USS California (CGN-36), the lead ship of the -class of nuclear-powered guided missile cruisers, was the sixth warship of the United States Navy to be named for the State of California. USS California and her sister ship, were equipped with two single-armed Mk 13 launchers, fore and aft, for the Standard Missile, one ASROC missile launcher, and two Mk-141 launchers for the Harpoon missiles. These cruisers were equipped with two 5-inch/54 calibre Mk 45 guns rapid-fire cannons, fore and aft. The two cruisers also had a unique arrangement aft of their superstructures with a flight deck and lowerable safety fences. Both cruisers also had full suites of anti-submarine warfare equipment. Thus, these warships were designed to combat all threats, in the air, on the surface, and underwater. History The contract to build USS California was awarded to Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company in Newport News, Virginia, on 13 June 1968 and her keel was laid down on 23 January 1970. She was launched on 22 September 1971 sponsored with a "near miss" of the champagne bottle by First Lady of the United States Pat Nixon, and commissioned on 16 February 1974 by The Honorable James E. Johnson, Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Manpower and Reserve Affairs). She was commissioned as a destroyer leader (DLGN), but her designation was changed to a guided-missile cruiser (CGN) on 30 June 1975. California represented the U.S. Navy in the Silver Jubilee naval review in Portsmouth, England in 1977, honoring Queen Elizabeth II. In January 1980, California was diverted from a Mediterranean cruise to the Indian Ocean due to the hostage situation in Iran. The ship left the Mediterranean and ran at flank speed south through the Atlantic, around Africa, and up into the Indian Ocean. In April 1980, this ship along with forces from the Air Force, Marines, and Army participated in "Operation Eagle Claw," the failed attempt to rescue hostages in Iran. In 1981, California circumnavigated the globe, becoming the first nuclear-powered warship to do so since the and her task force of two nuclear-powered escorts had done so in 1964, in "Operation Sea Orbit". In September 1983, the "Golden Grizzly" left Norfolk for the last time, steaming through the Panama Canal to its new homeport, Naval Air Station, Alameda, California. The ship embarked on its first Western Pacific and Indian Ocean cruise in February 1985 as a member of the