USS Little Rock (CL-92)

USS Little Rock (CLG-4), off Naples, Italy, on 31 July 1967, while serving as flagship of the Sixth Fleet.
History
United States
Name	Little Rock
Namesake	City of Little Rock, Arkansas
Builder	Cramp Shipbuilding Co., Philadelphia
Yard number	535
Laid down	6 March 1943
Launched	27 August 1944
Sponsored by	Mrs. Sam Wassell
Commissioned	17 June 1945
Decommissioned	24 June 1949
Refit	1957–1960
Recommissioned	3 June 1960
Decommissioned	22 November 1976
Reclassified	CLG-4, 23 May 1957 CG-4, 1 July 1975
Stricken	22 November 1976
Identification	Hull symbol:CL-92 Hull symbol:CLG-4 Hull symbol:CG-4 Code letters:NBVW Call sign:Body Guard
Motto	"Pride in Achievement"
Status	Museum Ship at the Buffalo and Erie County Naval & Military Park
Badge
General characteristics (as built)
Class and type	Cleveland-class Light cruiser
Displacement	11,744 long tons (11,932 t) (standard) 14,131 long tons (14,358 t) (max)
Length	610 ft 1 in (185.95 m) oa 608 ft (185 m)pp
Beam	66 ft 4 in (20.22 m)
Draft	25 ft 6 in (7.77 m) (mean) 25 ft (7.6 m) (max)
Installed power	4 × 634 psi Steam boilers 100,000 shp (75,000 kW)
Propulsion	4 × geared turbines 4 × screws
Speed	32.5 kn (37.4 mph; 60.2 km/h)
Range	11,000 nmi (20,000 km) @ 15 kn (17 mph; 28 km/h)
Complement	1,255 officers and enlisted
Armament	4 × triple 6 in (152 mm)/47 caliber Mark 16 guns 6 × dual 5 in (127 mm)/38 caliber 4 × quad 40 mm (1.6 in) Bofors 6 × dual 40 mm (1.6 in) Bofors 21 × single 20mm Oerlikon cannons
Armor	Belt: 3+1⁄2–5 in (89–127 mm) Deck: 2 in (51 mm) Barbettes: 6 in (150 mm) Turrets: 1+1⁄2–6 in (38–152 mm) Conning Tower: 2+1⁄4–5 in (57–127 mm)
Aircraft carried	4 × floatplanes
Aviation facilities	2 × stern catapults
General characteristics (1960 rebuild)
Class and type	Galveston-class guided missile cruiser
Complement	1,426 officers and enlisted
Armament	1 × triple 6 in (152 mm)/47 caliber Mark 16 guns 1 × dual 5 in (127 mm)/38 caliber anti-aircraft guns in Mark 32 mount 1 × twin-rail Mark 7 Talos SAM launcher, 46 missiles

USS Little Rock (CL-92/CLG-4/CG-4) is a Cleveland-class light cruiser and one of 27 completed for the United States Navy during or shortly after World War II. She is one of six to be converted to guided missile cruisers and the first US Navy ship to be named for Little Rock, Arkansas. Commissioned in mid-1945, she was completed too late to see combat duty during World War II and was retired post-war, becoming part of the Atlantic Reserve Fleet in 1949.

In the late 1950s, she was converted to a Galveston-class guided-missile cruiser, removing her aft six-inch and five-inch guns to accommodate the Talos missile system. Like three other of her sister Cleveland ships converted to missile ships, she was also extensively modified forward to become a flagship. This involved removal of most of her forward armament to allow for an enlarged superstructure and was recommissioned in 1960 as CLG-4 (redesignated CG-4 in 1975). In this configuration, she served in the Mediterranean, often as the Sixth Fleet flagship.

She decommissioned for the final time in 1976 and is now a museum ship, located in Buffalo, New York.