USS Cape St. George (CG-71)
 USS Cape St. George (CG-71) launches a Tomahawk missile. |
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| Career (USA) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | USS Cape St. George |
| Namesake: | Battle of Cape St. George |
| Operator: |  United States Navy |
| Ordered: | 25 February 1988 |
| Builder: | Ingalls Shipbuilding |
| Laid down: | 19 November 1990 |
| Launched: | 10 January 1992 |
| Acquired: | 13 April 1993 |
| Commissioned: | 13 June 1993 |
| Homeport: | San Diego California |
| Motto: | Always Victorious |
| Status: | in active service, as of 2013[update] |
| Badge: |  |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & 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) |
| Draught: | 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
|
| 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 Cape St. George (CG-71) is a Ticonderoga-class cruiser laid down by the Litton-Ingalls Shipbuilding Corporation at Pascagoula, Mississippi on 19 November 1990, launched on 10 January 1992 and commissioned on 12 June 1993. Cape St. George operates out of San Diego, California, and administratively reports to Commander, Naval Surface Forces Pacific.
Cape St. George is named for the World War II Battle of Cape St. George near New Ireland in Papua New Guinea where a U.S. Navy destroyer force led by Captain Arleigh Burke defeated a Japanese destroyer force on 25 November 1943.
In March 2003 she was assigned to Cruiser-Destroyer Group Eight,[1] and was operating with the U.S. Atlantic Fleet.
In May 2005, Cape St. George became the first surface warship certified to use only digital nautical charts (DNC), instead of paper charts using the Voyage Management System. About 12,000 paper charts have been replaced by 29 computer discs. VMS is part of the Smart Ship Integrated Bridge System, which has been under development since 1990.
On 18 March 2006, she was involved in a firefight with suspected pirates, along with the USS Gonzalez.[2] The two U.S. warships exchanged fire with the suspected pirates about 25 nautical miles off the coast of Somalia. Initial reports indicated that one suspected pirate was killed and five others wounded while Cape St. George took superficial damage from small arms fire during the action.
In March 2007, Seaman Richard Mott slashed the throat of Seaman Jose Garcia from behind as the 18-year-old ate breakfast on the ship while she was in port at Norfolk for repairs. Garcia was seriously injured but survived. On 7 November 2008, Mott was found guilty of attempted murder and was sentenced to 12 years in prison.[3]
On 17 October 2010, the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) and Cape St. George arrived off the coast of Pakistan to support the coalition troop surge in landlocked Afghanistan.[4] On 31 January 2011, the cruiser Cape St. George responded to a distress call from a sinking Iranian dhow by dispatching a rescue team via a rigid-hulled inflatable boat (RHIB). The U.S. naval team attempted to repair the dhow's dewatering pumps, but they were unable to stop the flooding. The Iranian fishermen were brought aboard the Cape St. George where they were examined by the medical staff before being transferred to an Iranian customs vessel.[5]
References [edit]
- ^ http://www.hazegray.org/worldnav/usa/surface.htm, accessed May 2012
- ^ U.S. Navy, Official news bulletin on March 18, 2006 incident
- ^ Wiltrout, Kate, "Navy Fails To Notify Reporters, Holds Trial Out Of Public View", Norfolk Virginian-Pilot, 8 November 2008.
- ^ http://www.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=56654 Lincoln Arrives in 5th Fleet Ready to Support Afghanistan Surge
- ^ "Cape St. George Assists Iranian Mariners". NNS110202-04. USS Abraham Lincoln Strike Group Public Affairs Office. 2 February 2011.
This article includes information collected from the Naval Vessel Register, which, as a U.S. government publication, is in the public domain.
External links [edit]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: USS Cape St. George (CG-71) |
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