From Rapidfire! 26th Anniversary 1949-1975 Final Edition

USS NEWPORT NEWS is named in honor of the shipbuilding city in Virginia where it was constructed. The last of 17 cruisers built by Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company between 1902 and 1949, NEWPORT NEWS is the last naval vessel in the world with rapid-fire weaponry of heavy caliber.

The first keel plates were lowered onto the slipway on 1 October 1945. Seventeen months later, 6 March 1947, the 717 1/2-foot vessel was christened in a ceremony witnessed by 20,000. NEWPORT NEWS was commissioned as the last unit of the Salem class heavy cruisers on 29 January 1949. She has fashioned a distinguished career of indefatigable service to the nation in peace and war.

NEWPORT NEWS' 26-year career began with a series of half-year tours in the Mediterranean. From 1950 to 1961 she spent six months of each calendar year in the Med; returning to Norfolk for routine upkeep and training the remainder of the year. During 11 tours with the SIXTH FLEET, NEWPORT NEWS served as fleet flagship on eight occasions. Mediterranean duties were shifted to fulltime SECOND FLEET duty when the ship underwent extensive renovation in 1962, to better fill the new role of permanent SECOND FLEET flagship. From April 1962 to January 1975, NEWPORT NEWS carried the three-star flag of 11 SECOND FLEET Vice Admirals, before entering the St. Helenas shipyard in Portsmouth, Virginia for inactivation.

NEWPORT NEWS' historical highlights include quick response to the crises in Syria in 1957, and that in Lebanon the following year. In 1960 the ship raced more than 1,225 miles in 40.5 hours, at an average speed of 31 knots, to aid the earthquake shattered city of Agadir, Morocco. After the assassination of General Trujillo in 1961 and the resulting instability in Santo Domingo, NEWPORT NEWS was underway on short notice taking station in international waters off the Dominican Republic.

In 1962, as SECOND FLEET flagship she was on station northeast of Cuba for the Cuban Missile Quarantine. When the Soviet MRBM's were dismantled and removed from Cuba, NEWPORT NEWS assisted in the missile count. NEWPORT NEWS also served as flagship and landed the first detachment of Marines in the Dominican Republic in 1965. In 1949, 1963, 1971 and 1973 the cruiser crossed the Arctic Circle while participating in exercises in the Norwegian Sea.

Probably the most significant of all deployments for the cruiser have been its three Vietnam tours. The first, from December 1967 to April 1968, was in support of Operation Sea Dragon, the SEVENTH FLEET'S effort to stem the flow of enemy supplies and war goods to South Vietnam. Firing more than 59,000 rounds in some six months, NEWPORT NEWS earned her first Navy Unit Commendation.

For support of Allied Forces from December 1968 to June 1969, NEWPORT NEWS earned the Meritorious Unit Citation. On that deployment, the cruiser fired more than 18,000 rounds, and for the second time escaped hostile fire completely. The amazing feat of never once being hit by enemy fire during the two deployments earned the ship the nickname of "Grey Ghost From the East Coast."

The third Vietnam tour, the last and longest, was from April to December 1972. Again firing more than 50,000 rounds in support of Allied Forces, the deployment was marked by two unprecedented cruiser-destroyer surface actions against the Haiphong Harbor complex in North Vietnam. It also marked record breaking performances in the expenditure and at-sea replenishment of 8-inch ammunition. More than 28,295 8-inch rounds were fired during the tour.

Tragedy marked the final combat deployment, when, on 1 October 1972, during shore support gunfire, an in-bore explosion in the center gun of Turret II rocked the ship. Twenty crewmen were killed and 56 injured; only heroic and speedy action by the damage control teams prevented the resulting fire from engulfing the ship. NEWPORT NEWS steamed into Subic Bay for repairs following the explosion, and returned for two more gunline tours before returning to Norfolk December 24th. The final deployment earned the cruiser its second Navy Unit Commendation.

Since 1973, NEWPORT NEWS has served as flagship for SECOND FLEET, and sailed on training and NATO exercises in the Caribbean and North Atlantic. During her 26 years of service she has hosted tens of thousands of visitors, from kings and queens to the man on the street. The ship has steamed to five continents, visited more than 20 countries, and sailed on two oceans and eight major seas.

NEWPORT NEWS, last of the heavy cruisers, is the final reminder of the era of big gunships. With her inactivation, heavy gunships disappear from the naval scene. For the thousands of sailors and officers who have served on board the "Grey Ghost," and those who're walked its teakwood decks on goodwill tours all over the world, it's a sight and era they will never forget.