USS California (CGN-36)

USS California (CGN-36)
History
United States
Name:	USS California
Namesake:	State of California
Ordered:	13 June 1968
Builder:	Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, Newport News, Virginia
Laid down:	23 January 1970
Launched:	22 September 1971
Sponsored by:	Pat Nixon
Acquired:	7 February 1974
Commissioned:	16 February 1974
Decommissioned:	9 July 1999
Struck:	9 July 1999
Nickname(s):	"Golden Grizzly"
Fate:	Nuclear ship recycling, 12 May 2000
Badge:
General characteristics
Class and type:	California-class cruiser
Displacement:	10,643 long tons (10,814 t) light 11,548 long tons (11,733 t) full 905 long tons (920 t) dead
Length:	181.6 m (596 ft) overall 173.7 m (570 ft) waterline
Beam:	18.5 m (61 ft) extreme 18.2 m (60 ft) waterline
Draft:	10 m (33 ft) maximum 7 m (23 ft) limit
Propulsion:	2 × General Electric D2G nuclear reactors
Speed:	30 knots (56 km/h)+
Range:	Indefinite (Nuclear powered)
Complement:	40 officers and 544 enlisted
Armament:	2 × Mk 141 Harpoon missile launchers 2 × 5-inch/54 calibre Mk 45 guns 2 × 20 mm Phalanx CIWS 1 × ASROC missile launcher 2 × Mk 13 missile launchers for RIM-66 Standard missiles (MR) Mark 46 torpedoes for anti-submarine use
Aircraft carried:	Helicopter deck aft able to accommodate SH-2 Seasprite LAMPS Mk 1, SH-3 Sea King, or CH-46 Sea Knight helicopters.

USS California (CGN-36), the lead ship of the California-class of nuclear-powered guided missile cruisers, was the seventh warship of the United States Navy to be named for the State of California.

USS California and her sister ship, USS South Carolina were equipped with two single-armed Mk 13 launchers, fore and aft, for the Standard Missile, one ASROC missile launcher, and two Mk-141 launchers for the Harpoon missiles. These cruisers were equipped with two 5-inch/54 calibre Mk 45 guns rapid-fire cannons, fore and aft. The two cruisers also had a unique arrangement aft of their superstructures with a flight deck and lowerable safety fences. Both cruisers also had full suites of anti-submarine warfare equipment. Thus, these warships were designed to combat all threats, in the air, on the surface, and underwater.

The contract to build USS California was awarded to Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company in Newport News, Virginia, on 13 June 1968 and her keel was laid down on 23 January 1970. She was launched on 22 September 1971 sponsored with a "near miss" of the champagne bottle by First Lady of the United States Pat Nixon, and commissioned on 16 February 1974 by The Honorable James E. Johnson, Assistant Secretary, US Navy (Manpower and Reserve Affairs), with Captain Floyd H. Miller, Jr., in command. She was commissioned as a destroyer leader (DLGN), but her designation was changed to a guided-missile cruiser (CGN) on 30 June 1975.

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