What's the fastest surface ship in the Navy?

The Long Beach was a test bed in developing an escort for the 'Nuc' carriers that could keep up. She had the speed, but it was hideously expensive. They had to re-design the vessel to add the 5"38cal guns at the direction of President Kennedy. As a former PT skipper, he saw the design flaw of an all missile ship. In confined waters, anything with any kind of gun at all or a torpedo could pop up and close to under 2000 yards where missiles were useless. Of course technology has advanced since then, but guns are still less expensive and more flexible for close in work.

The 5"/38s were almost useless, because they had such a limited broadside firing arc. They couldn't do a broadside, cover fore or aft or anything... Plus the shorter barrel really hurt accuracy...

With nuclear power and the missile coverage all they need was a relatively short range punch so they could clear some space and make room to open the range. The advantage of the 5" 38 was that there were so many available from stock piles and also they didn't need any complex drive systems. So they could be fitted relatively easy. The two part cartridge (semi fixed) also helped with storage needs. So while it wasn't the best available weapon system, it kept the concept embarrassment to a minimum.

True that... a cruiser with no guns??? Heaven forbid!!!

PO3 John Jeter Well this is going to surprise you, then, but CVN's can do 40 without breaking a sweat.

That's not a surprise at all, but remember two things; 1. I did say 40+ and 2. This was inside San Diego harbor. I might also mention that it was a Sunday morning. Anyone who has been in that harbor on a weekend will tell you it's almost a nautical version of rush hour on the freeway.
During operations off the beach near Pendleton the Pegasus made a training attack run on us. Once she closed under 2000 yards at full speed (?) our gun mounts couldn't keep up with her. Our mount train rate was rated at 15 degrees per second, but we never had the capability to measure it for ourselves. All I know is she would have kicked our butts if it had been for real.
A certain carrier was in Subic in the latter 70's when Idi Amin instigated a crisis in Uganda. There was an emergency recall and less than a week later they were conducting flight ops off the African Coast. It took several nerve wracking days for her escorts to catch up. I'm also aware that she suffered a fair bit of structural damage from vibration and hull stress experienced in that high speed run. Nothing that would stop operations, but it did occasion an unscheduled yard period shortly after.
So it's not entirely a matter of how fast you can go. If your speed negates a portion of your combat longevity you have to be mindful of the balance........
During the speed trials for the Tarawa, the vibration caused her fire control director to fall on to the flight deck... It made an interesting sight coming into port.

The PHMs were something, weren't they...

PO3 John Jeter - You make good points.