July 1966, all Typhon equipment was removed. For the next two years Norton Sound evaluated various missile countermeasures. She also tested ECM equipment, and a new concept in gyroscope design.Norton Sound entered Long Beach Naval Shipyard 13 June 1968 for regular overhaul. The yard also installed a new, light-weight 5"/54 gun mount with associated control components for test. Into 1969 she continued in test and evaluation work with the Pacific Fleet. 1970 to 1986 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 Launching System (VLS) 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 s and s. 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. Later the USS Norton Sound'' was sold to an overseas firm where she was scrapped. One of her anchors is on display in WestSound Viewpoint at the end of McCall Blvd in Bremerton, WA, overlooking Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Dyes Inlet. See also References External links Unofficial USS Norton Sound webpage navsource.org: USS Norton Sound archive.org: Universal Newsreel footage of USS Norton Sound during Project Reach – 1950 archive.org: Universal Newsreel footage of USS Norton Sound during Project Argus – 1958 Currituck-class seaplane tenders World War II seaplane tenders of the United States Seaplane tenders of the United States Navy Ships built in Los Angeles 1943 ships