USS Norton Sound's Ships Bell - Port Hueneme, CA
Posted by: 
lyonden_ut
N 34° 08.882 W 119° 11.928
11S E 297279 N 3780753
This is the memorial to the USS Norton Sound (AV-11/AVM-1), which was homeported at Port Hueneme.
Waymark Code: WMANV4
Location: California, United States
Date Posted: 02/05/2011
Views: 4
USS Norton Sound (AV-11/AVM-1) was originally built as a Currituck-class seaplane tender by Los Angeles Shipbuilding and Drydock Company in San Pedro, California. She was named for Norton Sound, a large inlet in West Alaska, between the Seward Peninsula and the mouths of the Yukon, north-east of the Bering Sea.
Norton Sound (AV-11) was laid down 7 September 1942; launched 28 November 1943; and commissioned 8 January 1945. Later Norton Sound was converted to a missile-launching platform. She was in Philadelphia Naval Shipyard in 1948 for seven months while equipment was installed for handling, stowing, launching, and controlling guided missiles.
Upon completion of her modifications in October 1948, Norton Sound steamed for her new homeport of Port Hueneme, California. En route she conducted tests with Skyhook balloons. Off the coast of Southern California she underwent a missile training program. Late that Autumn Norton Sound launched a training missile, marking the beginning of the Navy’s use of shipborne guided missiles. Thought her years in service, The Norton Sound served as the test platform for several shipboard missile systems.
In 1973 she received the first ship-borne installation of the Aegis Combat System, which later became the primary combat system in U.S. Navy cruisers and destroyers.
In the spring of 1981, the pre-production model of the Vertical Launcher was installed at Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Mississippi. During the next two years the VLS underwent extensive testing. The Norton Sound was the only AT-SEA Testing Platform for the AEGIS Weapon System, later installed on Ticonderoga-class cruisers. The summer of 1983 saw the installation of an advanced VLS which underwent testing until the end of Norton Sound's active service.
Norton Sound was decommissioned 11 December 1986, and struck from the Naval Register 26 January 1987. Title was transferred to the Maritime Administration 20 October 1988, and she was laid up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet.
Information from Wikipedia, and photos from Navsourse.org
Information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Norton_Sound_(AVM-1)
Photos: http://www.navsource.org/archives/09/41/09411113.jpg
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