South Carolina (DLGN 37) - Naval Cruise Book

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LAUNLHI Mrs. J. Fred Buziwordt ciwrisfens The USS SOUTH CAROLINA KDLGN-373 i July 1972 cJfNewpor1' News Shipbuilding und Drydock Company.

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ND l 'SOURCES HULL 596 REEL LAID l2, lf70 Dliill 37'SOUTH UROLIIIA lunrtrlrt ll. leiviff EEL LAYING lllecenlber I9 0 Mrs. Margaret Middleton Rivers authenticating the keel of the USS SOUTH CAROLINA fDLGN-37? on I D ecember l970, ohservncl by Mr. C. L. Ackerman, President of Newport News Shipbuilding, With a beginning on a cold waterfront, a truly and fairly laid keel was the first step for USS SOUTH CAROLINA to become the fifth ship to bear the name. At Newport News Shipbuilding and Dryd0Cl4 Company on il December i970, the chain of events began forthe crew which would eventually man this nuclear guided missile frigate- To install and maintain two nuclear power plants, the engif1eeVin9 department studied, drilled, and molded themselves to a rigid scheduler From the initial fill of the reactors to the ORSE fOperational RSGCWV Safeguard Examl, the nuclear trained personnel f NUCS l m0l 'f0lned their readiness and very, very often worked extremely long hours. Nuclear powered propulsion is only part of SOUTH CAROl.lNA'5 uniqueness. installing and learning to operate two Tartar misSile systems, an antisubrnarine rocket system CASROCl: two 5'lnCll 54 caliber lightweight guns, four torpedo launchers and long Hinge Sonar equipment was a iob that demanded many long hours of not onlY 'he men of the shipyard,but the whole of Weapons Department,and evel'Y'fne in the Precommissioning Unit. During the period between keel l0Ylf19 and move aboard in September i974, thousands of hours were Spenl by future crew members learning the technical skills needed to 'Un the ship.

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11 November 1974 - delivery of USS SOUTH CAROLINA. C0 M SSRINING Preparing, continually preparing, the Precom crew thought that the day would never arrive. But finally, on 25 January l975, the ship ioined the Atlantic Fleet when it was commissioned at Norfolk, Virginia under a bright sun and the sound of cannon salutes. USS SUUTH CAROLINA The Prospective Commanding Officer A and Ship's Company request the honor of your presence at the commissioning of the United States Ship South Carolina KDLGN 37 2 at Pier Twelve Naval Station N orfolk, Virginia on Saturday, the twenty-fifth of January nineteen hundred and seventy-five at eleven o'cloclc R. S. V. P. fi Ut' JS f'0U,h L, ll, an 1