USS Ticonderoga (CG-47)
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| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | Ticonderoga |
| Ordered |
|
| Builder | Ingalls Shipbuilding |
| Laid down | 21 January 1980 |
| Launched | 25 April 1981 |
| Sponsored by | Nancy Reagan |
| Christened | 16 May 1981 |
| Commissioned | 22 January 1983 |
| Decommissioned | 30 September 2004 |
| Stricken | 30 September 2004 |
| Identification |
|
| Motto | "First AEGIS Cruiser" |
| Nickname(s) | Tico[2] |
| Status | Stricken, to be disposed of. Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility, Philadelphia[1] |
| Badge |  |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Template:Sclass- |
| 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 |
|
| Speed | 32.5 knots (60 km/h; 37.4 mph) |
| Complement | 387 officers and enlisted |
| Sensors and processing systems |
|
| Armament |
|
| Aircraft carried | 2 × MH-60R Seahawk LAMPS Mk III helicopters. |
USS Ticonderoga (DDG/CG-47) was a guided-missile cruiser of the United States Navy. Homeported in Pascagoula, Mississippi, the "Tico" was the lead ship of her class.
Ticonderoga was the first combatant ship to feature the Aegis combat system (a limited version of the system had been tested on Norton Sound). This allows the ship to track and engage multiple targets (aircraft) much more effectively than any ship previously.
Etymology
CG-47 is the fifth United States Navy vessel to carry on the name Ticonderoga. The ship was the fifth ship named for the Capture of Fort Ticonderoga in 1775.[3] She was also named after the Template:Sclass- aircraft carrier Ticonderoga (CV-14) that was nearly sunk during World War II. Most of the ships in the Ticonderoga class are similarly named for significant battles in U.S. history. The name "Ticonderoga" comes from an Iroquois word tekontaró:ken, meaning "it is at the junction of two waterways".[4]
History
The United States Navy built the first Aegis cruisers using the hull and machinery designs of Template:Sclass- destroyers. Ticonderoga was ordered as a guided missile destroyer, but redesignated as a cruiser before she was laid down.
The contract to build DDG-47 Ticonderoga was awarded to Ingalls Shipbuilding on 22 September 1978. On 1 January 1980, she was redesignated as a guided missile cruiser, CG-47. Her keel was laid down on 21 January 1980, the 35th anniversary of the devastating kamikaze attack on the Essex-class aircraft carrier Ticonderoga. CG-47 was launched on 25 April 1981 and was delivered on 13 December 1982. She was commissioned on 22 January 1983 with First Lady Nancy Reagan, the ship's main sponsor, having the honor of christening the ship on 16 May 1981.
In the late 1980s, she served in the Persian Gulf as part of Operation Earnest Will while under the command of Captain James M. Arrison III, USN.
For a time in the late 1990s, she was based at Pascagoula, Mississippi, as part of Commander, Naval Surface Forces Atlantic's Westerns Hemisphere Group.
On 4 May 2004, she completed transit of the Panama Canal and then moved to cross the equator. Her ship crew engaged in the rites and rituals of the crossing, inducting the Captain of the ship as well as many of the crew in to 'Shell-Backs'. She completed her final deployment on 3 August 2004, and was decommissioned on 30 September of that year. After her decommissioning, she was towed to the Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility in Philadelphia. Recently, however, she was put up for museum donation by the Navy and there is a strong effort to bring Ticonderoga to Pascagoula, Mississippi, where she was built, to serve as a museum ship.[5] In May 2013, the vessel was formally stricken from the Naval Vessel Register, for disposal.[6] In October of the same year, The Ticonderoga Historical Society reported that the US Navy was going to scrap the ship after a number of potential museum sites were unable to add her to their collections.[7] In June 2014, NAVSEA released a disposal reporting letter declaring the ex-Ticonderoga to be available for inspection by bidders and ready for disposal by scrapping or sinking.[8] However, as of September 2016, the ship remained in Philadelphia.[9]
Awards
- 2x Navy Unit Commendations[10]
- 5x Meritorious Unit Commendations (3 to the ship, two as part of the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) Battle Group, 1990-1992)[10]
- 1x Navy Expeditionary Medal[10]
- 4x Armed Forces Expeditionary Medals[10]
- 3x Battle Efficiency (Navy E) Ribbons[10]
- 2x Secretary of the Navy Letters of Commendation (one to the ship, one as part of Battleship Battle Group 1-87, 1987-1988)[10]
- 1x Chief of Naval Operations Letter of Commendation[10]
- 1x Joint Meritorious Unit Award[10]
- 1x Southwest Asia Service Medal[10]
- 2x Armed Forces Service Medals[10]
- 2x Coast Guard Special Operations Service Ribbons[10]
In popular culture
Ticonderoga was featured in the 1986 Tom Clancy novel Red Storm Rising, defending the Nimitz and Saratoga battlegroups against the saturation anti-ship missile attack in the Norwegian Sea by Soviet bombers.
References
This article includes information collected from the Naval Vessel Register, which, as a U.S. government publication, is in the public domain. The entry can be found here.
- ^ "CG-47". Naval Vessel Register. Retrieved 25 August 2014.
- ^ Cushman Jr., John H. (19 December 1987). "Navy Puts Its 'Spotter' Near the Gulf". New York Times. Retrieved 13 March 2009.
- ^ GlobalSecurity.org USS Ticonderoga (CG-47).
- ^ Afable, Patricia O.; Beeler, Madison S. (1996). "Place Names". In Sturtevant, William C.; Goddard, Ives (eds.). Handbook of North American Indians. Vol. 17 Languages. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution. p. 193. ISBN 9780874741971.
- ^ "USS Ticonderoga to be floating museum". Ships Monthly. April 2010. [dead link]
- ^ "Ticonderoga (CG-47)". Naval Vessel Register. May 2013. Retrieved 14 August 2014.
- ^ "USS Ticonderoga (CG-47) To be Scrapped?". Ticonderoga Historical Society website. 20 October 2013. Retrieved 17 August 2014.
- ^ "Disposal Reporting Letter for Ex-Ticonderoga (CG-47)" (PDF). 17 June 2014. Retrieved 17 August 2014.
- ^ "Inactive ship inventory" (PDF). NAVSEA, US Navy. 27 September 2016.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Naval Vessel Historical Evaluation CG-47 Final Determination" (PDF). US Navy NAVSEA. 10 November 2011. Retrieved 17 August 2014.
External links
- Navsource.org - Ticonderoga (CG-47)
- Navysite.de - Ticonderoga (CG-47)
- Byington, Stacey (1 October 2004). "USS Ticonderoga Decommissioned". Navy News Service. Retrieved 17 August 2014.
