{"title":"USS Oklahoma City (CL-91)","description":"\u003ch2\u003eUSS Oklahoma City (CL-91): The Longest-Serving Guided Missile Cruiser\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eCommissioned on 22 December 1944, USS Oklahoma City was a Cleveland-class light cruiser that earned two battle stars in the final months of World War II, and then, after conversion to a guided missile cruiser, earned eleven more in Vietnam, becoming one of the most decorated ships of the Vietnam War and the longest-serving guided missile cruiser in the U.S. Navy.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eOklahoma City participated in Pacific operations in 1945 before Japan's surrender. After World War II she was decommissioned, but the Cold War and the development of guided missile technology brought her back. Converted to CLG-5 in 1960 and armed with Talos long-range surface-to-air missiles, she became a cutting-edge anti-aircraft platform operating in the Western Pacific.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWhen the Vietnam War escalated, Oklahoma City became the \u003cstrong\u003eSeventh Fleet flagship\u003c\/strong\u003e, the command ship for the most powerful naval force in the Pacific. As the war intensified, she served as the floating headquarters from which American naval operations in Southeast Asia were directed. Her flag officers coordinated the naval gunfire, carrier strike operations, and amphibious actions that characterized American naval involvement in Vietnam.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eEleven battle stars for Vietnam service, an extraordinary total that reflects years of sustained operations off the Vietnamese coast, in the Gulf of Tonkin, and in direct support of operations ashore. Oklahoma City maintained continuous presence in the Western Pacific through the most intense years of the Vietnam conflict, serving as both a combat platform and the command center for Seventh Fleet operations.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eShe was finally decommissioned as CG-5 on 15 December 1979, having served for 35 years in two wars and two technological eras. Thirteen battle stars total across World War II and Vietnam. Tactically Acquired's USS Oklahoma City (CL-91) collection honors the Sooner State's ship and every man who served aboard her through decades of American naval history.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[],"url":"https:\/\/tacticallyacquired.com\/collections\/uss-oklahoma-city-cl-91-merchandise.oembed","provider":"Tactically Acquired","version":"1.0","type":"link"}