USS Bainbridge (CGN-25)

USS Bainbridge (CGN-25)

USS Bainbridge (CGN-25) in September 1962.
History
United States
Name:	Bainbridge
Namesake:	William Bainbridge
Ordered:	1 September 1958
Builder:	Bethlehem Steel, Quincy, Massachusetts
Laid down:	5 May 1959
Launched:	15 April 1961
Sponsored by:	Susan Bainbridge Goodale
Acquired:	28 September 1962
Commissioned:	6 October 1962
Decommissioned:	13 September 1996
Struck:	13 September 1996
Motto:	Mobility Endurance Versatility
Fate:	Recycled 30 October 1999
Notes:	Originally designated destroyer, re-designated Cruiser
Badge:
General characteristics
Class and type:	Heavily modified nuclear version of the Leahy-class cruiser
Displacement:	9100 tons
Length:	172.1 m (565 ft)
Beam:	17.6 m (58 ft)
Draft:	3.2 m (10 ft)
Propulsion:	60,000 shp; 2 G.E. Reactors (D2G), Geared Turbines, 2 screws
Speed:	34 kn (63 km/h; 39 mph)
Range:	Unlimited
Complement:	475
Sensors and processing systems:	1 AN/SPS-10 surface search RADAR AN/SPS-37 search RADAR AN/SPS-52 3D air search RADAR 4 AN/SPG-55 Terrier fire control RADAR AN/SQS-26 SONAR
Armament:	2 Terrier SAM launchers (80 missiles) -Later upgraded to carry SM-2 Standard, 2 × 3-inch/50 (later removed for Harpoon installation) MK 116 ASROC Launcher (8 missiles), 6 × 12.75 in (324 mm) torpedo tubes, 8 Harpoon SSM, -Later added 8 × BGM-109 Tomahawk in two armored box launchers, -Later added 2 × Phalanx CIWS

USS Bainbridge (DLGN-25/CGN-25) was a nuclear-powered guided missile cruiser in the United States Navy, the only ship of her class. Named in honor of Commodore William Bainbridge, she was the fourth US Navy ship to bear the name. With her original hull classification symbol of DLGN (nuclear-powered guided missile destroyer leader, called a "frigate" at the time), she was the first nuclear-powered destroyer-type ship in the US Navy, and shared her name with the lead ship of the first US Navy destroyer class, the Bainbridge-class destroyers.

Bainbridge was re-designated as a guided missile cruiser in 1975. She was commissioned in 1962, and served for over 30 years in the Atlantic, Pacific, Mediterranean, and Middle East before being decommissioned in 1996.

Bainbridge was designed and built by Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation at Fore River Shipyard at Quincy, Massachusetts. Commissioned in October 1962, she shook down off the East Coast and in the Caribbean area until February 1963, when she began her first Mediterranean deployment. This included demonstrations of her long-range high-speed dash capabilities and operations with the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Enterprise. Bainbridge returned to the Mediterranean Sea in May 1964, this time joining Enterprise and the guided missile cruiser Long Beach to form the all-nuclear-powered Task Force 1. At the end of July, the three ships began Operation "Sea Orbit", a two-month unrefueled cruise around the world.