Long Beach (CGN 9) - Naval Cruise Book

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1, St W-News T U E S D A Y YQ i' ' ff'TT T TT'TS 1 'Ee if as t sss f NQXQQ N l i' b g ' k N , L F K K ,x S Mt X g Wi, xx - t -,ke M A R C H 2 8 1 9 7 2 T Qw . as s s s l 7 Nl The vvaiting vvas over. The previous September LONG A BEACH had completed an extensive overhaul and re- fueling at lVlare Island. The ensuing months vvere 5 filled vvith weekly operations for testing and training. Q Three weeks of Refresher Training complete in Janu ary, LONG BEACH vvas ready for the next cruise. Everyone looked forward to the deployment with dif- ferent feelings. For some, it meant visits to a foreign country for the first time - exotic ports in the orient. For others it vvas excruiating to leave loved ones, vvhether for the first time or yet another. Then there vvere the old salts vvho had made the trip many times before. For them, another star on the campaign ribbon. One thought, hovvever, was common to us all. If VVESTPAC is the destination, its a great feeling to make it on the finest ship in the fleet with the best trained most qualified professionals there are. ln short, vve're LONG BEACH, vve're the best there is - vve proved it.

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WESTPAC '72 This Nuclear powered guided missile cruiser departed Long Beach, California on 28 lVlarch, 1972 for her fourth deploy- ment with the Seventh Fleet in the Gulf of Tonkin. The routine of our scheduled transit across the Pacific changed abruptly when North Vietnamese forces executed the Spring lnvasion of the Republic of Vietnam. After a brief stopover in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, Pacific Fleet Head- quarters passed the word to LONG BEACH and she sped for the Gulf of Tonkin. Free from fuel considerations, LONG BEACH's nuclear reactors drove us westward at top speed. We arrived in the Gulf on 13 April at a dead run - a pace we maintained during combat operations for the ensu- ing eight months. The 240 day stint with the Seventh fleet was characterized by unpredictable tactical conditions with an overall intense tempo of operations. LONG BEACH's dual mission of air iff, ti -- - 35:1-ff-3 E? warfare and SAR lSearch and Flescuel left little time to re- lax. We were in the Gulf only a few days when Hanoi and Haiphong were first hit by air strikes. The reliability of the power plant enabled LONG BEACH to spend a very high percentage of our time deployed in the combat zone. High speed transits coupled with freedom from fuel replenishments added valuable days to our time on station. Almost 9!10 of the time away from home port was spent underway. - Q52 ' -L V- 'liflje-Lif 1 :E Y l l i X l r i i l l l l l l l l i l l l l 5, l i l l l l