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Photo # NH 98953:  USS Little Rock fires a Talos guided missile, May 1961

Online Library of Selected Images:
-- U.S. NAVY SHIPS --

USS Little Rock (CLG-4, later CG-4. Previously CL-92), 1945-1977
-- Views taken in 1960-1963

The light cruiser USS Little Rock (CL-92), laid up in reserve since June 1949, was redesignated CLG-4 in May 1957, some months after beginning conversion to a guided missile light cruiser at the Camden, New Jersey, shipyard of the New York Shipbuilding Corporation. When recommissioned in June 1960, the ship had been significantly transformed. She now had huge superstructures forward and aft of her two smokestacks, the forward one housing command spaces that gave the cruiser a new mission as a fleet flagship. The after superstructure held magazines and handling rooms for long-range "Talos" guided missiles, whose twin-armed launcher dominated Little Rock's after deck. Only one triple six-inch gun turret and one twin five-inch gun mount remained of her original battery of four and six of each. Topsides, two tall lattice masts and the after superstructure were topped by an elaborate array of radars to detect and track enemy aircraft and guide "Talos" missiles to intercept them.

The much-modified Little Rock spent the rest of 1960 shaking down, testing her new systems and training her crew in their operation. After a brief shipyard overhaul and more training, she deployed to the Mediterranean in February 1961 to serve as flagship of the Sixth Fleet. Returning to the U.S. in September 1961, Little Rock operated off the politically unstable Dominican Republic later in the year. She regularly cruised in the Mediterranean into the mid-1960s, as well as taking part in exercises off the U.S. East Coast, in northern European waters and in the Caribbean. The ship also received updated radars and other electronic equipment during this time, as well as in later overhauls.

In January 1967 Little Rock returned to the Mediterranean for a long deployment as Sixth Fleet flagship. Homeported at Gaeta, Italy, she remained in the region until August 1970, a time notable for the brief, intense June 1967 war between Israel and several Arab Nations, and for increasing Soviet naval activity in the area. The ship made another Mediterranean cruise from December 1971 to April 1972, then served as Second Fleet flagship in the Atlantic for much of 1972-1973. Little Rock arrived back in the "Med" in mid-1973, becoming flagship of the Sixth Fleet in time for another Arab-Israeli war that October. She retained the command ship role for four years before steaming home in September 1976. USS Little Rock was decommissioned in November of that year and promptly stricken from the Naval Vessel Register. In June 1977 she was donated to the city of Buffalo, New York, where she is still serving as a memorial and museum.

This page features nearly all the views we have related to USS Little Rock (CLG-4) between 1960 and 1963, and provides links to other images concerning the ship.

For more images related to this ship, see:

  • USS Little Rock (CL-92);
  • USS Little Rock (CLG-4, later CG-4) -- Post-1963 Views.
  • USS Little Rock (CLG-4, later CG-4) -- Views on Board Ship;
  • USS Little Rock (CLG-4) -- At the Reopening of the Suez Canal, 5 June 1975;
  • USS Little Rock (CLG-4) -- Inclining Experiment Views;
  • USS Little Rock (CLG-4) -- Miscellaneous Views; and
  • USS Little Rock (CLG-4) -- National Archives Photos.


    If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."

    Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.

    Photo #: NH 98948

    USS Little Rock
    (CLG-4)

    Underway on 13 October 1960.
    Photographed by PH1 Kinley.

    Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.

    Online Image: 81KB; 740 x 605 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 98949

    USS Little Rock
    (CLG-4)

    Underway on 13 October 1960.
    Photographed by PH1 Kinley.

    Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.

    Online Image: 137KB; 740 x 610 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 98950

    USS Little Rock
    (CLG-4)

    Underway at sea, with her crew paraded on deck, circa November 1960.
    The original caption released with this photograph on 8 November 1960 reads:
    "USS Little Rock Returns to Philadelphia"
    "The U.S.S. Little Rock (CLG-4) returns to Philadelphia Friday (Nov. 11) after a successful two-month training cruise in the Caribbean, the Navy announced today."
    "The powerful TALOS missile ship and her 1100 man crew will arrive at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard about 2 p.m."
    "Little Rock will be in the yard for a holiday leave period lasting nearly two months. In January the ship departs for Norfolk, Va., for Atlantic Fleet Exercises."

    Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.

    Online Image: 116KB; 740 x 610 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 98951

    USS Little Rock
    (CLG-4)

    Steams off El Morro Fortress, on the northwest tip of San Juan, Puerto Rico, circa 1960.
    Note the old cannon in the fort, including five muzzle-loading types at left and a late-19th Century breech-loading rifle in the center.

    Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.

    Online Image: 111KB; 740 x 600 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 98952

    USS Little Rock
    (CLG-4)

    Underway at sea, while operating with a Second Fleet task force, 19 January 1961.
    Taken by PHC C.A. Berntsen, USN.

    Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.

    Online Image: 103KB; 740 x 605 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 98953

    USS Little Rock
    (CLG-4)

    Fires a "Talos" guided missile, during exercises in the Mediterranean Sea, 4 May 1961.
    Taken by PH3 D.R. Botts, USN.

    Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.

    Online Image: 103KB; 740 x 600 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 98954

    USS Little Rock
    (CLG-4)

    Fires a "Talos" guided missile while off San Juan, Puerto Rico, 16 November 1961.
    Taken by Seaman Lenhoff.

    Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.

    Online Image: 84KB; 740 x 595 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 98958

    USS Little Rock
    (CLG-4)

    Underway on 8 November 1962.

    Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.

    Online Image: 85KB; 740 x 605 pixels

     

    For more images related to this ship, see:

  • USS Little Rock (CL-92);
  • USS Little Rock (CLG-4, later CG-4) -- Post-1963 Views.
  • USS Little Rock (CLG-4, later CG-4) -- Views on Board Ship;
  • USS Little Rock (CLG-4) -- At the Reopening of the Suez Canal, 5 June 1975;
  • USS Little Rock (CLG-4) -- Inclining Experiment Views;
  • USS Little Rock (CLG-4) -- Miscellaneous Views; and
  • USS Little Rock (CLG-4) -- National Archives Photos.


    If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."


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    Page made 5 December 2003