USS Little Rock (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. 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 participated in Operation Dawn Patrol 68 (29 April-10 May). Little Rock primary role was AAW and ASW support for two amphibious squadrons, TG 503.1 and TG 503.2. Shangri-La (CVA-38) provided aircraft for both Strike and Combat Air Patrol (CAP) and Italian and British forces also participated. At the completion of the exercise, the cruiser steamed to Athens (11-14 May), then to Naples (15-17 May), before returning to Gaeta. While in port, she underwent an operational readiness inspection. The ship departed Gaeta on 17 June, conducting type training in the Ionian and Tyrrhenian Seas until 22 June. She participated in the Sixth Fleet's 20th anniversary commemoration of the fleet's founding on 25 June, and then spent a time at Gaeta (26 June-9 July). Departing her homeport, she participated in a submarine opposed transit exercise on 10 July, and was visited by Secretary of the Navy Paul R. Ignatius on 10–11 July. After being back at Gaeta (13-22 July), Little Rock got underway on 23 July, and visited Valencia, Spain (25-29 July) and Palma, Mallorca, Spain (30 July-3 August), before returning to Gaeta, on 5 August. The ship participated in the Sixth Fleet change of command at Naples, on 14 August, and after a return to Gaeta (15-18 August), she got underway to participate in Exercise Deep Furrow 68 as part of TG 502.1 (17-23 August).

Departing Gaeta on 4 January 1969, Little Rock participated in PHIBLEX 8-69, an exercise for the Amphibious Task Force to conduct an opposed transit and assault landing at Capo Teulada, Sardinia. Little Rock operated as a surface raider, simulating a Soviet Sverdlov-class cruiser conducting simulated surface attacks on the Amphibious Task Force until 8 January. Later, she became a part of the friendly forces, entered the Amphibious Objective Area and conducted Naval Gunfire Support (NGFS), in support of the Amphibious Assault. Little Rock was detached late on 8 January, for transit to Taranto, for a port visit, (10-13 January). Underway again, she shifted to Villefranche (15-18 January), and then back to Gaeta on 19 January. The flagship again took leave of Gaeta on 2 March, to join TF 60 in the Ionian Sea, for participation in Exercise National Week II. Affecting her rendezvous on 3 March, the flagship defended the task force from air and surface attacks, "while maintaining a sustained anti-submarine posture. She detached late on 5 March, to proceed to Souda Bay, in order that ComSixthFlt could visit the naval base there. Departing Souda Bay, the following day, the flagship steamed for Gaeta, conducting Engineering Casualty Control Exercises en route, arriving on 8 March. the first time a U.S. Navy ship commissioned alongside her namesake.

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File:USS Little Rock (CL-92) Valparaiso 1946.jpg|Little Rock as light cruiser CL-92 at Valparaiso, 1946

File:USS Little Rock (CLG-4) fires a RIM-8 Talos missile on 4 May 1961 (NH 98953).jpg|Little Rock firing a RIM-8 Talos in 1961

File:USS Liberty (AGTR-5) with USS Little Rock (CLG-4) 1967.jpg|Little Rock standing by the stricken , June 1967

File:USS Little Rock (CLG-4) Mediterranean Sea 1974.jpg|Little Rock in the Mediterranean Sea, 1974

File:Foredeck of USS Little Rock (CLG-4) on 5 June 1975 (NH 98966).jpg|Little Rock in the Suez Canal, 5 June 1975

File:U.S.S. Little Rock.jpg|Little Rock at the Buffalo Naval & Military Park, Buffalo, New York

File:U.S.S. Little Rock, Buffalo New York - anothersaab.jpg|Little Rock at the Buffalo Naval & Military Park, Buffalo, New York

File:RIM-8 Talos conveyor in the USS Little Rock.jpg|RIM-8 Talos missile loading conveyor aboard the ship

File:RIM-8 Talos magazine racks in the USS Little Rock.jpg|RIM-8 Talos magazine racks in the ship

File:USS Little Rocks.jpg|Little Rock alongside the littoral combat ship of the same name

File:USS Little Rock CG-4 Officer Barber Shop.jpg|alt=|Little Rock officer's barber shop, November 2021

File:Uss Little Rock lower engine room.jpg|alt=|Lower engine room Little Rock, November 2021

File:Photo of USS Little Rock CL92 Cramp Shipbuilding Plaque..jpg|Photo of USS Little Rock CL-92 Cramp Shipbuilding Plaque.

File:USS Little Rock on 06 March 2023 80 years after her keel was laid..jpg|Stern of the USS Little Rock CG-4 on 6 March 2023. 80 years earlier her keel was laid down in ceremony on Saturday 6 March 1943.

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References

Bibliography

  • USS Little Rock Association
  • USS Little Rock Photos on board the guided missile cruiser USS Little Rock in Buffalo, NY