USS Little Rock (hull numbers: CL-92/CLG-4/CG-4) is a -class light cruiser and one of 27 completed for the United States Navy during or shortly after World War II. She is one of six to be converted to guided missile cruisers and the first US Navy ship to be named for Little Rock, Arkansas. Commissioned in mid-1945, she was completed too late to see combat duty during World War II and was retired post-war, becoming part of the Atlantic Reserve Fleet in 1949.
In the late 1950s, she was converted to a guided-missile cruiser, removing her aft six-inch and five-inch guns to accommodate the Talos missile system. Like three other of her sister Cleveland ships converted to missile ships, she was also extensively modified forward to become a flagship. This involved removal of most of her forward armament to allow for an enlarged superstructure and was recommissioned in 1960 as CLG-4 (redesignated CG-4 in 1975). In this configuration, she served in the Mediterranean, often as the Sixth Fleet flagship.
She decommissioned for the final time in 1976 and is now a museum ship, located in Buffalo, New York. She is the last surviving Cleveland-class cruiser.
Construction and commissioning Little Rock was laid down by William Cramp & Sons Shipbuilding Company, Philadelphia, 6 March 1943; launched 27 August 1944, sponsored by Mrs Sam Wassell and commissioned 17 June 1945.
Service history
Cleveland Class Light Cruiser CL-92 (1945-1949) Little Rock departed Philadelphia on 13 July 1945, and sailed via Naval Operating Base Norfolk, Portsmouth, Va., for her shakedown training cruise to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. She returned to Philadelphia, on 30 August for post-shakedown repairs until 26 September, when she commenced local operations out of Newport, R.I., for the training of the prospective crew of the aircraft carrier Princeton (CV-37). On 21 October 1945, Little Rock departed Newport, for a cruise to South America, steaming via San Juan, P.R., to arrive at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on 10 November 1945. She then called at the ports of Chile, including Concepcion Bay; thence to Callao, Peru; and Santa Elena, Ecuador. She completed the transit of the Panama Canal (11-15 March) and after a visit to Cartagena, Colombia (16-18 March), returned to Norfolk on 23 March 1946.
Little Rock sailed on 19 April 1946 for maneuvers with units of the Eighth Fleet in the Caribbean and returned to Philadelphia, on 12 May for repairs. Little Rock then departed on 4 June 1946, for an extended cruise in European waters. On 11 June, she arrived at Plymouth, England. After a voyage to Gibraltar, she visited ports around northern Europe. She returned to Plymouth on 31 July, and then visited Lisbon, Portugal, before arrival at the British Crown Colony of Gibraltar, on 22 August, to commence a tour of the Mediterranean. She called at Naples, Italy (27 August-3 September); Piraeus, Greece; Valletta, Malta; and Bone, Algeria. She departed Valletta, on 17 September, and returned to Norfolk, on 27 September 1946. From November 21–27, 1946, was en route to Davis Strait as part of Task Group 20.2.USS Missouri Association Between 27 November and 4 December, she participated in cold-weather exercises, between Greenland and Baffin Island, as part of Task Group 20.2.
During the deployment, she was firing 5-inch star shells off the port side of Missouri for illumination, when there was a misfire. As the gunner began to point the barrel toward the water, as per standard procedure, the round cooked-off, (thermally induced firing) and struck Missouri on the signal bridge, killing Coxswain Robert Fountain and starting a fire involving an acetylene tank lashed to the railings. Missouri did not return to Norfolk until 13 December 1946.
Little Rock conducted local operations at Norfolk until 21 November 1946, and after operations with Missouri (BB-63) to Argentia, Newfoundland, returned to New York on 13 December 1946. She commenced local operations at Newport, on 9 January 1947, then steamed to Charleston, S.C., arriving on 8 February. She embarked Naval Reservists here for a training cruise, departing 10 February for San Juan. She debarked her reservists at Charleston, on 22 February, and sailed that same day for New York, arriving on 25 February 1947.
Little Rock underwent overhaul in the New York Naval Shipyard, Brooklyn, N.Y., until 3 July 1947. After local training operations at Newport, she departed Boston on 22 July for a training cruise to Guantanamo Bay, returning to Newport for further local operations on 30 August 1947.She sailed for the Mediterranean on 10 November, and arrived at Gibraltar to commence operations with the Sixth Fleet on 20 November 1947. During this tour, she visited such ports as Augusta Bay, Naples and Tangiers. During this tour while in Greece, Little Rock participated in helping to suppress communist attempts to take over the country. Upon leaving Greece, Little Rock was sent to Palestine to help re-establish stability after the bombing of the King David Hotel. To enforce this Captain Mee of the Little Rock ordered the ship close to shore and then trained all turrets and 6 in guns on Tel Avia as a deterrent against more attacks against the British and Allies. Afterwards, Little Rock was ordered to Gibraltar, and then departed on 2 March returning to Newport on 11 March 1948. Little Rock actions during her latest cruise constituted one of the first Cold War Naval Actions against communist forces in Europe as well as provided US support and intervention for the yet new nation of Israel.
Little Rock conducted operations while based at Newport until 13 September 1948. During this time she made four training cruises to the respective ports of Port-au-Prince, Haiti; San Juan Quebec, Canada and St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands (30 July-15 August). On 13 September 1948, she departed Newport for another tour in the Mediterranean, arriving at Gibraltar on 23 September. During this tour, she again visited the principal ports of the Mediterranean and took part in maneuvers with units of the Sixth Fleet in the operating areas off Malta and Crete. She departed Gibraltar on 14 January 1949, and arrived at Newport on 23 January 1949. She arrived at the Naval Ammunition Depot, Earle, N.J., on 4 February, and after unloading ammunition, entered the New York Naval Shipyard for pre-inactivation overhaul on 8 February 1949. She was placed out of commission on 24 June 1949 and joined the Atlantic Reserve Fleet at New York.
Service as Galveston-class guided missile cruiser CLG-4/CG-4 (1957-1976) Little Rock arrived at the yard of the New York Shipbuilding Corporation, Camden, N.J., on 13 January 1957, which began conversion of the ship to a guided missile light cruiser on 30 January 1957. Change in classification and hull number from CL-92 to CLG-4 became effective on 23 May 1957. As converted, Little Rock had a full-load displacement of 15,142 tons and was configured as a fleet flagship. New weapon control devices and radars directed her missile battery. Little Rock was delivered to the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard on 6 May 1960, where she was commissioned on 3 June 1960, Capt. Jewett O Phillips Jr. in command. Sen. J. William Fulbright (D-Ark) delivered the address at the commissioning ceremony, attended by 2,000 people.
Little Rock remained in Philadelphia until 25 July 1960, when she had sea trials off of Virginia. Her tests completed, Little Rock sailed for Guantanamo Bay, arriving there on 5 September to begin shakedown training. She also visited Port-au-Prince (17-19 September). She left Guantanamo Bay on 15 October, to proceed to the missile firing range off the coast of Puerto Rico. Little Rock also visited St. Thomas (21-23 October). She returned to the Philadelphia Navy Yard, and spent two months at Philadelphia undergoing post-shakedown outfitting.
Little Rock got underway for Norfolk, on 4 January 1961, and left on 9 January 1961, to participate in Atlantic Fleet Exercise l-61, which lasted until 20 January. Departing Philadelphia, on 9 February 1961, Little Rock sailed for her first European cruise in her new role. Upon her arrival in the Mediterranean, she was designated flagship for Commander, Cruiser Division Four (ComCruDiv4). She was relieved by as flagship in August 1961, and returned to the U.S., at Naval Operating Base, Norfolk, Va. in September. A month later, she was designated the flagship for Second Fleet.
Little Rock departed for Bayonne, N.J., on 12 February 1962, and then to Nassau, Bahamas. This was her last at-sea period before entering the Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth, Va., on 15 March, and received a new bow-mounted sonar installation and electronic detection equipment.
The cruiser steamed for the Mediterranean on 1 May 1963, for another deployment with the Sixth Fleet. She relieved as fleet flagship on 11 May. During her eight-month deployment, she visited 17 ports in eight different countries. She was relieved by Springfield on 15 December, at Rota, Spain and returned to her homeport at Norfolk, on 24 December, in time for the crew to celebrate Christmas. Leave and maintenance occupied the next two months.
The cruiser steamed up the Chesapeake Bay from Norfolk, on 2 June 1963, to the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Md. After embarking midshipmen for their summer cruise, she steamed into the North Atlantic on 4 June, and returned to Norfolk on 24 July. Through the fall, she carried out local operations and on 28 November, she departed Norfolk, bound for missile trials in the Caribbean. She rejoined the Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean, on 14 December, where she relieved . During this 1965 deployment, she visited 13 ports in six countries. During this assignment, she participated in Operation Fairgame, cooperating with ships of the French Navy and other Sixth Fleet units. Little Rock was relieved by on 2 June, and began her return to Norfolk, arriving on 10 June. Ten days later, on 20 June, Vice Adm. Kleber S. Masterson broke his flag on board Little Rock as Commander, Second Fleet and NATO Striking Force, Atlantic. She departed on 24 August, for a six-week training exercise in the North Atlantic, during which she visited ports in Europe. Back at Norfolk on 7 October, Little Rock spent the remainder of 1965, in local operations and maintenance. While operating in the Caribbean, on 18 November 1965, Little Rock was ordered to the waters off Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, during the uncertainty and unrest in that country after the assassination of the Dominican president, Rafael Leónidas Trujillo.
Little Rock entered Norfolk Naval Shipyard on 18 January 1966 for an extensive overhaul. Upon the completion in late September, Little Rock returned to the Norfolk Naval Base. During the months of October and November 1966, the ship training and guided missile trials in the waters off Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and afterward, she returned to Norfolk. Departing on 16 January, she steamed for Rota, Spain, and there she relieved Springfield as Sixth Fleet flagship.