Long Beach (CGN 9) - Naval Cruise Book

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The ,Marine Detachment aboard has a variegx of important functions to per- form, and in between, finds time for a regular schedule of physical training, far left. Below, the marines make up the nucleus of the Long Beach landing pargz, and train those white hats who are members of it in small arms fire. Right, whether its hoisting the colors or lbarticzloating in other honors and ceremonies, the Detachment is al- ways squared away. E i

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4' ima, 'Nw-. Marine Detachment Personnel of the Marine Detachment aboard, while probably not originally envisioning sea duty when they joined the Corps, are nevertheless justly proud of their heritage as usea-going marines? Marine Detachments afloat date back to the earliest days of American history. As early as 1740 marines were involved in combat aboard vessels in the British West Indies, where they fought with the British Royal Navy. The Coloni- al Marines, as they were known in 1775, served on American ships and participated in numerous overseas expeditions. The first written record of American marines was included in the payrolls of the American vessel Enterprise in 1775. When the Continental Marine Corps was founded on November 10 of that year, one of the prerequi- sites for a marine to be selected was that he be a good seaman or so acquainted with marine affairs as to be able to serve to advantage at sea. C GN-919 Marines conduct their own training 30 aboard, including two physical training periods daily at sea and one while in port. The training of the ship's two-platoon landing party is a ma- jor responsibility of the Detachment, who make up the nucleus of it. This force must be ready at any time to Hhit the beacha' if upon the develop- ment of an international crisis, U. S. forces are summoned to protect or evacuate U. S. citizens or even take offensive action. Other duties of the Marines include manning the 53' 38 battery, looking after the internal secu- rity of the ship and the security of its nuclear weapons when embarked, and participating in honors and ceremonies. It is indeed a tribute to the men of the Detach- ment presently embarked that they can readily engage in the friendly ribbing which has taken place between Marines and Hwhite hats over the generations of their existence, maintain their dignity and famed esprit de corps, and still ex- hibit such a high degree of cooperation and amicability with ship 's company. . V rrfrwf ,' ' fw- H . . .

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er : I l 71515 i -4 u . pn ifft fF'7'1'Wf'fZ'Ei317g7':-...-ug 2j:'Tf. '- ' 1.11.-1 ..Q..Q.1..--,r.-.IT-T 'mu--Ah-if-Eff' 'fi,.,..L gg-, - '- '! 5 ng ! -- - ... 4-1 Engineering Department Nuclear power is the greatest event in the history of naval propulsion, not for the speed it provides, but for the endurance it allows. Since the time of sailing vessels, when the crew's food and water supply were the critical factors in a ship's ability to remain at sea, fuel requirements have limited the range of surface craft. Now, with the practical application of nuclear power, Long Beach and other vessels so equipped can roam the oceans almost endlessly. Once again the limiting factor has become the crew's food supply! Ancient sailing ships, as do modern ones so propelled, depended for their speed on the winds, the ability of their crews to utilize these winds, and the hull characteristics. Long Beach can comfortably steam at more than 25 knots, which would be equivalent to 600 nautical miles per 24-hour period of steady cruising. Long Beach could cruise at such a speed indefinitely. Al- though many World War II ships were construct- ed to steam at this or higher speeds - even Ger- many's mighty Bismarck at the start of that conflict could make 720 nautical miles per day - they could not maintain high speeds for more than a few days, due to demands for fuel. Cruising speed had gradually increased since the steam-powered vessels of Civil War days, but even as the transition was taking place in 1860, one ship, the famous Warrior, bridging the gap between old and new propulsion techni- ques, could make 312 nautical miles per 24 hours using her sails compared to 336 under power. Earlier in history, Wciory, Nelson's ufastn flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, was capable of only 10 knots, that compares exactly in speed to the Venetian galleys which fought at the Battle of Lepanto in 1571. Most of the mighty sailing ships which cruised the seas in the interim made seven to nine knots. The globe-circling cruise of the Long Beach - Enterprise - Bainbridge Task Group proves con- clusively the endurance capabilities of naval vessels utilizing nuclear propulsion, The Atomic Agen is sometimes dated to the 32 initial detonations of the atom bomb in 1945, although meaningful research pre-dates this by nearly a decade. In 1937 engineers from West- inghouse Electric Corporation built the first in- dustrial atom smasher and began probing the mysteries of this virtually unexplored field. Fission was discovered in 1939, and that same year the United States Navy took an interest in the potentials of propelling its vessels utilizing this process. Scientists foresaw that fission, suc- cessfully sustained and controlled, might provide ships with the ability to steam almost indefinitely without refueling. A great deal of wartime re- search was concentrated in areas of science which were already well-developed, and therefore might be refined for practical applications in a short space of time. Nuclear energy for propulsion, therefore, made little progress during the next few years. In 1946, the Manhattan District, developers of the atomic bomb, initiated a project known as the 4'Daniels Power Pilef' which was concerned with development and construction of a small experimental nuclear-power plant. Technical representatives of the Navy were among those invited to participate in the project. In Septem- ber, 1947, following the completion of the pre- liminary study, the Atomic Energy Commission Qwhich had superceded the Manhattan District in the interim Q, decided that further work on this type of reactor should be halted pending an ex- tensive survey of alternate types. Shortly there- after, acting on requests from Captain C now Vice Admiralj Rickover's Navy representatives, the initial study of the application of a high pres- sure, water-cooled reactor for a submarine was undertaken. Two months later the N avy Depart- ment requested the Atomic Energy Commission to initiate action for the Nearly development, de- sign, and constructionn of a suitable reactor for a submarine power-plant. Two prototype reactors were designed and constructed in the next few years - a land-based Mark I and the power-plant of submarine Naaiilas, the Mark II. The former was activated first, becoming Hradioactively critical on