Fact File: the California-class CGNs in World War III

[Matt Wiser]

The USN's first multi-ship class of nuclear cruisers and their war service:


The California-Class cruisers in World War III


The California class nuclear-powered missile cruisers were the first U.S. Navy nuclear-powered surface combatants intended for series production. Designed in the mid 1960s, and approved by Congress in FY 1967 and 1968, they were delayed due to opposition to nuclear-powered surface ship construction by then-Secretary of Defense Robert MacNamara, and the fiscal demands of the Vietnam War. Both ships were ordered in June, 1968, but would not enter service until 1974-75. A third unit was authorized in FY 1968 but was not built due to rising costs and the development of the Virginia class.

Both ships saw extensive war service, like their one-off predecessors and their successors, and both units survived the war, seeing service in postwar conflicts, until their retirement in the early 2010s.


U.S.S. California (CGN-36): Active in the Pacific Fleet at the outbreak of war, she was serving as the primary Anti-Air Warfare ship for the Ranger Carrier Battle Group. The Battle Group departed Subic Bay in the Philippines on receiving word of the outbreak of hostilities, only to face an attack by Soviet Naval Air Force (AV-MF) Tu-16 Badger bombers from Cam Ranh Bay in Vietnam. The carrier's F-14s were able to effectively defend against the attack, while a coordinated submarine attack was more successful, with the destroyer U.S.S. Joesph Strauss (DDG-16) being sunk, and the carrier itself taking a single torpedo hit aft of the bows. Though damaged, Ranger was still able to conduct flight operations, only losing two knots in speed, and the battle group proceeded to sea, and the next day, launched a series of strikes against Cam Ranh Bay.

During the two-day series of strikes, California was engaged against several Soviet air-launched missiles from remaining Tu-16s, as well as sinking the Soviet Foxtrot-class submarine B-112 with ASROC. After the strikes, the Ranger group proceeded to assist the Midway group with the recapture of Guam, held by a joint Soviet-North Korean force, but the island was liberated before arrival. The battle group then proceeded to Yokouska Naval Base in Japan for repairs to Ranger, while Midway sailed for Pearl Harbor and her loss several weeks later.

During 1986 and 1987, the Ranger battle group showed the flag in WestPac, supporting ROCN, ROKN, and JMSDF operations to maintain the shipping lanes from Southeast Asia, and mounting strikes against Soviet bases at Cam Ranh Bay, Da Nang, as well as in the Kuriles and the convoy lanes to Occupied Alaska. California maintained a role as the primary Anti-Air Warfare escort for the carrier, while also sinking two additional Soviet submarines: the November-class SSN Rostovsky Komsomolets on 3 March, 1986 during an ASW sweep south of Tokyo Bay, and an unkown Echo-I class SSN, believed to be either K-59 or K-122 on 8 June 1987 (both of which were lost south of the Kuriles on or about this date, according to Soviet Pacific Fleet records). During a brief refit in Yokouska, the “Fem Mods” for female crew were installed.

Additional operations in 1988-89 included the Kamtchatka Raid, and a series of anti-shipping sweeps along the Kuriles, during which California surrendered her primary AAW role to the new AEGIS cruiser Thomas Gates, while sinking two additional Soviet submarines: the November-class K-133 on 7 May 1988, and the Whiskey-class S-294 on 17 March, 1989 during an anti-shipping sweep of the Southern Kuriles. During the same sweep, she sank the KGB-manned Grisha-II class FFL Zorkiy and the two coastal freighters the Grisha was escorting-the former with Harpoon SSMs, the latter were crippled with Harpoons and then finished off with 5-inch gunfire.

The end of the war saw the Ranger battle group escorting forces to Alaska and the Aleutians, to take the surrender of Soviet forces there, and California also escorted the Delta-III missile submarine K-490 to the submarine base at Bangor, WA, as the missile submarine's captain and crew indicated a wish to obtain asylum in the United States, as their home country was now in the midst of the Second Russian Civil War.

A further WestPac followed, as the battle group remained at sea for the duration of the Armistice Flu, before returning to Pearl Harbor and a changeover with the Independence battle group, which became the new forward-deployed carrier in WestPac, then the battle group returned to San Diego.

Local operations followed, before California sailed through the Panama Canal and on to Newport News, VA in August, 1992 for a two-year modernization and reactor refueling. During the yard period, CEC capability was installed along with the ability to fire the SM-2ER SAM. Upon completing the modernization, California then sailed back through the Panama Canal to rejoin the Pacific Fleet, joining the Abraham Lincoln carrier battle group.

Routine WestPac and Indian Ocean cruises followed, with occasional anti-piracy operations in Indonesian and Somali Waters, as well as along the China Coast. The battle group was on a WestPac cruise when the Baja War erupted, and put to sea during the fall of the Rump USSR, but saw no action. Her final cruise was a 2011-12 WestPac, before sailing for the Bremerton Navy Yard, where on 18 October 2012, California was decommissioned and stricken. Her nuclear components were removed for disposal, and the hulk was sold for scrap.


U.S.S. South Carolina (CGN-37):

Active in the Atlantic Fleet at the outbreak of war, she was serving as a detached unit of the Sixth Fleet, and was actually paying a port call in Gibraltar when news of the outbreak of war arrived. After recalling the crew, the ship sailed in the early morning hours of 5 August, with orders to make for the open Atlantic in the event of a further nuclear exchange. After reaching the open ocean, she received futher orders to make for Portsmouth, England, where she joined Royal Navy units, including the carrier HMS Hermes, in protecting the Western Approaches to the Channel. While with the British, South Carolina sank a Soviet Foxtrot-class submarine, later identified postwar as B-130, 20 miles SSW of Land's End on 7 August. A few days later, she received further orders, and returned to Norfolk.

Upon arrival in Norfolk and replenishing, South Carolina joined the John F. Kennedy battle group, and began conducting operations against Cuba. There, she covered the carrier as strikes were flown against targets in Cuba, and though there were no attempts by Soviet or Cuban aircraft to threaten the carrier group, there were submarine attacks, and during ASW operations, South Carolina used her ASROC to damage the Echo-II SSGN K-166 in an engagement which also involved an SH-3H from the carrier. The helo finished off the crippled submarine before it could surface, giving a half credit to each.

Further operations with the JFK battle group included the liberation of Gibraltar, where she screened the reactivated battleship North Carolina from air attack, and also covered the carrier during operations against Libya, while also providing support to convoys from Alexandria and Haifa that were bound for the East Coast as well as the UK. During a sweep off the Libyan coast on the night of 24/25 March 1986, South Carolina engaged two Libyan Osa-II missile boats, sinking both with Harpoon SSMs. She also stopped an outbound Libyan tanker that was headed for Syria, and seized it when it was determined that the fuel aboard was meant for the Soviet Naval Base at Tartus. The prize was sailed to Gibraltar, where the fuel was used for British and American ships.

During a brief refit in Newport News, the “Fem Mods” for female officers and crew were added, as were additional mounts for either .50 caliber machine guns or Mark-19 grenade launchers, as well as several manually operated 20-mm cannon.

The next deployment was during the liberation of Iceland, where she joined the screen for the carrier Eisenhower, and served alongside the more capable Virginia for both Iceland and the Kola Raid. During the Kola Raid, South Carolina served as the AAW “Gatekeeper” for the carrier, and her SAMs protected the carrier from Backfire-launched ASMs as well as destroying several Su-17 and Su-24 attack aircraft. She also sank the Krivak-I class frigate Zharky and the KGB-manned Grisha-class FFL Ametist with Harpoon SSMs.

After the Kola Raid, she rejoined the JFK group, and took part in operations against Cuba before taking part in Operation GULF HAMMER, the amphibious assault on the Texas Coast in May, 1988. South Carolina then covered the amphibious group in the Gulf during the final operations to liquidate the Brownsville Pocket, and also took shots at Soviet aircraft on the Cuba-Texas supply run, downing several Soviet aircraft. After the cease-fire with the Soviets and Mexicans, South Carolina provided AAW support to ships maintaining the Cuba blockade, remaining at sea during both the Armistice Flu and the final series of strikes against Cuba, before the Castro Regime accepted the Armistice.

Routine operations and a Med Cruise with the Sixth Fleet followed, before South Carolina sailed to Newport News in September, 1995, for a two-year modernization and reactor refueling. She received the same upgrades as her sister, and rejoined the Fleet in November, 1997, joining the George Washington carrier group, More routine operations and Sixth Fleet cruises followed, before sailing back to Cuban waters during the revolt that overthrew the Castro regime in 2009. The battle group later took part in the Baja War, covering the amphibious forces and mounting strikes against the Mexican Gulf Coast. During the fall of the Rump USSR, the battle group put to sea when DEFCON-3 was called, but saw no further action.

A final cruise was a 2012-13 Med Cruise, before being decommissioned and stricken on 18 June, 2013. She was stripped of her nuclear components before being scrapped.



Class Statistics:

Displacement: 10,530 tons full load

Length: 596 feet

Beam: 61 feet

Draft: 31.5 feet

Propulsion: two steam turbines on two shafts, with 60,000 shaft horsepower

Power plant: Two GE D2G Pressurized Water Reactors

Speed: 30+ knots

Crew: CGN-36: 603 (44 Officers and 559 Enlisted);

CGN-37: 595 (40 Officers and 555 Enlisted)

Helicopters; VERTREP landing area only

Missiles: Two single Mark 13 Mod 3 launchers for Standard-MR/ER SAMs.

Two quad Mark 141 launchers for Harpoon SSMs

Guns: 2 single 5-inch 54 DP Mark 45

2 20-mm Phalanx CIWS

Several pintle mounts for .50 Caliber machine guns, Mark 19 grenade launchers, and 20-mm Mark 67 or 68 20-mm cannon

ASW Weapons: 1 8-tube Mark 16 ASROC launcher, four fixed single Mark 32 torpedo tubes

Radars: SPS-10 Surface search

SPS-40B Air search

SPS-48 3-D Search

Sonar: Bow-mounted SQS-26CX

Fire Control: 1 Mark 11 weapon direction system (replaced postwar by Mark 13)

2 Mark 74 missile FCS

1 Mark 86 GFCS with SPG-60 and SPG-9A radars

1 Mark 114 ASW FCS

4 SPG-51D radar

EW: SLQ-32(V)3

SLQ-25 Nixie