USS Arkansas (CGN-41)

USS Arkansas (CGN-41)
History
United States
Name:	Arkansas
Namesake:	State of Arkansas
Ordered:	31 January 1975
Builder:	Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company
Laid down:	17 January 1977
Launched:	21 October 1978
Sponsored by:	Mrs. Dale Bumpers
Acquired:	29 September 1980
Commissioned:	18 October 1980
Decommissioned:	7 July 1998
Struck:	7 July 1998
Motto:	"Defender of Opportunity"
Fate:	Disposed of by the Ship-Submarine Recycling Program, completed on 1 November 1999
Badge:
General characteristics
Class and type:	Virginia-class cruiser
Displacement:	9,473 short tons
Length:	585 ft (178 m)
Beam:	63 ft (19 m)
Draft:	30.5 ft (9.3 m)
Speed:	30+ knots
Range:	Nuclear
Complement:	473 officers and enlisted men
Sensors and processing systems:	AN/SPS-48 3-D air-search radar AN/SPS-49 2-D air-search radar AN/SPS-55 Surface-search radar AN/SPQ-9 Fire-control radar AN/SPG-60D Fire-control radar AN/SPG-51 Missile fire-control radar
Electronic warfare & decoys:	AN/SLQ-32 Mark 36 SRBOC passive chaff launchers
Armament:	Two Mk 26 surface-to-air-missile launchers for Standard Missiles SM-2MR surface-to-air-missiles, or as a sideline, ASROC missiles (held in magazines with a total of 68 missiles) Two Mk-141 Harpoon missile launchers Two armored box launchers for Tomahawk missiles Two triple mounts for Mk 46 torpedoes Two 5-inch, 54 calibre Mk 45 lightweight naval guns Two Phalanx CIWS for self-defense against antiship missiles
Armor:	none
Aircraft carried:	none

The cruiser USS Arkansas (CGN-41) was a Virginia-class nuclear-propelled guided-missile cruiser of the U.S. Navy. She was in commission (in active service) from October 1980 through July 1998. Her primary missions were in defending aircraft carrier task forces in air defense (AAW) and antisubmarine warfare (ASW) by using her guided missiles, radar systems, and sonar systems. Since Arkansas had the high speed and unlimited range provided by her nuclear reactors, she usually escorted the nuclear-powered aircraft carriers of the U.S. Navy.

With her Harpoon antiship missiles, Tomahawk missiles, and two 5-inch naval guns, USS Arkansas was also capable of attacking enemy surface ships, carrying out shore bombardments, and attacking land targets over 2,000 kilometers inland (with her Tomahawk cruise missiles in the latter case).

For her short-range self-defense, especially for defense against enemy antiship missiles, Arkansas carried two automated Phalanx radar-directed 20-millimeter rapid-fire guns. Also, her two 5-inch rapid-fire naval guns had some capability for antiaircraft defense. Her six torpedo tubes, which fired Mk 46 lightweight torpedoes, were for close-in, last-ditch defense against enemy submarines that had evaded her outer defense line of ASROC missiles, and the long-range ASW aircraft of her task force.

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