Chicago (CG 11) - Naval Cruise Book

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EXECUTIVE OFFICER COMMANDER HER ERT E. REICI-BERT

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' E EET VE F 18 January 1965 to 6 June 1966 COMMANDER HDLL S T. RODGERS i 1 V 44

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-1 i 2 3 i 5-Q my :mums , , ,ul -use xwmmvx. if :ls 5: it I 'B I, 54 .5 -,QQ Jr, .- -l 1 ,, -anna. ,f if 2, -.,-- - : f 1 a. A-41:1 ff E' r'- i T. EE' -VT A 'T -1 -rf -24 'J' fa if :P E ig s- '4 5? iss? I consider it a great honor to have been selected editor of this cruise-book, not only because it is the first such book for the CG-11, but, more important. because it represents the culmination of the many Years Of 131311111118 the work that went into the preparation of CHICAGO for this voyage. When I first saw the CHICAGO at Hunter's Point in February 1964, she was more red lead than haze gray. The nucleus crew was hard at work and the yard workers were striving to meet a commissioning date. PaSS2geW-EWS were cluttered with gear yet to be installed. Unconnected wires hung loose from every overhead. Many bulkhe-ads had Yet to be set in place. The weapons and CIC equipment, in its disarray, looked anything but sophisticated. In these days, most people disaffectionately referred to the CHICAGO as Building 11. I was a little disappointed, as green Ensigns tend to be, but, as the weeks passed, the disjoined mem- bers began to take their place and the CHICAGO was fast approaching her final form, The remainder ofthe 1200 man crew arrived and the ship was coming to lifeg however, the road ahead was still a long one and mostly uphill. The pace in a shipyard is exhausting and seldom rewarding. It seemed as if the end would never come into sight, but, on 2 May 1964, a sparkling new guided missile cruiser was placed in commission as USS CHICAGO QCG-115. This was not the end, but rather the beginning of a long and tedious process of making the ship ready for sea. Some skeptics did not believe that the ship, with her prominent superstructure, would float in an upright position or-that the twenty year old engineering plant could sufficiently push the 18000 ton load at operational speeds. Both theories were immediately dis- proved when CHICAGO completed her first trial run at speeds exceeding thirty knots, I ' i I Most of the new equipment was foreignto us and for the first few months we sailed by the seat of our pants, but we learned quickly. We knew we hada fine vessel and we were out to prove it. Eleven months after commission- ing, CHICAGO was declared readyfor sea in all respects. The ship had qualified in every rigorous trial. Our weapons systems are the best. We set records yet to be broken. We excelled in three operational exercises and received a trophy as best missile ship in Exercise Gray Ghost. There is always a touch of sadness in leaving home for a long deployment, but as we sailed out of San Diego Bay we carried with us the work and pride of thousands of men and the knowledge that the difficult, early days had paid off a hundred-fold. It was an especially thrilling day for the many plankowners still on board. D We sailed forth with a confidence in ourselves and our ship. We will do the job - do it well - and bring even more glory tothe previous CHICAGOS, ourselves and the tra- ditions of the United States Navy. GEORGE J LAPPAN EDITOR IN CHIEF