USS California (CGN-36)

USS California
History
United States
Name	California
Namesake	State of California
Ordered	13 June 1968
Builder	Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company
Laid down	23 January 1970
Launched	22 September 1971
Sponsored by	Pat Nixon
Acquired	7 February 1974
Commissioned	16 February 1974
Decommissioned	9 July 1999
Stricken	9 July 1999
Identification	Callsign: NKIN Hull number: CGN-36
Nickname(s)	Golden Grizzly
Fate	Nuclear ship recycling, 12 May 2000
Badge
General characteristics
Class and type	California-class cruiser
Displacement	10,643 long tons (10,814 t) light 11,548 long tons (11,733 t) full 905 long tons (920 t) dead
Length	181.6 m (596 ft) overall 173.7 m (570 ft) waterline
Beam	18.5 m (61 ft) extreme 18.2 m (60 ft) waterline
Draft	10 m (33 ft) maximum 7 m (23 ft) limit
Propulsion	2 × General Electric D2G nuclear reactors
Speed	30 knots (56 km/h)+
Range	Indefinite (Nuclear powered)
Complement	40 officers and 544 enlisted
Armament	2 × Mk 141 Harpoon missile launchers 2 × 5-inch/54 calibre Mk 45 guns 2 × 20 mm Phalanx CIWS 1 × ASROC missile launcher 2 × Mk 13 missile launchers for RIM-66 Standard missiles (MR) Mark 46 torpedoes for anti-submarine use
Aircraft carried	Helicopter deck aft able to accommodate SH-2 Seasprite LAMPS Mk 1, SH-3 Sea King, or CH-46 Sea Knight helicopters.

USS California (CGN-36), the lead ship of the California-class of nuclear-powered guided missile cruisers, was the sixth warship of the United States Navy to be named for the state of California. She was the last active nuclear-powered cruiser for the United States (USS South Carolina was deactivated nearly a month before USS California, with the other seven U.S. nuclear-powered cruisers having been deactivated and decommissioned prior to that).

USS California and her sister ship, USS South Carolina were equipped with two single-armed Mk 13 launchers, fore and aft, for the Standard Missile, one ASROC missile launcher, and two Mk-141 launchers for the Harpoon missiles. These cruisers were equipped with two 5-inch/54 calibre Mk 45 guns rapid-fire cannons, fore and aft. The two cruisers also had a unique arrangement aft of their superstructures with a flight deck and lowerable safety fences. Both cruisers also had full suites of anti-submarine warfare equipment. Thus, these warships were designed to combat all threats, in the air, on the surface, and underwater.