| The fifth Arkansas (CGN-41) was laid down on 17 January
1977 at Newport News, Virginia, by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry
Dock Co.; launched on 21 October 1987; sponsored by Mrs. Dale Bumpers, the
wife of United States Senator Dale Bumpers, of Arkansas; and commissioned
on 18 October 1980, Capt. Dennis S. Read in command. |
| The Guided-missile cruiser spent the four months following her
commissioning in the vicinity of Hampton Roads, Virginia, clearing up details
associated with her acceptance by the Navy and preparing for her shakedown
cruise. Late in February 1981, she made a brief round-trip voyage to Puerto
Rico and back and then resumed preparations for shakedown training. In March,
she completed contract trials and conducted a public relations call at Port
Everglades, Florida. April brought a series of underway qualifications and
certifications. On 28 April, Arkansas departed Norfolk to carry out
shakedown training in the West Indies. That cruise included more tests and
trials, port visits to several Caribbean Islands and a swing south to call
at Rio de Janeiro and Recife in Brazil. The warship returned to Norfolk on
25 June and began post-shakedown availability at the Newport News Shipbuilding
Co. six days later. Arkansas completed repairs on 15 December and
put to sea for three days of trials before returning to port where holiday
routine occupied what little remained of 1981. |
| The warship did not get underway again until three weeks into
1982. She put to sea on 22 January and shaped a course south to Key West,
Florida, where she underwent explosive shock test. In the intervals between
the several tests, Arkansas visited Mayport and Port Everglades for
work on some of her equipment. Returning north at the beginning of March,
she entered the yard at the Newport News Shipbuilding Co. for two months
of post-shakedown repairs. The guided-missile cruiser conducted trials at
sea on 3 and 4 May and then returned to Newport News for another 11 days
to correct minor deficiencies. She arrived back in Norfolk on 20 May and,
the next day, commenced local operations out of her home port. Over the ensuing
four months, Arkansas carried out a schedule of training operations
conducted mostly off the Virginia capes. Two missions, however, took her
south to the West Indies. From 23 June to 16 July she voyaged to Guantanamo
Bay, Cuba, for refresher training. Between 24 September and 16 October, the
warship served as escort for Nimitz (CVN-68) during an operational
readiness exercise executed in the vicinity of Puerto Rico. |
| Upon her return to Norfolk in mid-October, Arkansas began
preparations for her first tour of duty with the 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean
Sea. The guided-missile cruiser embarked upon that assignment on 10 November
1982. She completed the transatlantic voyage on 30 November, then set out
across the Mediterranean bound for the coast of troubled Lebanon. She arrived
on station near Beirut on 6 December. Though Arkansas spent most of
her time supporting the multinational force ashore in its efforts to keep
peace in Lebanon, she left the eastern Mediterranean occasionally for port
calls and to participate in some of the 6th Fleet's freedom-of-navigation
maneuvers into the Gulf of Sidra off the coast of Libya. The warship completed
her final tour on station near Lebanon on 4 May 1983 and laid in a course
for Gibraltar. After a two-day visit to the "Rock," Arkansas got underway
for Norfolk on 10 May. |
| The guided-missile cruiser stood into her home port again at the
end of the third week in May. Norfolk, however, remained her home port only
for the duration of her post-deployment standdown period. On 8 July,
Arkansas began the long voyage to her new base of operations at Alameda,
California. Steaming by way of Port Everglades in Florida and Charlotte Amalie
in the Virgin Islands, she arrived in the Canal Zone on 21 July and transited
the Panama Canal on the 23d. From there, the warship headed north to Alameda,
reaching her destination on 31 July. Arkansas spent the next five
weeks at her new home port clearing up incidentals attendant to the shift
of bases and carried out nuclear propulsion safety training. |
| Normal operations at sea began again during the second week in
September and occupied the guided-missile cruiser for the remainder of 1983
and the first six weeks of 1984. Between 12 and 14 February 1984,
Arkansas made the passage from Alameda to Bremerton, Washington, where
she entered the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard for a three-month repair period.
The warship returned to Alameda in mid-May and readied herself for a deployment
that became a circumnavigation of the globe. On 1 June, Arkansas put
to sea on the first leg of her long voyage. En route to Hawaii, she participated
in the multinational exercise Operation "RIMPAC 84." She spent the latter
half of June conducting exercises in the Hawaiian islands then resumed the
voyage west on 2 July. Arkansas arrived at Subic Bay on 20 July and
remained in the PHilippines until the beginning of August. At that time,
she set out for HOng Kong where she visited during the period 6 to 10
August. |
| From there, Arkansas headed for the Indian Ocean. The guided
missile cruiser served almost three months in the Indian Ocean, Primarily
in that portion known as the Arabian sea where the protracted war between
Iraq and revolutionary Iran threatened to engulf their neighbors and perhaps
involve the superpowers as we3ll. On 1 November, Arkansas entered
the Red Sea on her way to the Suez Canal. She passed through the canal on
the 3d and, after an expeditious passage, stopped at Toulon, France, from
the 7th to the 12th. Returning to sea on the 12th, the warship shaped a course
through the Strait of Gibraltar and across the Atlantic. She rounded out
her circumnavigation with calls at the Azores, Barbados, and St. Thomas.
Arkansas transited the Panama Canal on 9 December and reached Alameda
on the 17th. |
| Post-deployment standdown kept her in port at Alameda through
the end of 1984 and into February 1985. Between 17 and 19 February,
Arkansas sailed north to Bremerton for a four-month restricted
availability during which she was armed with Tomahawk cruise missiles and
the Phalanx close-in air defense system. Back at Alameda on 25 June, the
guided-missile cruiser resumed training operations out of her home port soon
thereafter. The usual exercises, inspections and examinations kept her busy
through the summer and fall of 1985. On 7 December, the warship began
preparations for overseas movement. |
| The usual year-end holiday leave and upkeep period interrupted
her efforts to get ready for the upcoming deployment but the guided-missile
cruiser put to sea as scheduled on 15 January 1986. Again she participated
in exercises during the passage, stopped at Pearl Harbor, and spent only
a brief period of time in the western Pacific. By mid-March, after visits
to Subic Bay and Singapore, she made her way across the Indian Ocean to Karachi,
Pakistan. The guided-missile cruiser called at Karachi between 15 and 20
March then resumed her voyage to the Arabian Sea. Once more, Arkansas
patrolled the waters of the troubled Middle East. |
| Her sojourn in the Arabian Sea, however, lasted only until late
April. On the 29th and 30th, she transited the Suez Canal and headed for
another hot spot. During the month of May and June, Arkansas served
with Enterprise (CVN-65) and
Truxtun (CGN-35)
off the coast of Libya in the wake of the air strikes launched on that country
by the United States in reprisal for terrorist activity against Americans.
Arkansas left the Mediterranean at the end of June and shaped a course
for Australia. She stopped at Fremantle between 18 and 22 July and then headed
for Subic Bay where she laid over for two days at the end of the month. From
there, the warship headed for Pearl Harbor where she paused overnight on
8 and 9 August. She arrived back in her home port on 13 August.
Arkansas remained at Alameda until late September for the leave and
upkeep period that usually follows an extended tour of duty overseas. Early
in October the warship resumed local operations along the west coast. She
remained so occupied for the rest of 1986 |
| As of January 7, 1999, Arkansas was berthed at the Puget
Sound Naval Shipyard (NAVSHIPYD), Bremerton, Washington. Stricken from the
Naval Vessel Register on July 7, 1998 she is scheduled to be scrapped. |
Displacement, 9,473; Length 585'; Beam, 63', Draft, 30'6"; Speed
30+ knots; Complement, 473; Armament, two missile launchers, two 5", ASROC,
Standard missile, Tartar, LAMPS, six 15. 5" torpedo tubes |
|
buy
this book
