USS Harry E. Yarnell (DLG/CG-17) was a Leahy-class guided missile cruiser of the United States Navy. Named in honor of Admiral Harry E. Yarnell,, she was originally classified as a "destroyer leader" or frigate, in 1975 she was redesignated a cruiser in the Navy's ship reclassification. She was the second of the "double-end" Leahy-class guided missile frigates to join the fleet. Construction Harry E. Yarnell was launched 9 December 1961 by the Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine; sponsored by Mrs. Philip Yarnell, widow of Admiral Yarnell; and commissioned 2 February 1963 at the Boston Naval Shipyard. History Harry E. Yarnell was equipped with RIM-2 Terrier surface-to-air missile launching rails both fore and aft and ASROC anti-submarine missiles, as well as more conventional torpedo tubes and guns. The new ship was fitted out at Boston and began sea trials. While out on trials, Yarnell was diverted on 10 April 1963 to search for USS Thresher (SSN-593), the nuclear submarine later found on the bottom some 8,000 feet down. Quartering the area where the sub was last reported, the guided missile frigate found an oil slick and some debris but could not contact the lost submarine. On her way to her new home base, Naval Station Norfolk, on 23 April, Harry E. Yarnell passed and photographed several Soviet "merchant" ships. The next few months were spent conducting training for shakedown and missile qualification. Designated to carry out standardization trials for her class as well as special acoustical tests, Yarnell spent 28 October–26 November in the Caribbean operating out of Guantanamo Bay and then returned to Norfolk. Yarnell continued operating in the Virginia Capes area and the Caribbean until departing from Norfolk on 8 September 1964 for her first Atlantic crossing. NATO ASW exercises en route took the guided missile frigate far north, and she crossed the Arctic circle on 21 September. She visited Amsterdam en route to the Mediterranean, where she remained until returning to Norfolk in February 1965. On her next Mediterranean deployment, which began 8 October, she transited the Dardanelles on 3 January 1966 and entered the Black Sea to operate close to the Soviet Union before returning to Norfolk in March. After NATO exercises in the North Atlantic, Harry E. Yarnell received the battle efficiency "E" for the preceding year. She also won the 1966 Marjorie Sterrett Battleship Fund Award for the Atlantic Fleet. Operations in the Gulf of