Little Rock was laid down by William Cramp & Sons Shipbuilding Company, Philadelphia, 6 March 1943; launched 27 August 1944, sponsored by Mrs Sam Wassell and commissioned 17 June 1945.

[1] Little Rock departed Philadelphia on 13 July 1945, and sailed via Naval Operating Base Norfolk, Portsmouth, Va., for her shakedown training cruise to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

She returned to Philadelphia, on 30 August for post-shakedown repairs until 26 September, when she commenced local operations out of Newport, R.I., for the training of the prospective crew of the aircraft carrier Princeton (CV-37).

On 21 October 1945, Little Rock departed Newport, for a cruise to South America, steaming via San Juan, P.R., to arrive at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on 10 November 1945.

She returned to Plymouth on 31 July, and then visited Lisbon, Portugal, before arrival at the British Crown Colony of Gibraltar, on 22 August, to commence a tour of the Mediterranean.

To enforce this Captain Mee of the Little Rock ordered the ship close to shore and then trained all turrets and 6 in guns on Tel Avia as a deterrent against more attacks against the British and Allies.

During this time she made four training cruises to the respective ports of Port-au-Prince, Haiti; San Juan Quebec, Canada and St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands (30 July-15 August).

During this tour, she again visited the principal ports of the Mediterranean and took part in maneuvers with units of the Sixth Fleet in the operating areas off Malta and Crete.

This was her last at-sea period before entering the Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth, Va., on 15 March, and received a new bow-mounted sonar installation and electronic detection equipment.

Ten days later, on 20 June, Vice Adm. Kleber S. Masterson broke his flag on board Little Rock as Commander, Second Fleet and NATO Striking Force, Atlantic.

During the months of October and November 1966, the ship training and guided missile trials in the waters off Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and afterward, she returned to Norfolk.

From 31 March to 4 April, Little Rock participated in Operation Dawn Clear, a NATO exercise in anti-air (AAW), anti-submarine (ASW), and anti-surface warfare.

The carrier's crew, as well as Little Rock's, lined every topside vantage point, silent, watching the helicopters bring 50 wounded and nine dead from Liberty to America.

[2] Once on the scene Little Rock transferred Lt. John C. Cockram, her damage control assistant, in addition to two corpsmen, to Liberty, and took on board some of the less seriously wounded men.

Departing Gaeta on 4 January, she supported the amphibious assault and live firing exercises as a part of PHIBLEX 10–68 at Porto Scudo and Capo Teulada, Sardinia.

TF 502, supported by the HUK group, conducted simulated conventional attacks and photo reconnaissance against targets in France, while operating in a hostile submarine area.

During the transit, TF 502 and TG 514.1.1 provided AAW and ASW protection against attacks opposing aircraft, submarines, and simulated missile patrol boats.

Departing Gaeta on 4 January 1969, Little Rock participated in PHIBLEX 8-69, an exercise for the Amphibious Task Force to conduct an opposed transit and assault landing at Capo Teulada, Sardinia.

Departing Souda Bay, the following day, the flagship steamed for Gaeta, conducting Engineering Casualty Control Exercises en route, arriving on 8 March.

She joined the task force in the Ionian Sea on 26 August, to operate as an AAW picket, controlling interceptor aircraft and defending TF 60 from air, surface, and sub-surface missile attacks.

Deep Furrow 69 completed for U.S. forces on 25 October, and immediately a special contingency operation was placed in effect in the Ionian Sea and was carried out until 4 November 4, at which time TG 60.1, including Little Rock, entered Athens for rest and relaxation.

She cleared Gaeta on 20 February, for her annual western swing of the Mediterranean, and en route to Tangier, she successfully completed another anti-air gunfire exercise.

She set a course for Athens, and departed on 31 May, briefly participating in NATO Exercise Dawn Patrol 70, which consisted of providing anti-air and surface warfare support for a U.S. Amphibious Task Group transiting from Naples, to Porto Scudo, Sardinia.

[2] During the major shipyard overhaul, which concluded in April 1971, most of the electronic and operational equipment aboard Little Rock was reworked or replaced and the primary new installation was the Anti-Ship Missile Defense (ASMD) System.

Little Rock moored at Norfolk on 23 April, and on the same day Vice Adm. Vincent P. de Poix, Commander, Second Fleet, embarked and broke his flag on board.

[2] Little Rock began 1973 at the Boston Naval Shipyard for conversion to the Navy Distillate Fuel System and installation of satellite communication equipment, as well as other yard work.

Having passed through the Dardanelles en route to Gaeta, she received orders on 6 October, directing her to join TF 60 for special operations stemming from the Arab countries' attack on Israel (Yom Kippur/Ramadan War).

The cruiser then got underway to participate in Dawn Patrol (3-8 May), the major NATO exercise which included AAW, ASW, and anti-surface raider training, with an opposed transit that culminated in an amphibious assault.

She got underway and conducted additional operations in response to the Cyprus Crisis (15-22 August), before returning to Gaeta and remaining in port (23 August-17 September), with a routine rest of the year.

Upon leaving Athens, she participated in National Week XX (10-15 March), which saw Little Rock at the center of the tight circular formation maneuvering with the other ships of the Sixth Fleet.