USS Bainbridge ( CGN - 25 ) USS " Bainbridge " ( DLGN - 25 / CGN - 25 ) was the only ship of her class . Initially a guided missile destroyer leader in the United States Navy , she was re - designated as a guided missile cruiser in 1975 . This ship was nuclear - powered . Construction . " Bainbridge " was designed and built by Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation at Fore River Shipyard at Quincy , Massachusetts . Commissioned in October 1962 , she shook down off the East Coast and in the Caribbean area until February 1963 , when she began her first Mediterranean deployment . This included demonstrations of her long - range high - speed dash capabilities and operations with the nuclear - powered aircraft carrier . " Bainbridge " returned to the Mediterranean Sea in May 1964 , this time joining " Enterprise " and the guided missile cruiser to form the all - nuclear - powered Task Force 1 . At the end of July , the three ships began Operation " Sea Orbit " , a two - month unrefueled cruise around the world . History . In October 1965 , " Bainbridge " again rounded Cape Agulhas , en route to the Western Pacific for the first of eleven Seventh Fleet cruises . Operating for much of this deployment off strife - torn Vietnam , she screened aircraft carriers , served as a radar - picket ship , and performed search and rescue missions . In June , the frigate crossed the Pacific to her new home port , Long Beach , California . Her next five Far Eastern tours , in 1966 – 67 , 1969 , 1970 , 1971 and 1972 – 73 , also involved Vietnam War combat operations , as well as voyages to Australia and , beginning in 1970 , the Indian Ocean . In 1967 – 1968 , " Bainbridge " underwent shipyard overhaul and her first nuclear refueling . The ship ' s seventh trip to the Far East , beginning in November 1973 , included a lengthy visit to the Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea , a locale that would become very familiar in the coming decades . The " Bainbridge " received an extensive modernization and refueling between June 1974 and September 1976 , with post - overhaul work lasting until April 1977 . While in the shipyard , at the end of June 1975 , she was reclassified from frigate ( destroyer leader ) to cruiser , receiving the new designation " CGN - 25 " . Her next Seventh Fleet deployment ran from January to August 1978 and included visits throughout the region , from Japan and South Korea to Thailand and Singapore , with her homeward - bound voyage taking her to Australia and through the South Pacific . " Bainbridge " made three more WestPac tours , in 1979 – 80 , 1981 and 1982 – 83 , each involving extensive operations in the Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea . 1980s - 1990s . In 1982 she won the Marjorie Sterrett Battleship Fund Award . After receiving her final nuclear refueling overhaul in 1983 – 85 , " Bainbridge " left the Pacific after two decades , transited the Panama Canal and rejoined the U . S . Atlantic Fleet . Her operations thereafter included counter - drug smuggling patrols in the Caribbean , several deployments to northern European waters and four Mediterranean cruises ( 1986 – 87 , 1988 – 89 — including combat operations off Libya , 1991 – 92 — with a Red Sea and Persian Gulf tour , and 1994 as Standing Naval Force Atlantic ( STANAVFORLANT ) . The 1994 deployment supported United Nations resolutions that became part of Operation Sharp Guard , which enforced sanctions against the Former Republic of Yugoslavia . During these operations , she safely conducted over 100 boardings of merchant vessels to inspect for illegal cargo shipments . Bainbridge also supported Operation Deny Flight , where she acted as " REDCROWN " coordinating the air warfare environment over Bosnia . Bainbridge ' s AAW suite could provide almost complete radar coverage of the airspace over Bosnia and the Adriatic . With her SM - 2 ER missiles , she could engage more than 16 aircraft or cruise missiles simultaneously ; and at ranges in excess of . Decommissioning . Deactivated in October 1995 , " Bainbridge " decommissioned in September 1996 . She was towed to Bremerton , Washington in mid - 1997 , and in October of that year entered dry dock to begin " recycling , " the process by which nuclear - powered warships are scrapped . Honors . " Bainbridge " ( DLGN - 25 ) earned eight battle stars for Vietnam service .