for every flag officer, now its more like one to one – probably skewing to slightly more FOs than tin cans in service.
Were not the British Royal Navy yet – where there are lots of Admirals laying about, but search as hard as you might – no ships in sight for miles and miles.
Zero: Although it’s sad to watch one go that way, it seems a far more fitting end for a fighting ship than to be pulled apart for scrap. And it gives the Navy some target practice!
DR_BRETT: I’ve never had the pleasure of seeing her. My “contribution” to her conservation was $5 when I was about 13 years old! 🙂
My former neighbor and person I grew up with did about half a cruise aboard her in the early 80s. He was a nuke and his dad was dying of cancer right then so he was taken off for emergency leave. Not long after, he separated.
Sad, but since the superstracture has already been removed, i guess we should get it over with. She was a very sexy ship though.
It was very strange for me to spend time in Bremerton, with all the mothballed carriers and other ships up there. I’d never seen a “dead” Navy ship before. Commissioned ships are always so full of life and activity: people, lights, fans, noise. Those ships are silent and dark. It’s not a comfortable thing to be around.
I spent a little over 13 years aboard LONG BEACH over three separate tours, E-5 to E-9. Wish I could have gotten a piece of the teak deck (I spent my life under the waterline in the aft engineering plant).
I was serving on the USS John A. Moore (FFG-19) when we escorted the hull of Long Beach to Bremerton as she was under tow by USNS Navajo. We rendezvoused off Santa Catalina Island and promptly encountered foul weather which reduced our SOA to 3.5 knots and we were taking the swells on the port side. We were stuck bouncing around in that madness until we got well north of San Francisco.
I was one of the few lucky ones to not get seasick; it was so bad the XO temporarily relieved the CO as the Captain was laid up in his stateroom with an IV in his arm. At another point myself and an OS2 on the watch with me (also not seasick) got relieved from watch and hit the chow line. We were the only two there. We stood looking at the food on the steam table and peering into the galley to see if anyone was around. Seeing no one I finally said, “Pooter(his name was Porter), I guess we just have to serve ourselves.” From the deck behind the steam tables we hear a voice say, “No, I’ll get it” followed by an arm slowing reaching up and getting an unsteady grip. A bedraggled and green-looking Mess Specialist finally got up as far as his knees to fill our trays. Good times…
I should note that when I say the “hull” of Long Beach, it was exactly that: the superstructure and everything else had already been stripped from her.
Cool.
A sad day. So named for my grandfather’s congressional district, Christened (sponsored) by my grandmother. Many thanks and much respect to those who served on and with her.
I served in the Marine Detachment on USS Long Beach from September 1984 to January 1985, when she went into the yards at Bremerton. She was my choice of assignment for sea duty and I enjoyed my time on her.
I saw her a couple of years ago back sitting by my other ship, the USS Ranger, which is destined to be a museum near my hometown.
Its sad that she’s going to be scrapped, but I have my memories and some pictures. In the end that’s what counts.
Whenever I see one of those magnificent, awe-inspiring ships, I think of the thought, ingenuity and work that went into their construction.
Can you imagine how thriled a distent future generation would be if, instead of dismantling it, it was left intact and suck somewhere to be discovered by that future generation? By comparison, a Roman galley or a Viking ship would look like Tom Sawyer’s primitive, wooden raft.
After all else turns to dust, this country’s enduring legacy will be the fine warships that it built.
But if immoral Liberals get their way, academics (aka, psuedo intellectuals) will discourage the study of naval architecture in universties and Congress will close shipyards.
(Yeah, I know, immoral and Liberal is redundant.)
No. 16 Brian:
Thanks, I like your comment, especially your use of concepts and their definitions .
Oops @ #15, 4th line, 5th word should
be sunk, [not] suck. Sorry ’bout that.
DR_BRETT @ #17 – Nice of you to say so, sir.
They really are majestic, don’t you think?
I once watched enthralled as a carrier and
its escorts crashed through the waves in a
squall, and I swear, I could almost hear the
music of “Victory At Sea” playing nearby. 🙂
The strength, power and prestige that they project is awesome.
BTW, On that same occasion, I saw flying saucers. True story.
(You know, flying saucers, flying cups, flying plates?)) 🙂
No. 19:
Undeniable Majesty, and “VICTORY AT SEA” is, what television can be at best (music) .
No. 20:
The prestige comes especially, from their proper moral function, and that purpose creates an awesome result for those who understand the elements concerned.
As I was not aboard, I missed seeing the flying crockery .
As the Japanese learned the hard way, only a fool or
a moron or a madman would fuck with the U. S. Navy.
@ #21 – What was of particular interest to me in that photograph was the huge, ungainly size of that ship’s superstructure.
I would suppose that, with high winds buffeting that big superstructure in rough seas, there would be an increased risk that that ship might capsize, unless, UNLESS that ship has stabilizer fins below its water line or some other stabilizing device to offset the preponderous weight of what are presumably all of the electronics which are crammed into that superstructure, instead of being distributed evenly throughout the rest of that ship to make it more aerodynamic.
This will warrant investigation, if only to satisfy my curiosity. If you have any helpful insights, I’d like to read them. 🙂