The fifth USS Truxtun (DLGN-35/CGN-35) was a nuclear-powered cruiser in the U.S. Navy. She was launched as a destroyer leader (called a "frigate" at the time) and later reclassified as a cruiser. She was named after Commodore Thomas Truxtun (1755–1822). She was in service from May 1967 to September 1995.
Class The USS Truxtun was a nuclear-powered single-ended guided-missile cruiser (her missile armament was installed only aft, unlike "double-ended" cruisers with missile armament installed both forward and aft), based on a heavily modified version of the . She was the only ship of her class. Truxtun was the third type of nuclear cruiser (all three were one-ship classes) to operate in the United States Navy, after and , and was powered by the same D2G reactors as Bainbridge. Truxtun was originally designated as a nuclear-powered guided-missile destroyer leader (DLGN), but in the 1975 cruiser realignment, she was reclassified as a nuclear-powered guided-missile cruiser (CGN).
Virtually identical to the Belknap class in weapons systems, Truxtun was powered by two D2G reactors rather than her sister class's four 1,200 psi boilers. This resulted in Truxtun being larger overall: longer, greater across the beam, a draft, and a displacement of almost 1,200 more tons. The lessons learned on the Truxtun class were later adapted to the next nuclear classes, the and classes of nuclear-powered cruisers.
Truxtun was commissioned with a 5-inch/54-caliber Mark 42 gun on the foredeck and a twin-rail Mk 10 Missile Launcher on the quarterdeck, for the RIM-2 Terrier missile. The Terrier system was later upgraded to utilizing the RIM-67A Standard missiles in place of the less reliable Terrier missile. The missile depot was located under the helicopter deck and could store 40 RIM-67 Standard and 20 RUR-5 ASROC missiles. Truxtun initially used two single 3-inch/50-caliber guns, however in 1979William Blair Johnson GMM3 on USS Truxtun when the conversion took place in the summer of 1979 these were replaced with two Harpoon missile launchers. The ASW suite of Truxtun originally included the un-manned DASH, but in 1971 the hangar was upgraded to LAMPS Mk. I and the SH-2 Seasprite helicopter. While Truxtun was not upgraded via the NTU program, two Phalanx CIWS systems were installed, and new electronics were installed during overhaul and nuclear refuelling in the mid-1980s.
Construction Truxtun was laid down by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation at Camden in New Jersey on 17 June 1963, launched on 19 December 1964 by Mrs. Kirby H. Tappan and Mrs. Scott Umsted, and commissioned on 27 May 1967. Originally planned to be a Belknap-class destroyer leader, she was extensively modified in her design to become the fourth nuclear-powered ship in the Navy, and she is considered to be her own class. At just over 8,500 tons full load, Truxtun is the smallest nuclear-powered surface vessel to have served in the US Navy.
1960s Truxtun exited Camden on 3 June 1967 and headed for the West Coast. En route, she visited Yorktown, Virginia and Norfolk, Virginia; Guantánamo Bay, Cuba; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; and Mar del Plata, Argentina. Truxtun rounded Cape Horn on 10 July and entered the Pacific Ocean. After port calls at Valparaíso, Chile, and Mazatlán, Mexico, Truxtun reached Long Beach, California, her home port, on 29 July. After conducting trials there in late summer and early fall, she commenced shakedown training in November. She interrupted shakedown twice: on 10 and 11 November for Operation "Bell Anchor" and again from 27 November to 3 December for Exercise "Blue Lotus."
The nuclear-powered warship completed her shakedown training and, on 2 January 1968, got underway for the Western Pacific. She made an overnight stop at Pearl Harbor on 7/8 January and arrived in Sasebo, Japan, on 19 January. Five days later, Truxtun and the aircraft carrier departed Sasebo and headed for the Sea of Japan in response to North Korea's seizure of the American ship . She operated in the Sea of Japan until 16 February when she headed south for her first line period off the coast of Vietnam. After an overnight stop at Subic Bay on 19–20 February, Truxtun set a course for "Yankee Station" in the Gulf of Tonkin. Truxtun spent the majority of the remainder of her deployment in the Far East operating off the coast of Vietnam. While in the combat zone, she conducted search and rescue (SAR) missions, stood guard against North Vietnamese air attacks as a positive identification radar zone (PIRAZ) picket ship, and served as plane-guard ship for carriers Enterprise, , and . Truxtun punctuated her line periods with calls at Singapore, Hong Kong, Danang, and Subic Bay. She departed Subic Bay on 6 July, steamed east toward the United States, and reentered Long Beach on 19 July.
For the next four months, the warship operated along the U.S. West Coast. She acted as plane guard for , , Enterprise and while those carriers conducted landing qualifications for pilots. In mid-November, Truxtun became an antisubmarine warfare (ASW) school ship, and she hosted training student sailors in the techniques of hunting submarines. Early in December, Truxtun returned to Long Beach to prepare for overhaul. In January 1969, she shifted to Bremerton, Washington, where she entered the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard for refurbishing which lasted until April. The cruiser then resumed operations along the West Coast which continued until 23 September when she got underway for her second deployment with the 7th Fleet.
After a stop at Pearl Harbor, Truxtun arrived at Subic Bay on 20 October 1969. Again, she spent much of her deployment cruising along the coast of embattled Vietnam, taking time periodically to make port calls at Hong Kong, Singapore, and Subic Bay. However, in addition to acting as plane guard for carriers and standing duty as PIRAZ and a search and rescue ship, she also served as a peacetime aerial reconnaissance protective (PAPRO) picket in the Sea of Japan and participated in the Taiwan Strait patrol. Just before departing from the Far East, she conducted exercises in the vicinity of Okinawa and then made her final port visit at Sasebo, Japan, from 6 to 11 March 1970.
Truxtun was awarded the Navy Unit Commendation for superior performance during her deployment.
1970s Truxtun returned to Long Beach on 23 March and launched into a round of inspections and training cruises. In June, the warship embarked 40 NROTC midshipmen for their summer training cruise. During the first part of the cruise, she fired missiles on the Pacific missile range and visited San Francisco and Seattle. On 13 July, she departed Seattle for Pearl Harbor to conduct the second part of the training cruise. On 29 July, Truxtun returned to Long Beach from Hawaii, disembarked the midshipmen, and resumed normal operations. For the remainder of the summer, she conducted exercises and underwent various inspections. From 16 to 25 October, she moored alongside for a tender availability. Following one more period of exercises at sea late in October, she entered the Long Beach Naval Shipyard in preparation for a three-month restricted availability which began on 2 November 1970.
Truxtuns yard work was completed in mid-January, she then conducted type training and ASW exercises before preparing to deploy to the western Pacific once more. She returned to Long Beach on 22 January 1971 and remained there until 2 February when she got underway for Pearl Harbor. After a two-day layover in Hawaii, she resumed her voyage to the Far East on 9 February and reached Subic Bay on 20 February. During that deployment, Truxtun returned to her familiar routine along the coast of Vietnam, standing PIRAZ picket duty and conducting exercises and tests. She visited Yokosuka, Japan, several times and made single stops at Hong Kong and Sattahip, Thailand. In late April, she also patrolled the Taiwan Strait for two days.
On 6 July, she completed her final line period of the deployment and left the Gulf of Tonkin. After a visit to Subic Bay, she set a course, on 10 July, for Fremantle, Australia, where she spent a week. Following port calls at Pago Pago, Samoa, and Pearl Harbor, she moored at Long Beach on 17 August and began post-deployment stand-down. Through the end of September, Truxtun received visitors on board and conducted drills to improve and to test her missile and gunnery marksmanship. During the first week in October, a Board of Inspection and Survey inspected Truxtun; and, on 8 October, she began a restricted availability during which she was modified to utilize the Light Airborne Multi-purpose System (LAMPS). From 18 November to 9 December, the ship conducted post-availability dock trials and type training as well as testing the newly installed LAMPS system. On 14 December 1971, a team from Naval Air Systems Command inspected and certified Truxtuns LAMPS installation.
During the first six months of 1972, Truxtun operated out of her home port in North American coastal waters. She conducted exercises, entertained visitors, and underwent several inspections. Following another restricted availability in June, she spent July preparing for her fourth tour of duty with the U.S. Seventh Fleet.
On 13 July, she departed Long Beach with , bound for the western Pacific and for her most eventful series of line periods off Vietnam. She parted company from Canterbury on 18 July and put into Pearl Harbor the following day. On 23 July, Truxtun resumed her voyage to the Orient and moored at Subic Bay on 4 August. Four days later, she loaded ammunition and got underway for her first line period in the Gulf of Tonkin. Over the next five months, Truxtun stood both SAR and PIRAZ picket duty. During these assignments, she evaded at least three typhoons. Her busiest week came between 8 and 15 October, when she directed fighter intercepts resulting in six MiG kills, three of which occurred on 15 October alone. By the end of her deployment, Truxtun was credited with directing fighter intercepts which resulted in the destruction of eleven North Vietnamese MiGs and rescue of three downed American pilots, earning the ship her second Navy Unit Commendation.
In October, November, and January, Truxtun briefly joined the Taiwan Strait patrol. She also made port calls at Sasebo, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Yokosuka. On 21 January 1973, relieved her on the north SAR station, and Truxtun headed, via the Taiwan Strait, for Japan. She stopped at Yokosuka from 26 to 30 January before continuing on, via Pearl Harbor, to Long Beach, where she arrived on Lincoln's Birthday.
Post-deployment stand-down took up the ensuing month. On 19 March, she moored alongside and commenced a tender availability which lasted until late April. Truxtun then resumed operations in and out of Long Beach. In May, she conducted type training off the California coast and naval gunfire support qualifications at San Clemente Island. On 7 June, the warship began embarking Naval Academy and NROTC midshipmen for their summer cruise. For the next two months, she trained the midshipmen, carrying them to ports along the west coast as well as to Hawaii.
She debarked the midshipmen on 27 July and began preparations for her fifth deployment to the Far East. On 17 August, Truxtun got underway from Long Beach, bound for the western Pacific. En route, she stopped at Pearl Harbor and reached Subic Bay on 5 September. She punctuated relatively uneventful tours of duty on PIRAZ station in the Gulf of Tonkin with port visits to Sattahip, Singapore, and Manila. Truxtun also conducted missile exercises and ASW drills. On 9 December, she stood out of Subic Bay, sifted through the San Bernardino Strait, and headed for home. On Christmas Eve 1973, Truxtun moored at Long Beach and began preparations for her first complex overhaul.