USS Northampton (CLC-1)
I served aboard Northampton from 13 Jul 1958, when I reported aboard in Copenhagen, Denmark, until some time in June 1960, when I was released from active duty in Norfolk, VA. The picture you see here is a much-reduced copy of a beautiful painting by E. Rollier which can be seen full-size at www.aworldwide.com. The history was taken from: Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Vol. V, p. 112.
(CLC-1: dp. 12,320 (It.); l. 677' 2"; b. 70' 3"; dr. 19' 2" (mean); s. 33 k.; cpl. 1675; cl. Northampton)
The third Northampton was laid down as CA-125, 31 August 1944 by the Fore River Yard, Bethlehem Steel Corp., Quincy, Mass. Work suspended between 11 August 1945 and 1 July 1948; she was launched as CLC-1, 27 January 1951; sponsored by Mrs. Edmond J. Lampron, and commissioned as CLC-1, 7 March 1953, Capt. William D. Irvin in command.
Following shakedown, Northampton reported for duty to Commander Operational Development Forces, Atlantic Fleet. For seven months she conducted extensive tests of her new equipment. Evaluation completed in September 1954, she reverted to the operational control of Commander Battleship-Cruiser Force, Atlantic Fleet. She next demonstrated her capabilities as a tactical Command Ship by serving as flagship, first for Commander Amphibious Force, Atlantic Fleet (October-November 1954) and then for Commander 6th Fleet (December 1954-March 1955). Between 1 September and 22 October she served as flagship for Commander Strike Force, Atlantic, a position she was to hold frequently over the next fifteen years.
On 4 February 1956, Northampton emerged from her first overhaul, at the Portsmouth, Va., Naval Shipyard, and after refresher training off Cuba, participated, as a unit of the Navy's first guided missile division afloat, CruDiv 6, in the first public demonstration of the Terrier missile. In April, she steamed east for 6 months with the 6th Fleet, and, during the summer of 1957, resumed midshipmen training cruises. But, between that time and 1961, she returned only infrequently to European waters. Deployed on those occasions for NATO and Fleet exercises and People to People visits the command ship was visited by high government officials of various European countries, including King Baudouin of the Belgians and King Olav V of Norway.
Redesignated CC-1 on 15 April 1961, Northampton has remained in the western Atlantic until decommissioning in February 1970. Her cruises ranged from Canadian to Panamanian waters as she extensively tested and evaluated new communications equipment and played host to visiting national and international dignitaries, including Presidents Kennedy and Johnson.
The day after I reported aboard, a crisis in the Middle East began. (What else is new?) King Faisal II of Iraq was murdered and a military régime took control of that country. The next day, American Marines landed in Beirut, Lebanon, to protect the pro-Western government there. When Northampton got underway from Copenhagen, we faced the possibility of proceeding directly to the Mediterranean to support U. S. military operations there. That need didn't materialize and we put into our next scheduled port, Hamburg, Germany, for a few days of liberty before returning to our home port of Norfolk, Virginia.
After our return to the States, Northampton was in Norfolk Naval Shipyard at Portsmouth, Virginia, until early 1959, when we went to Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, for refresher training. While in Gtmo, we steamed to Port-au-Prince, Haiti, for a weekend of liberty.
Some of the ports the "Snortin' Nortn" visited during 1959 were Newport, New York City, Annapolis and Palma de Mallorca. The history above doesn't mention that most of Northampton's career from 1956 to 1961 was spent as flagship for Commander 2nd Fleet. This rôle dictated our itinerary and brought us some distinguished visitors from time to time.
In early 1960 we made a European cruise during which we crossed the Arctic Circle in February to participate in some NATO excercises in northern waters. We only approached land close enough to allow ComSecondFleet to visit Bodø, Norway, by helicopter. With this military mission out of the way, we switched to our public relations, or "people-to-people", mode and visited Greenock, Oslo, Stockholm and Portsmouth. We were to have visited Helsinki, but some cold war diplomatic complications caused our visit to be cancelled. It seems the Soviets would have had to provide icebreaking services for us to transit the Gulf of Finland. The result was that we spent a whole week in Stockholm, instead of only three days. As the quoted history mentions, King Olav V visited us in Oslo. King Baudoin's visit took place while he toured the U. S. naval base in Norfolk.
During my first year, I served as junior division officer of the 3rd Division, which was responsible for the 3"/70 gun mounts. My second year, I was the N Division Officer and Assistant Navigator.
While I was on board Northampton, her commanding officers were:
After I left Northampton, she was redesignated as an emergency command post ship for use by the President during national emergencies and became known as the "Grey Ghost of the Virginia Coast", spending a lot of her time underway within easy helicopter range of the White House. I saw my old ship for the last time in late 1963, when I visited her while serving in USS Annapolis' pre-commissioning detail in Norfolk.
This page was last updated 10 Nov 2010.