{{Short description|Circumnavigation of the U.S. Navy's nuclear-powered TF1}} {{operational plan | name = Operation Sea Orbit | partof = the Cold War (1962–1979) | image = 300px | caption = Operation Sea Orbit route. | scope = | type = Naval surface warfare and naval air operations | location = World-wide | coordinates = | map_type = | latitude = | longitude = | map_size = | map_caption = | map_label = | planned = | planned_by = United States Navy | objective = First circumnavigation of the world by nuclear-powered surface warships | target = | date = 31 July 1964 to 3 October 1964 | time = | time-begin = | time-end = | timezone = | executed_by = Rear Admiral Bernard M. Strean, USN<br />'''Task Force One:'''<br />• {{USS|Enterprise|CVAN-65}}<br />• {{USS|Long Beach|CGN-9}}<br />• {{USS|Bainbridge|DLGN-25}}<br />• Carrier Air Wing Six (CVW-6) | outcome = Mission successfully accomplished. | casualties = | fatalities = | injuries = }} {{multiple image | direction = vertical | align = right | width = 300 | footer = | image1 = USS Enterprise (CVAN-65), USS Long Beach (CGN-9) and USS Bainbridge (DLGN-25) underway in the Mediterranean Sea during Operation Sea Orbit, in 1964.jpg | caption1 = ''Enterprise'', ''Long Beach'', and ''Bainbridge'' underway in the Mediterranean | image2 = USS Bainbridge (DLGN-25), XO scanning horizon, 1964jpg.jpg | caption2 = Commander William A. Spencer, the executive officer of the ''Bainbridge'', scans the shoreline as Task Force One enters port at Karachi, Pakistan }}
'''Operation Sea Orbit''' was the 1964 circumnavigation of Task Force One of the United States Navy, consisting of the aircraft carrier USS ''Enterprise'' (CVAN-65) and her escorts, the cruisers USS ''Long Beach'' (CGN-9), and USS ''Bainbridge'' (DLGN-25). This all-nuclear-powered unit sailed 30,565 miles around the world for sixty-five days without refueling.<ref name="nyt100364"/><ref name="usn080404"/>
==Concept== Operation Sea Orbit was the idea of Vice Admiral John S. McCain, Jr., who saw the exercise – which demonstrated how nuclear-powered ships could operate unfettered by shore logistical ties<ref name="usn080404"/> – as a statement of American technical achievement similar to that of the coal-burning Great White Fleet in 1907–1909.<ref name="nyt100364">{{cite news |author=Baldwin |first=Hanson W. |date=October 3, 1964 |title=Nuclear Task Force to End World Cruise Today |pages=10 |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://select.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=F50D1EF93A5F147A93C1A9178BD95F408685F9 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200426172943/https://www.nytimes.com/1964/10/03/archives/atom-ships-world-cruise-great-white-fleet-nuclear-task-force-to-end.html |archive-date=April 26, 2020}}</ref>
==Deployment== ''Long Beach'' and ''Bainbridge'' departed Norfolk on 28 April 1964, in company with the aircraft carrier {{USS|Franklin D. Roosevelt|CV-42|2}} for the Atlantic crossing to the Mediterranean, where the rendezvous with ''Enterprise'' was scheduled. Task Force 1 formed up at Bahia de Pollença, Mallorca on 13 May, before undertaking a series of exercises to test the efficiency of the all-nuclear formation working together.<ref name="enterprise">{{cite web |url=http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/e4/enterprise-viiia.htm |title=History 1961-1965 |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |website=USS Enterprise |publisher=DANFS |access-date=2 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080217054850/https://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/e4/enterprise-viiia.htm |archive-date=17 February 2008}}</ref>
Having been relieved by other vessels, TF1 departed on its trans-global cruise on 31 July 1964, with all three ships having taken aboard maximum provisions the day before to ensure there was no need for further underway replenishment en route. The task force initially sailed down the west coast of Africa, calling at Rabat, Dakar, Freetown, Monrovia and Abidjan, before crossing the equator. By 10 August, TF1 had reached the Cape of Good Hope, where it conducted exercises with a pair of South African Navy ships.<ref name="enterprise" />
Following the South African visit, TF1 transited the Mozambique Channel into the Indian Ocean where the ships then called at Mombasa, before transiting the Indian Ocean to Pakistan, where they rendezvoused with three ships of the Pakistan Navy, before the entire force called at Karachi. However, due to the sea conditions it was determined to be too dangerous for either ''Enterprise'' or ''Long Beach'' to enter the port; instead, while ''Bainbridge'' came alongside, the two larger ships were forced to anchor several miles outside the harbour.<ref name="enterprise" />
Upon departing from Karachi, TF1 transited along the west coast of India before turning towards Australia. While en route, in the area south of Indonesia, the force conducted an exercise with a Royal Navy carrier group led by {{HMS|Victorious|R38|6}}, before splitting to allow individual port calls at Fremantle (''Bainbridge''), Melbourne (''Long Beach'') and Sydney (''Enterprise''),<ref name="enterprise" /> before the three ships reformed for the transit to New Zealand, where both ''Bainbridge'' and ''Long Beach'' additionally called at Wellington.
TF1 crossed the South Pacific Ocean and rounded Cape Horn back into the Atlantic, with visits to Buenos Aires and Montevideo before the entire task force put in at Rio de Janeiro. Having departed Brazil, ''Bainbridge'' was detached on 30 September to return to Charleston,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/b1/bainbridge-iv.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060724054050/http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/b1/bainbridge-iv.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 24, 2006 |title=''Bainbridge'' IV |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |publisher=DANFS |access-date=2 July 2014}}</ref> while ''Enterprise'' and ''Long Beach'' put in at Norfolk, all three arriving back on 3 October 1964.
Task Force One had spent 65 days deployed, with 57 of them at sea, and steamed 30,216 miles in total without replenishment.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.navalhistory.org/2012/08/01/operation-sea-orbit |title=Operation Sea Orbit |author=Strean, B.M. |date=March 1965 |website=US Naval History |publisher=Proceedings |access-date=2 July 2014}}</ref> Rear Admiral Strean noted that the flexibility of operating a force of nuclear powered vessels meant that TF1 "could have been diverted to any other maritime area of the world without logistical considerations and could have been ready for immediate operations upon arrival".<ref name="enterprise" />
===Command=== *Commander, Task Force One: Rear Admiral Bernard M. Strean (Commander Carrier Division 2)<ref name="nyt100364"/> **{{USS|Enterprise|CVN-65|6}}: Captain Frederick H. Michaelis<ref>{{cite DANFS | title = USS ''Enterprise'' (CVN-65): 1961-1965 | url = http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/e4/enterprise-viiia.htm | accessdate = 2010-02-24 }}</ref> ***Carrier Air Wing Six: Commander T.L. Nielsen<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.navysite.de/cruisebooks/cvn65-64/11.htm |title=Commander, Carrier Air Wing Six |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |website=navysite.de |access-date=2014-07-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714142950/http://www.navysite.de/cruisebooks/cvn65-64/11.htm |archive-date=2014-07-14 |url-status=dead }}</ref> **{{USS|Long Beach|CGN-9|6}}: Captain Frank H. Price, Jr.<ref>{{cite DANFS | title = USS ''Long Beach'' CGN-9 | url = http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/l8/long_beach-iii.htm | accessdate = 2010-02-24 }}</ref> **{{USS|Bainbridge|CGN-25|6}}: Captain Hal C. Castle<ref>{{cite DANFS | title = USS ''Bainbridge'' CGN-25 | url = http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/b1/bainbridge-iv.htm | accessdate = 2010-02-24 }}</ref>
==Commemorations== Veterans of Operation Sea Orbit gathered on July 30, 2004, for a 40th anniversary reunion.<ref name="usn080404">{{cite news | url=http://www.news.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=14569 | title=Operation Sea Orbit Veterans Celebrate 40th Anniversary Aboard Big E | author=Thompson, Jason | publisher=United States Navy | date=2004-08-04 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051130171257/http://www.news.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=14569 | archive-date=2005-11-30 }}</ref> In 2011, Operation Sea Orbit was included in the Technology for the Nuclear Age: Nuclear Propulsion display for the Cold War exhibit at the U.S. Navy Museum in Washington, DC.<ref>{{cite web | title= Technology for the Nuclear Age: Nuclear Propulsion | url= http://usnavymuseum.org/Ex1_NuclearPropulsion.asp | work= Cold War Gallery | publisher= U.S. Navy Museum | year= 2011 | access-date=2011-10-12}}</ref>
==See also== * Operation Sandblast * Great White Fleet * Nuclear powered cruisers of the United States Navy * 1966 Soviet submarine global circumnavigation
==Notes== {{reflist}}
==References== {{commons category}} * {{cite web | author=JO1 Jon Franklin, USN | title=Historic 'Show the Flag' Cruise | url=http://www.navy.mil/media/allhands/acrobat/ah196501.pdf | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041115214034/http://www.navy.mil/media/allhands/acrobat/ah196501.pdf | url-status=dead | archive-date=November 15, 2004 | work=All Hands | publisher=BUPERS - U.S. Navy | date=January 1965 | access-date=2009-07-27}} {{DANFS}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sea Orbit, Operation}} Category:United States Navy in the 20th century Category:Circumnavigations Category:Non-combat military operations involving the United States Operation Sea Orbit Operation Sea Orbit