USS Anzio (CG-68)
 USS Anzio (CG-68) sails past the Statue of Liberty |
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| Career (US) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | USS Anzio |
| Namesake: | Site of a beachhead invasion of Italy |
| Operator: |  United States Navy |
| Ordered: | 16 April 1987 |
| Builder: | Ingalls Shipbuilding |
| Laid down: | 21 August 1989 |
| Launched: | 2 November 1990 |
| Acquired: | 10 February 1992 |
| Commissioned: | 2 May 1992 |
| Homeport: | Norfolk, Virginia |
| Motto: | Stand and Fight |
| Status: | in active service, as of 2012[update] |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Ticonderoga-class cruiser |
| Displacement: | Approx. 9,600 long tons (9,800 t) full load |
| Length: | 567 feet (173 m) |
| Beam: | 55 feet (16.8 meters) |
| Draft: | 34 feet (10.2 meters) |
| Propulsion: |
4 × General Electric LM2500 gas turbine engines, 80,000 shaft horsepower (60,000 kW) |
| Speed: | 32.5 knots (60 km/h) |
| Complement: | 33 officers, 27 Chief Petty Officers, and approx. 340 enlisted |
| Sensors and processing systems: |
AN/SPY-1A/B multi-function radar
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| Armament: | 2 × 61 cell Mk 41 vertical launch systems 122 × Mix of RIM-66M-5 Standard SM-2MR Block IIIB, RIM-156A SM-2ER Block IV, RIM-161 SM-3, RIM-162A ESSM, RIM-174A Standard ERAM, BGM-109 Tomahawk, or RUM-139A VL-ASROC 8 × RGM-84 Harpoon missiles 2 × Mk 45 Mod 2 5 in / 54 cal lightweight gun 2 × 25 mm Mk 38 gun 2–4 × .50 cal (12.7 mm) gun 2 × Phalanx CIWS Block 1B 2 × Mk 32 12.75 in (324 mm) triple torpedo tubes for lightweight torpedoes |
| Aircraft carried: | 2 × Sikorsky SH-60B or MH-60R Seahawk LAMPS III helicopters. |
USS Anzio (CG-68) is a Ticonderoga-class cruiser guided missile cruiser of the United States Navy, named for the site of a beachhead invasion of Italy by Allied troops from 22 January to 23 May 1944. It was laid down by the Litton-Ingalls Shipbuilding Corporation at Pascagoula, Mississippi on 21 August 1989, launched on 2 November 1990 and commissioned on 2 May 1992. Anzio operates out of Norfolk in Virginia.
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[edit] Service
The ship is named for the battle of Anzio in Italy, the site of an Allied amphibious assault during Operation Shingle as part of the Italian Campaign of World War II. One other ship, an escort aircraft carrier, had been named USS Anzio.
On 6 April 2000, the Anzio, along with another cruiser and the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower was participating in an exercise in the Eastern Mediterranean, about 250 miles off the coast of Israel. In an unannouced missile test, the Israel Defense Forces fired a Jericho-1 medium-range ballistic missile from a test facility in Yavne, which landed 40 miles from the ship. The missile was detected by the ship's radar, and the crew briefly thought that they were under attack.[1][2]
On 9 January 2003 Anzio was pre-deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Ordered first to the eastern Mediterranean Sea for the initial phase of President George W. Bush's Shock and Awe strategy, during which the US Navy deployed to obliterate and defeat the Iraq military before ground forces were sent in. Once the Anzio completed her mission in the eastern Mediterranean, she forward-deployed to the Persian Gulf. Once the Anzio arrived in the Gulf, she had marked her 45th straight day at sea. In the Gulf, the Anzio continued carrier-flight support operations and coastal surveillance. After President Bush announced major combat had concluded in the Iraq War, on 1 May 2003, the Anzio was relieved of its duties, returning home on 3 July 2003 after 175 days at sea.
In 2004, Anzio participated at the annual Fleet Week in New York City. In January 2007, the warship was sent to the coast of Somalia to conduct antiterrorist operations as part of the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower task force.
On 16 February 2007, Anzio was awarded the 2006 Battle "E" award.[3]
The Anzio was anchored and a participant for 'Windjammer Days' in Boothbay Harbor, Maine, 25–26 June 2008.
Anzio has served as the flagship of the horn of Africa international anti-piracy Combined Task Force 151.[4] On October 15, 2009 a team from the cruiser working with U.S. Coast Guard personnel from Maritime Safety and Security Team 91104 seized a skiff carrying an estimated 4 tons[vague] of hashish worth an estimated $28 million about 170 nautical miles (310 km) southwest of Salalah, Oman.[5][6] The boarding team destroyed the drugs by dumping them into the ocean and released the skiff's crew.[7]
[edit] In Popular Culture
- The cruiser USS Anzio was part of the aerial battle over Washington D.C. in the game series Ace Combat: Assault Horizon.
- USS Anzio appeared in Tom Clancy's Executive Orders as part of a task force escorting transport ships to Saudi Arabia.
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.fas.org/news/israel/e20000502pentagor.htm
- ^ DefenseLink News: News transcript, 2 May 2000
- ^ U.S. Navy: Surface Force Ships, Crews Earn Battle "E", 19 February 2007
- ^ U.S. Assumes Command of Counter-piracy Task Force
- ^ http://www.military.com/news/article/navy-news/uss-anzio-seizes-4-tons-of-narcotics.html?ESRC=navy-a.nl
- ^ http://cgvi.uscg.mil/media/main.php?g2_itemId=685013 MSST 91104 stops drugs in Gulf of Aden
- ^ Stars and Stripes, "Navy seizes 4 tons of narcotics at sea", October 21, 2009.
This article includes information collected from the Naval Vessel Register, which, as a U.S. government publication, is in the public domain.
[edit] External links
- Official website
- USS Anzio webpage
- USS Anzio (CG-68) command histories – Naval History & Heritage Command
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