The first major U.S. warship built after the construction boom of
World War II,
Norfolk was designed beginning in 1945, designated project
SCB 1 in 1946, and authorized in 1947 as
CLK-1, an anti-submarine hunter killer ship which could operate under all weather conditions and would carry the latest
radar,
sonar, and other electronic devices. She was designed on a
light cruiser hull so she could carry a greater variety of detection gear than a
destroyer. She was laid down 1 September 1949 by the
New York Shipbuilding Corporation,
Camden, New Jersey, launched 29 December 1951 with the destroyer leader reclassification
DL-1, sponsored by Miss
Betty King Duckworth, and commissioned 4 March 1953, Capt.
Clarence Matheson Bowley in command. After her Caribbean
shakedown cruise (February 1954),
Norfolk was assigned to the
U.S. Atlantic Fleet and between 1955 and 1957 served successively as
flagship for Commander Destroyer Flotillas 2, 4, and 6. During 1956 and 1957 she acted as flagship for Commander Destroyer Force, Atlantic Fleet. In June 1957,
Norfolk participated in the International Fleet Review as flagship for Admiral
Jerauld Wright, Commander-in-Chief Atlantic Fleet and
Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic for NATO. A boiler on the ship blew up in late 1955. By 1959
Norfolks eight
3 inch/50 caliber guns had been replaced by eight
3 inch/70 caliber guns and her
20 mm battery had been removed. In 1960 the addition of an
ASROC launcher enhanced her antisubmarine capabilities. On 10 May 1960, an 83-foot Cuban vessel harassed
Norfolk while she was patrolling the
Florida Straits with in Cuban waters. In Fall 1961 she took part in
UNITAS II as flagship for Commander Cruiser Destroyer Flotilla 2. During the operation she performed
ASW training exercises with the navies of
Venezuela,
Colombia,
Ecuador,
Peru,
Chile,
Argentina,
Uruguay, and
Brazil.
Norfolk repeated this cruise over the next five years during which she served as flagship of Commander South Atlantic Forces except in 1962 when she was flagship for Commander Cruiser Destroyer Forces Atlantic Fleet. In 1965 she was the flagship for UNITAS VI.
Norfolk joined
LANTFLEX 66 as flagship between 28 November and 16 December 1966. During this exercise she shadowed the Russian
trawlers
Repiter and
Teodilit. She proved her antisubmarine capabilities again as flagship for Commander South Atlantic Forces during
UNITAS VIII in Fall 1967.
Norfolk was assigned to Commander
Middle East Force as flagship (17 April–15 October 1968). On this mission she visited Bahrain, French Somaliland, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia. Kenya, the Seychelles, Mauritius, Malagasy Republic, India, Pakistan, Australia, New Zealand, Tahiti, Mexico, and Panama Canal Zone. In October 1968
Norfolk returned to Norfolk where she decommissioned 15 January 1970 and entered the
Atlantic Reserve Fleet. By 1 September 1974,
Norfolk was stricken from the
Naval Vessel Register and sold for scrap. ==CLK-2==