USS Arkansas ( CGN - 41 ) The cruiser 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 force s in air defense ( AAW ) and antisubmarine warfare ( ASW ) by using her guided missile s , radar system s , and sonar system s . Since the " Arkansas " had the high speed and unlimited range provided by her nuclear reactors , she usually escorted the nuclear - powered aircraft carrier s of the U . S . Navy . With her Harpoon antiship missile s , Tomahawk missile s , and two 5 - inch naval gun s , the USS " Arkansas " was also capable of attacking enemy surface ship s , carrying out shore bombardment s , and attacking land targets over 2 , 000 kilometers inland ( with her Tomahawk cruise missiles in the latter case ) . For her short - range self - defense , especially for defense against enemy antiship missile s , the " Arkansas " carried two automated Phalanx radar - directed 20 - millimeter rapid - fire guns . Also , her two 5 - inch rapid - fire naval guns had some capability for antiaircraft defense . Her six torpedo tube s , which fired Mk 46 lightweight torpedoe s , was for close - in , last - ditch defense against enemy submarine s that had evaded her outer defense line of ASROC missile s , and the long - range ASW aircraft of her task force . After the USS " Arkansas " was decommissioned and all of her weapons , computers , sensors , communication equipment , etc . , 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 . Construction . The keel of the " Arkansas " was laid on 17 January 1977 at the Newport News Shipbuilding Company , in Newport News , Virginia . This warship was launched on 21 October 1978 , sponsored by Betty Bumpers , the wife of U . S . Senator Dale Bumpers of Arkansas ) . She was commissioned into the U . S . Navy on 18 October 1980 , with Captain Dennis S . Read as her first commanding officer . History . The USS " Arkansas " spent the four months following her commissioning in the area of Hampton Roads , Virginia , while detailed , minor shortcomings in her construction were corrected . Late in February 1981 , she made a voyage from Virginia to Puerto Rico and back , and then preparations were resumed for her shakedown training . In March , she completed contractor ' s sea trials , and she carried out a public relations visit to Port Everglades , Florida . April brought a series of underway qualifications and certifications . On 28 April , the " Arkansas " steamed out from Norfolk to carry out shakedown training in the West Indies . This training cruise included more tests and trials , port visits at several Caribbean Islands , and her first voyage south of the Equator to visit Rio de Janeiro , Brazil , and Recife , Brazil . The " Arkansas " returned to the port of Norfolk on 25 June , and then she began a period of postshakedown availability at the Newport News Shipbuilding Co . The " Arkansas " completed her maintenance and performance upgrades on 15 December , and then she steamed out for three more days of sea trials . She returned to her seaport for shore leave for her crew for the rest of 1981 . The warship did not get underway again until three weeks into 1982 . She put to sea on 22 January and then steamed south to Key West , Florida , where she underwent explosive shock tests . In the intervals between the several tests , the " Arkansas " visited Mayport , Florida , and Port Everglades for work on some of her equipment . Returning north at the beginning of March , she entered the yard at the Newport News Shipbuilding Co . for two months of post - shakedown repairs . The " Arkansas " carried out sea trials on 3 and 4 May , and then she returned to Newport News , Virginia , for another 11 days to correct minor malfunctions . She arrived back in Norfolk on 20 May , and on the next day , she began local operations from her home port . Over the ensuing four months , the " Arkansas " carried out a schedule of training operations conducted mostly off the Virginia Capes . Two missions , however , took her south to the West Indies . From 23 June to 16 July , she steamed to Guantánamo Bay , Cuba , for refresher training . Between 24 September and 16 October , the " Arkansas " escorted the nuclear aircraft carrier USS " Nimitz " ( CVN - 68 ) during an operational readiness exercise that was carried out around Puerto Rico . Upon her return to Norfolk in mid - October , the " Arkansas " began preparations for her first tour of duty with the 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean Sea . The guided - missile cruiser embarked upon that assignment on 10 November 1982 . She completed the transatlantic voyage on 30 November , then set out across the Mediterranean bound for the coast of troubled Lebanon . She arrived on station near Beirut on 6 December . Though " Arkansas " spent most of her time supporting the multinational force ashore in its efforts to keep peace in Lebanon , she left the eastern Mediterranean occasionally for port calls and to participate in some of the 6th Fleet ' s freedom - of - navigation maneuvers into the Gulf of Sidra off the coast of Libya . The warship completed her final tour on station near Lebanon on 4 May 1983 and laid in a course for Gibraltar . After a two - day visit to the " Rock , " " Arkansas " got underway for Norfolk on 10 May . The cruiser stood into her home port again at the end of the third week in May . Norfolk , however , remained her home port only for the duration of her post - deployment standdown period . On 8 July , " Arkansas " began the long voyage to her new base of operations at Alameda , California Steaming by way of Port Everglades in Florida and Charlotte Amalie in the U . S . Virgin Islands , she arrived in the Canal Zone on 21 July and transited the Panama Canal on the 22d . From there , the warship headed north to Alameda , reaching her destination on 31 July . " Arkansas " spent the next five weeks at her new home port clearing up incidentals attendant to the shift of bases and carried out nuclear propulsion safety training . Normal operations at sea resuned during the second week of September and occupied the guided - missile cruiser for the remainder of 1983 and the first six weeks of 1984 . Between 12 and 14 February 1984 , " Arkansas " made the passage from Alameda to Bremerton , Washington , where she entered the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard for a three - month repair period . The warship returned to Alameda in mid - May and readied herself for a deployment that became a circumnavigation of the globe . On 1 June , " Arkansas " put to sea on the first leg of her long voyage . En route to Hawaii , she participated in the multinational exercise Operation " RIMPAC 84 . " She spent the latter half of June conducting exercises in the Hawaiian islands then resumed the voyage west on 2 July . " Arkansas " arrived at Subic Bay on 20 July and remained in the Philippines until the beginning of August . At that time , she set out for Hong Kong where she visited during the period 6 to 10 August . From there , " Arkansas " headed for the Indian Ocean . The guided - missile cruiser served almost three months in the Indian Ocean , primarily in that portion known as the Arabian Sea where the protracted war between Iraq and revolutionary Iran threaten to engulf their neighbors and perhaps involve the superpowers as well . On 1 November , " Arkansas " entered the Red Sea on her way to the Suez Canal . She passed through the canal on the 3d and , after an expeditious passage , stopped at Toulon , France , from the 7th to the 12th . Returning to sea on the 12th , the warship shaped a course through the Strait of Gibraltar and across the Atlantic . She rounded out her circumnavigation with calls at the Azores , Barbados and St . Thomas . " Arkansas " transited the Panama Canal on 9 December and reached Alameda on the 17th . Post - deployment standdown kept her in port at Alameda through the end of 1984 and into February 1985 . Between 17 and 19 February , " Arkansas " steamed north to Bremerton for a four - month restricted availability during which she was armed with Tomahawk cruise missile s and the Phalanx CIWS close - in air defense system . Back at Alameda on 25 June , the guided - missile cruiser resumed training operations out of her home port soon thereafter . The usual exercises , inspections and examinations kept her busy through the summer and fall of 1985 . On 7 December , the warship began preparations for overseas movement . The usual year - end holiday leave and upkeep period interrupted her efforts to get ready for the upcoming deployment , but the guided - missile cruiser put to sea as scheduled on 15 January 1986 . Again she participated in exercises during the passage , stopped at Pearl Harbor , and spent only a brief period of time in the western Pacific . By mid - March , after visits to Subic Bay and Singapore , she made her way across the Indian Ocean to Karachi , Pakistan . The guided - missile cruiser called at Karachi between 15 and 20 March then resumed her voyage to the Arabian Sea . Once more , " Arkansas " patrolled the waters of the troubled Middle East . However , her sojourn in the Arabian Sea lasted only until late April . On the 29th and the 30th , she transited the Suez Canal and headed for another hot spot . During the month of May and June , " Arkansas " served with the aircraft carrier " Enterprise " ( CVN - 65 ) and the guided missile cruiser " Truxtun " ( CGN - 35 ) off the coast of Libya in the wake of the air strikes launched on that country by the United States in reprisal for terrorist activity against Americans . During her stay in the Mediterranean , she paid visits to Monaco and Gaeta , Italy . " Arkansas " left the Mediterranean at the end of June and shaped a course for Australia . On 4 July , the same day as the Centennial rededication of the Statue of Liberty , she held another line - crossing ceremony , somewhere west of Africa . She stopped at Fremantle between 18 and 22 July and then headed for Subic Bay where she laid over for two days at the end of the month . From there , the warship headed for Pearl Harbor , where she paused overnight on 8 and 9 August . She arrived back in her home port on 13 August . " Arkansas " remained at Alameda until late September for the leave and upkeep period that usually follows an extended tour of duty overseas . Early in October , the warship resumed local operations along the west coast . She remained so occupied for the rest of 1986 . 1990s . In May 1991 , " Arkansas " deployed to the Persian Gulf as part of the " Abraham Lincoln " carrier battle group . In 1996 , " Arkansas " was part of the " Carl Vinson " carrier battle group off the coast of Iraq and participated in the Rugged Nautilus exercise and Operation Desert Strike , though for the latter she played a support role as she was not equipped to fire any land - attack missiles . Early Decommissioning . As the decision had been made in 1993 to cancel the mid - life refueling overhauls of the Virginia class cruisers , " Arkansas " was decommissioned on 7 July 1998 and entered the Navy ’ s Nuclear - Powered Ships Recycling Program . She had once been considered for preservation as a museum ship in her namesake state , but as an ocean - going vessel , would not have been able to navigate inland rivers , except during the springtime flood of the Mississippi River . Artifacts from " Arkansas " , including the ship ’ s bell and anchor , are on public display at the Arkansas Inland Maritime Museum in North Little Rock , Arkansas .