Virginia-class cruiser
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![]() USS Virginia
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Class overview | |
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Name | Virginia class |
Builders | Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company |
Operators | ![]() |
Preceded by | California class |
Succeeded by |
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Cost | US$675 million (1990) per unit |
Built | 1972–1980 |
In commission | 1976–1998 |
Planned | 11 |
Completed | 4 |
Cancelled | 7 |
Retired | 4 |
General characteristics | |
Type | Guided-missile cruiser |
Displacement |
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Length | 586 ft (179 m) oa. |
Beam | 63 ft (19 m) max. |
Draft | 32 ft (9.8 m) max. |
Propulsion | 2 General Electric D2G nuclear reactors, two shafts, 60,000 shp (45,000 kW) |
Speed | over 30 kn (56 km/h; 35 mph) |
Range | Unlimited |
Complement | 39 officers, 540 enlisted |
Sensors and processing systems | |
Electronic warfare & decoys | |
Armament |
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Armor | 1 in (25 mm) Kevlar plastic armor installed around combat information center, magazines, and machinery spaces |
Aircraft carried |
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The Virginia-class, (also known as the CGN-38 class), were four nuclear-powered, guided-missile cruisers, that served in the United States Navy until the mid-to-late 1990s. The double-ended cruisers, (with missile armament carried both fore and aft), were commissioned between 1976 and 1980.[1] They were the final class of nuclear-powered cruisers completed and the last ships ordered as Destroyer Leaders under the pre-1975 classification system.
The ships had relatively short service lives. As with any nuclear-powered ship, they were expensive to operate. The class was just coming up for their mid-life reactor refuelings when the 1994 Defense Authorization Bill was being formulated, which would effect cuts of 38% to the Navy's budget, compared to the 1993 bill. The $300-million-plus cost of each refueling and other upgrades made the class easy targets for decommissioning. Each ship was therefore retired starting with Texas in July 1993 and ending with Arkansas in 1998; all went through the nuclear vessel decommissioning and recycling program.
Class description
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7c/USS_Virginia_%28CGN-38%29_elevated_starboard_view.jpg/220px-USS_Virginia_%28CGN-38%29_elevated_starboard_view.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/45/CGN-42_artist_impression.jpg/220px-CGN-42_artist_impression.jpg)
The ships were derived from the earlier California-class nuclear cruiser (CGN-36 class). Three of the four Virginia-class ships were authorized as guided-missile frigates (in the pre-1975 definition), and they were redesignated as cruisers either before commissioning or before their launching. The last ship, Arkansas, was authorized, laid down, launched, and commissioned as a guided-missile cruiser. A fifth member of the class, CGN-42, was canceled before being named or laid down.[citation needed]
With their nuclear power plants, and the resulting capability of steaming at high speeds for long periods of time, these were excellent escorts for the fast nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, such as the Nimitz class. They also had excellent flagship facilities. Their main mission was as air-defense ships, while they also had capabilities as anti-submarine (ASW) ships, surface-to-surface warfare (SSW) ships, and in gun and missile bombardment of shore targets.
The Virginia class as designed carried one LAMPS helicopter, aft of the superstructure with a flight deck. In a unique arrangement among the U.S. Navy the hangars were below-decks, with an electro-mechanical elevator covered by a telescopic hatch. This was an improvement over the preceding California class, which only had a landing pad aft and basic refueling equipment.[citation needed]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/70/USS_Arkansas_%28CGN-41%29_shock_trials.jpg/220px-USS_Arkansas_%28CGN-41%29_shock_trials.jpg)
It was found that, while it was possible to mass-produce nuclear-powered warships, the ships were less cost-efficient than conventionally powered warships. Also, the new gas turbine–powered ships then entering the fleet—the Spruance-class destroyers—required much less manpower. While eleven ships of the Virginia class were planned, only four were produced and the remainder were cancelled. Following the completion of the final member of the class, Arkansas, the U.S. Navy continued conventional destroyer/cruiser production, and it re-designated the DDG-47 class of guided-missile destroyers as the CG-47 Ticonderoga-class cruisers.
Refit
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/16/Virginia-class-cruiser_in_task-group.jpg/220px-Virginia-class-cruiser_in_task-group.jpg)
In the 1980s, the class received a New Threat Upgrade electronics overhaul to better suit them to modern threats. Their rapid-fire Mk 26 launchers could fire the powerful Standard SM-2MR medium-range surface-to-air missile—earlier decommissioned cruisers used the slower-firing Mk-10 launchers, which required manual fitting of the missiles' fins prior to launch.[citation needed] Nevertheless, the CGN-38-class cruisers, with their missile magazines and Mk-26 missile launchers, were incapable of carrying the SM-2ER long-range surface-to-air missile, being restricted to the SM-2MR medium-range surface-to-air missile. This was a significant limitation in their capabilities.
Each member of the class also received Tomahawk cruise missile armored box launchers. The Tomahawk missiles were installed, even though this meant the removal of the LAMPS helicopter as it was found that the elevator and below-deck hangar proved problematic during aviation operations.[citation needed]
Early decommissioning
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/54/USS_Virginia_%28CGN-38%29_in_dry_dock_for_nuclear_core_removal.jpg/220px-USS_Virginia_%28CGN-38%29_in_dry_dock_for_nuclear_core_removal.jpg)
All four vessels were decommissioned as part of the early 1990s "peace dividend" after the Cold War ended, considered by naval standards an early retirement given their designed service life of 38 years. Despite being of a modern design with a recent refit, what really doomed the Virginia nuclear-powered cruisers was a lack of resources, as the Navy and other branches of the U.S. military were downsizing after the Cold War. The ships of the class were coming due for their first nuclear refuelings, mid-life overhauls, and NTU refittings, which were all budgeted projects, together costing about half the price of a new ship. Further, they required relatively large crews, straining the operating budget. The 1996 Navy Visibility and Management of Operating and Support Costs (VAMOSC) study determined the annual operating cost of a Virginia-class cruiser at $40 million, compared to $28 million for a Ticonderoga-class cruiser, or $20 million for an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, the latter two classes designed with the much more capable Aegis Combat System.[2] Given a lower requirement for cruisers, it was decided to retire Virginias and other nuclear-powered ships as a money-saving measure, a decision made while Texas was in the middle of her refueling overhaul. The early Ticonderoga-class cruisers which lacked the Vertical Launch System had equally short careers, serving between 18 and 21 years.[3]
Ships in class
Name | Hull no. | Builder | Ordered | Laid down | Launched | Commissioned | Decommissioned | Fate | NVR link |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Virginia | CGN-38 | Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company, Newport News | 21 December 1971 | 19 August 1972 | 14 December 1974 | 11 September 1976 | 10 November 1994 | Disposed of through Ship-Submarine Recycling Program at Bremerton, 1999 | [1] |
Texas | CGN-39 | 18 August 1973 | 9 August 1975 | 10 September 1977 | 16 July 1993 | Disposed of through Ship-Submarine Recycling Program at Bremerton, 1999 | [2] | ||
Mississippi | CGN-40 | 21 January 1972 | 22 February 1975 | 31 July 1976 | 5 August 1978 | 28 July 1997 | Disposed of through Ship-Submarine Recycling Program at Bremerton, 2004 | [3] | |
Arkansas | CGN-41 | 31 January 1975 | 17 January 1977 | 21 October 1978 | 18 October 1980 | 7 July 1998 | Disposed of through Ship-Submarine Recycling Program at Bremerton, 1998 | [4] | |
CGN-42 | — | Intended nuclear-powered AEGIS cruiser; cancelled 1983 | [5] |
See also
- List of cruisers of the United States Navy
- List of United States Navy destroyer leaders
- Nuclear powered cruisers of the United States Navy
References
- ^ Sobocinski, Richard. "USS ARKANSAS (CGN-41) Deployments & History". HullNumber.com. USS Arkansas commissioned in Oct. 1980. Retrieved 2016-09-22.
- ^ CG-47 Ticonderoga-class
- ^ CG-51 - 18 years. CG-47 - 21 years.
- This entry includes information from the sci.military.naval newsgroup FAQ[unreliable source?]
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)