Tag Archives: USS Little Rock

Christmas Scene in Mallorca, or Maybe Not

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What a great Cold War image!

The GUPPY’d fleet boats USS Sirgao (Tench-class Guppy II) (SS-485) and USS Piper (Balao-class Fleet Snorkel) (SS-409) and the Cleveland/Galveston-class cruiser USS Little Rock (CLG-4, former CL 92) of the U.S. Sixth Fleet stand draped with lights while moored during the late evening hours at Palma, Mallorca, Spain.

As noted, “All sailing units deployed with the Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean displayed such lights while in port.”

DANFS notes that Little Rock visited Palma several times while in the Med: 30 July-3 August 1969, 25-30 May 1970, 28 February-3 March 1974, and 2-24 September 1974. This would seem to dispel the possibility of the above being a Christmastime image, although it does seem very “Feliz Navidad.”

Nonetheless, comparing the records for Sirgao, which was decommissioned on 1 June 1972, and Piper, which transitioned to a pierside training hulk in 1967, would point towards a more likely date of December 1963, when the latter was last in the Med, and Little Rock was just wrapping up a stint as VADM William E. Gentner Jr.’s Sixth Fleet flagship, relieved at Rota by sistership USS Springfield (CLG-7) on 15 December that year. This becomes solidified when you look at Little Rock’s more detailed chronology on her veterans’ association page, which notes she was at Palma 11-14 December, just prior to leaving the Med.

So maybe it is a Christmastime image, after all.

Little Rock out of canuck ice jail

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LAKE MICHIGAN (Aug. 25, 2017) The future littoral combat ship USS Little Rock (LCS 9) is underway during a high-speed run in Lake Michigan during acceptance trials. She was born on the Lakes and, though commissioned more than three months ago, has been trapped in Canadian waters over the winter. (U.S. Navy photo courtesy of Lockheed Martin/Released)

Looks like the Navy is finally going to get their latest littoral combat ship in to some saltwater. While the Freedom-class littoral combat ship USS Little Rock (LCS-9) was commissioned in Buffalo, New York 16 Dec 2017, she has been iced in at Montreal ever since. But that is going to change.

MONTREAL:

An American warship stuck in Montreal since Christmas Eve has finally resumed its trip to its home port in Florida, the U.S. Navy confirmed on Saturday.

The USS Little Rock was commissioned in Buffalo, N.Y., on Dec. 16 but was trapped by ice at the Port of Montreal less than two weeks into its maiden voyage.

A spokesperson for the Navy said officials decided to wait until weather conditions improved before allowing the ship to continue its journey to Mayport, Fla., out of concern for the safety of the ship and crew.

Lt. Cmdr. Courtney Hillson confirmed the ship finally left the city early on Saturday after spending more than three months in Montreal.

It is expected to arrive in Florida early next month after making several port visits along the way.

USS Little Rock (LCS-9), littoral combat ship, in the snow

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Drone video footage of the Freedom-class littoral combat ship PCS USS Little Rock (LCS-9) docked in Buffalo, New York 14 Dec 2017, two days before her commissioning. She is the fifth Freedom-variant LCS built by Lockheed Martin and Fincantieri Marinette Marine, at a cost of $350 million, and was laid down 27 June 2013.

She is the second USS Little Rock with the first, (CL-92/CLG-4/CG-4), a Cleveland/Galveston-class light/ guided missile cruiser launched in 1945, decommissioned in 1976 and currently part of the museum at Buffalo and Erie County Naval & Military Park– hence the Buffalo tie-in.

Video by Bart Schrum, Defense Media Activity