Galveston (CLG 3) - Naval Cruise Book

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The light cruiser GALVESTON was originally intended to fight in WW II. Work progressed on hull CL93 through the early 40 ' s before construction was stopped after the war ended.

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to San Diego early in February to redeploy two months later to the Mediterranean. Before then, however, there was a job to be done. Providing gunfire support along the coast of South Vietnam, GALVESTON aided major offensives by the South Korean Second Marine Brigade and the U.S. First Marine Division near DaNang. In round-the-clock operations GAL- VESTON fired over 4,000 rounds of ammu- nition in a two week period during November. Later in the deployment GALVESTON illus- trated her versatility as an electronics detec- tion and tracking unit in the Gulf of Tonkin where she successfully tested new equipment that provided the basis for fleet-wide installation. Hawaii, the Philippines, Japan and Hong Kong were included as ports-of-call before she returned to San Diego in February to prepare for the second leg of her cruise - the Mediterranean deployment. USS GALVESTON ' S keel was laid February 20, 1944, by the William Cramp Shipbuilding Company of Philadelphia. The ship was caught in the general demobilization plan following World War II, and did not become fully equipped until she became the Navy ' s first Talos ship nine years later. In the conversion to a guided missile cruiser GALVESTON re- tained two 6 gun turrets and three 5 mounts, giving her one of the most capable and versa- tile weapons systems in the surface Navy. She was commissioned and joined the fleet as CLG-3onMay 28, 1958.

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Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, 1958 In subsequent shakedown trials and re- fresher training near Norfolk and Guantanamo Bay Cuba, GALVESTON successfully fired the Talcs missile at sea for the first time in February, 1959, and in October she extended the anti-air warfare capability of the fleet by demonstrating that Talos could be transferred between ships at sea. The Talos guided missile, made under contract for the Navy by the missile section of the Bendi.x Aviation Corporation at Mish- awaka, Indiana, is at present the Navy ' s longest-range surface-to-air missile. It can destroy enemy aircraft at stratospheric altitudes, and has a range of more than 65 miles. The Talos has been called the best (anti-aircraft) missile in any arsenal in the world. During June and July, 1961, GALVESTON proved the capabilities of the Talos by break- ing several of her own missile success records and completed a salvo shot - two missiles 10 fired one second apart. iK