Large Blueprint of the Nuclear Powered Guided Missile Cruiser USS Long Beach CG 9

The blueprint, which provides an overhead view of the ship, is dated May 11, 1961. It measures approximately 30 inches wide by 120 inches long. The blueprint shows fold lines but it is in very good condition. USS Long Beach (CLGN-160/CGN-160/CGN-9) was a nuclear-powered guided missile cruiser in the United States Navy and the world’s first nuclear-powered surface combatant. Long Beach was laid down 2 December 1957, launched 14 July 1959 and commissioned 9 September 1961 under the command of then-Captain Eugene Parks Wilkinson, who previously served as the first commanding officer of the world’s first nuclear-powered vessel, the submarine USS Nautilus (SSN-571). She deployed to Vietnam during the Vietnam War, where she would serve at length, being awarded the Vietnam Service Medal with 6 campaign stars. The ship also served numerous times in the Western Pacific, Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf. By the 1990s, nuclear power was deemed too expensive to use on surface ships smaller than an aircraft carrier in view of defense budget cutbacks after the end of the Cold War. Long Beach was decommissioned on 1 May 1995 instead of receiving her third nuclear refueling and proposed upgrade. After removal of the nuclear fuel, superstructure, and sections of the bow and stern, the hull segment containing the reactor and machinery spaces was moored at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and sold for scrapping.