USS Arkansas (CGN-41)

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USS Arkansas underway in 1985
History
United States
Name	Arkansas
Namesake	State of Arkansas
Ordered	31 January 1975
Builder	Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company
Laid down	17 January 1977
Launched	21 October 1978
Sponsored by	Mrs. Dale Bumpers
Acquired	29 September 1980
Commissioned	18 October 1980
Decommissioned	7 July 1998
Stricken	7 July 1998
Identification	Callsign: NARK Hull number: CGN-41
Motto	Defender of Opportunity
Fate	Disposed of by the Ship-Submarine Recycling Program, completed on 1 November 1999
Badge
General characteristics
Class and type	Virginia-class cruiser
Displacement	9,473 short tons
Length	585 ft (178 m)
Beam	63 ft (19 m)
Draft	30.5 ft (9.3 m)
Speed	30+ knots
Range	Nuclear
Complement	473 officers and enlisted men
Sensors and processing systems	AN/SPS-48 3-D air-search radar AN/SPS-49 2-D air-search radar AN/SPS-55 Surface-search radar AN/SPQ-9 Fire-control radar AN/SPG-60D Fire-control radar AN/SPG-51 Missile fire-control radar
Electronic warfare & decoys	AN/SLQ-32 Mark 36 SRBOC passive chaff launchers
Armament	Two Mk 26 surface-to-air-missile launchers for Standard Missiles SM-2MR surface-to-air-missiles, or as a sideline, ASROC missiles (held in magazines with a total of 68 missiles) Two Mk-141 Harpoon missile launchers Two armored box launchers for Tomahawk missiles Two triple mounts for Mk 46 torpedoes Two 5 in (130 mm)/54 Mk 45 lightweight naval guns Two Phalanx CIWS for self-defense against antiship missiles
Armor	none
Aircraft carried	none

USS Arkansas (CGN-41) was a Virginia-class nuclear-propelled guided-missile cruiser of the U.S. Navy. She was in commission (in active service) from October 1980 through July 1998. Her primary missions were in defending aircraft carrier task forces in air defense (AAW) and antisubmarine warfare (ASW) by using her guided missiles, radar systems, and sonar systems. Since Arkansas had the high speed and unlimited range provided by her nuclear reactors, she usually escorted the nuclear-powered aircraft carriers of the U.S. Navy.^{[citation needed]}

With her Harpoon anti-ship missiles, Tomahawk missiles, and two 5-inch (127 mm) naval guns, USS Arkansas was also capable of attacking enemy surface ships, carrying out shore bombardments, and attacking land targets over 2,000 kilometers (1,200 mi) inland (with her Tomahawk cruise missiles in the latter case).^{[citation needed]}

For her short-range self-defense, especially for defense against enemy anti-ship missiles, Arkansas carried two automated Phalanx radar-directed 20 millimeters (0.79 in) rapid-fire guns. Also, her two 5-inch rapid-fire naval guns had some capability for anti-aircraft defense. Her six torpedo tubes, which fired Mk 46 lightweight torpedoes, were for close-in, last-ditch defense against enemy submarines that had evaded her outer defense line of ASROC missiles, and the long-range ASW aircraft of her task force.^{[citation needed]}

After USS Arkansas was decommissioned and all of her weapons, computers, sensors, communication equipment and other complex components, removed, her hulk was sent into the Navy's nuclear ship recycling program for the removal, recycling, and disposal of all of her fuel and other radioactive equipment, and this task was completed in Washington state on 1 November 1999, with the rest of her hulk sold as scrap metal.^{[citation needed]}