USS Little Rock (CLG-4)

History
USS Little Rock(CLG-4), off Naples, Italy, on 31 July 1967, while serving as flagship of the Sixth Fleet.
United States
Name:	Little Rock
Namesake:	City of Little Rock, Arkansas
Builder:	William Cramp & Sons Shipbuilding Company, Philadelphia
Laid down:	6 March 1943
Launched:	27 August 1944
Sponsored by:	Mrs. Sam Wassell
Commissioned:	17 June 1945
Decommissioned:	24 June 1949
Refit:	1957–1960
Recommissioned:	3 June 1960
Decommissioned:	22 November 1976
Reclassified:	CLG-4, 23 May 1957 CG-4, 1 July 1975
Struck:	22 November 1976
Identification:	Hull symbol:CL-92 Hull symbol:CLG-4 Hull symbol:CG-4 Code letters:NBVW Call sign:Body Guard
Motto:	"Pride in Achievement"
Honors and awards:	Flagship of the Sixth Fleet 1969/1970
Status:	Donated to the Buffalo and Erie County Naval & Military Park, Buffalo, New York as a Museum Ship.
Badge:
General characteristics (as built)
Class and type:	Cleveland-class Light cruiser
Displacement:	11,744 long tons (11,932 t) (standard) 14,131 long tons (14,358 t) (max)
Length:	610 ft 1 in (185.95 m) oa 608 ft (185 m)pp
Beam:	66 ft 4 in (20.22 m)
Draft:	25 ft 6 in (7.77 m) (mean) 25 ft (7.6 m) (max)
Installed power:	4 × 634 psi Steam boilers 100,000 shp (75,000 kW)
Propulsion:	4 × geared turbines 4 × screws
Speed:	32.5 kn (37.4 mph; 60.2 km/h)
Range:	11,000 nmi (20,000 km) @ 15 kn (17 mph; 28 km/h)
Complement:	1,255 officers and enlisted
Armament:	4 × triple 6 in (150 mm)/47 caliber Mark 16 guns 6 × dual 5 in (130 mm)/38 caliber anti-aircraft guns 4 × quad 40 mm (1.6 in) Bofors anti-aircraft guns 6 × dual 40 mm (1.6 in) Bofors anti-aircraft guns 21 × single 20 mm (0.79 in) Oerlikon anti-aircraft cannons
Armor:	Belt: 3 ¹⁄₂–5 in (89–127 mm) Deck: 2 in (51 mm) Barbettes: 6 in (150 mm) Turrets: 1 ¹⁄₂–6 in (38–152 mm) Conning Tower: 2 ¹⁄₄–5 in (57–127 mm)
Aircraft carried:	4 × floatplanes
Aviation facilities:	2 × stern catapults
General characteristics (1960 rebuild)
Class and type:	Galveston-class guided missile cruiser
Complement:	1,426 officers and enlisted
Armament:	1 × triple 6 in (150 mm)/47 caliber Mark 16 guns 1 × dual 5 in (130 mm)/38 caliber anti-aircraft guns in Mark 32 mount 1 × twin-rail Mark 7 Talos SAM launcher, 46 missiles

USS Little Rock (CL-92/CLG-4/CG-4) was one of 27 United States Navy Cleveland-class light cruisers completed during or shortly after World War II, and one of six to be converted to guided missile cruisers. She was the first US Navy ship to be named for Little Rock, Arkansas. Commissioned in mid-1945, she was completed too late to see combat duty during World War II. After an initial South American cruise, she spent the next few years serving off the east coast of the U.S., in the Caribbean, and in the Mediterranean. Like all but one of her sister ships, she was retired in the post-war defense cutbacks, becoming part of the Atlantic Reserve Fleet in 1949.

In the late 1950s she was converted to a Galveston-class guided missile cruiser, which involved removing all her aft six-inch and five-inch guns and rebuilding her aft superstructure to accommodate the Talos missile system. Also, like three other of her sister Cleveland ships converted to missile ships, she was also extensively modified forward to become a flagship. This involved removal of most of her forward armament to allow for a greatly enlarged superstructure. She was recommissioned in 1960 as CLG-4 (and in 1975 redesignated CG-4).

In her new career she served extensively in the Mediterranean, often as the Sixth Fleet flagship. She decommissioned for the last time in 1976, and is now a museum ship at Buffalo and Erie County Naval & Military Park.

Little Rock is the sole surviving member of the Cleveland class.

Little Rock was laid down by William Cramp & Sons Shipbuilding Company, Philadelphia, 6 March 1943; launched 27 August 1944; sponsored by Mrs. Sam Wassell; and commissioned 17 June 1945, Capt. William E. Miller in command.

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