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NOTEBOOK POLICY: Please submit notices five months in advance of your reunion. Reunions with specific dates will be given preference. Notices will be published only once and as space permits. Pass-Down-The-Line notices are published on a space-available basis, and non-members are charged $40.00 per notice. There is no fee for reunion notices.
Reunions 1st Bn., 3d MarReg., 3d MarDiv., 1967-69,
19-23 Jul. 95, Las Vegas, NV. Contact: B. Krueger, 7622 Highland St., Springfield, VA 22150-3931. 703-451-3844.
A-5\RA-5C personnel, 11-14 May 95, Pensacola, FL. Contact: F. Hamrick, “Vigilante ‘95” Reunion. P.O. Box 34228, Pensacola, FL 32507. 800-359-1844.
HC-7, 15-18 Jun. 95, Pensacola, FL. Contact: J. Skrzypek, 623 Ellen Ln., El Cajon, CA 92019. 619-440-4773.
LCT Flotillas, WWII, 20-22 Apr. 95, New Orleans, LA. Contact: H. Farmer, 1312 Cheshire Dr., Nashville, TN 37207. 615865-0579.
MCB-9, Seabees, 1952-69, 24 Jun. 95, Port Hueneme, CA. Contact: R. Casoli, P.O. Box 88, Hanson, MA 02341-0088. 617-293-7212.
Mine Squadron Ten Assn., 2-4 Jun. 95, Charleston, SC. Contact: J. Maiden, P.O. Box 231, Cross, SC 29436-0231. 803-753-2692.
Naval Airship Assn., 21-23 Sept. 95, Pensacola, FL. Contact: R. Clanceysen, 10045 Fox Run Rd., Pensacola, FL 32514-5004. 904477-9875.
NAS New York, Floyd Bennett Field, 27-30 Apr. 95, Va. Beach, VA. Contact: C. Atkinson, P.O. Box 62066, Va. Beach, VA 23466. 804-495-1338.
Sangley Point NS, Philippines, John Paul Jones School, Jun. 95, Dallas, TX. Contact: C. Kupfer, 5331 Emerald Isle Dr., Orlando, FL 32812. 407-275-7344.
Submarine Sqdn. 4, Decommissioning, Mar. 95. Contact: PAO, Submarine Sqdn. 4, FPO, A A 34099-5205.
USN Destroyermen, 20 May 95, Hampton, VA. Contact: H. Flory, 4 Westview Dr., Hampton, VA 23666. 804-766-3638.
USN Icebreakers of Long Beach, CA, 29
Jun.-2 Jul. 95, San Diego, CA. Contact: C. Bill, 5452 Park Ave., Garden Grove, CA 92654-2450. 714-892-2391.
USS Ajax (AR-6), 15-18 Jun. 95, San Diego, CA. Contact: D. Turnberg, 4141 Wentworth Ave., Minneapolis, MN 55409. 612-822-0006.
USS Ancon (AGC-4), 8-12 May 95, Mystic, CT. Contact: R. Scroxton, P.O. Box 305, Fishers Island, NY 06390-0305. 516-788-7588.
USS Barnett (APA-5), 11-16 Jun. 95, Las Vegas, NV. Contact: J. Kolstad, 2213 Ming Ave., Bakersfield, CA 93304-4532. 805831-6038.
USS Bergall (SSN-667), Inactivation, 4 Aug. 95, Norfolk, VA. Contact: LCdr. Bob Schuetz, USN, c/o Commanding Officer, USS Bergall (SSN-667), FPO, AE 09565-2347. 804444-4387.
USS Bon Homme Richard (CV/CVA-31), Crew and Sqdns., 11-13 Aug. 95, San Francisco, CA. Contact: R. Pound, P.O. Box 1531,
Lest We Forget. . .
Three U.S. Ships have been named Long Beach. The first, AK-9, was a cargo ship commissioned on 20 December 1917. She was assigned to the U.S. Naval Force operating in Europe, where she transported coal from England and Ireland to France for use by the U.S. Army. Following World War I, she continued operation as a transport until she was decommissioned on 26 April 1921 and then sold to a private citizen for $20,000 on 24 May 1922.
The second, PF-34, was a patrol frigate launched on 5 May 1943 and commissioned on 8 September under the command of Lieutenant Commander T. R. Midtlying, U.S. Coast Guard. The Long Beach participated in the landings on Manus in the Admiralties and in the invasion of Aitape. She also took part in numerous convoy escort missions and earned a total of four battle stars for World War II service. In June of 1945, the Long Beach was transferred to Alaska where she took part in training exercises. On 12 July 1945, she was decommissioned and transferred to the Soviet Navy under the Lend-Lease Act. She was returned to the United States on 17 October 1949 and then lent to the Japanese gov
ernment in November 1953, remaining there until she was scrapped in 1967.
The third, CGN-9, was a cruiser—with the distinction of being the world’s first nuclear-powered surface warship. Her keel was laid on 2 December 1957 by Bethlehem Steel Company in Quincy, Massachusetts. She was launched on 14 July 1959 and commissioned on 9 September 1961 under the command of Captain B. P. Wilkinson, U.S. Navy. The cruiser was home ported at Norfolk, Virginia. After many productive training exercises, the Long Beach with the carrier Enterprise (then CVAN-65) and the frigate Bainbridge (then DLGN-25) formed the first all-nuclear-powered task group. These ships were assigned to Operation Sea Orbit, an around- the-world cruise that began in July of 1964 and lasted for 58 days.
Four years later, while on station in the Gulf of Tonkin, the Long Beach again made history by employing her Talos missile system to shoot down a North Vietnamese jet that was more than 70 miles away—the first time in U.S. history that a surface-to-air missile downed an enemy aircraft. By the end of U.S. involvement in Vietnam, the Long Beach was involved with downing nine enemy jets and rescuing 17 U.S. pilots.
The Long Beach was fitted with Tomahawk cruise missiles in 1985 and later participated in the War on Drugs and supported UN sanctions against Iraq. Following several reprieves, the Long Beach was decommissioned on 2 July 1994.
—Eric Wertheim
126
Proceedings / March 1995