USS Fox (DLG-33/CG-33) was a cruiser of the United States Navy, named after Gustavus V. Fox, President Abraham Lincoln's Assistant Secretary of the Navy. The keel for DLG-33 was authenticated and laid in ceremonies at Todd Shipyards, Los Angeles Division, San Pedro, California on 15 January 1963. History Rear Admiral Frank Virden, then Commander Cruiser-Destroyer Force, US Pacific Fleet, presided over the ceremonies for the unnamed ship. Christening and launching ceremonies were performed on 21 November 1964. Fox entered naval service as a guided missile frigate (DLG) on 28 May 1966 when commissioned at Long Beach Naval Shipyard. Fox subsequently transited to her homeport of San Diego on 6 October 1966 and become the first ship in the Pacific Fleet capable of launching both anti-submarine rockets (ASROC) and surface-to-air guided missiles from the same launching system. USS Fox, as DLG-33, wasted no time distinguishing herself. Participating in support of the large scale troop build up in Vietnam, and consequent increase in aircraft operations, her technology at the time was formidable. Her actions not only included support to the Vietnam War shore operations in the Western Pacific but she did so at her primary duty station off the coast of North Vietnam as the northern search and rescue ship controlling aircraft carrier-launched combat aircraft at PIRAZ. On a normal day, Fox monitored the activity of 200 Navy and Air Force missions. In particular, on 23 October 1967, a Fox air controller directed two F-4 fighters from the carrier to intercept the subsequent kill of a North Vietnamese MIG-21 aircraft over Hanoi. It was the first time during the Vietnam War a shipboard controller had directed an intercept which resulted in a shoot-down of enemy aircraft. For such gallantry, Fox was awarded the Meritorious Unit Commendation graciously accepted by her then CO: Captain R.O. Whelander. On 11 January 1972, Fox fired two RIM-2 Terrier missiles at a North Vietnamese MiG-21 operating near Vinh, however neither missile hit the target. In 1972, Fox was the at-sea platform in support of Chief of Naval Operations Project DV-98 LAMPS. Fox earned the award of an Operations Department Efficiency GOLD "E" for five straight years of operational readiness. Fox was originally classified as a guided missile frigate along with her sister ships. They were funded by Congress during FY61 and FY62 as Belknap-class combatants at a time when "cruiser" nomenclature was forbidden. Designed as a "single-ended"