The echoes of John Lawrence
Check out this haze gray beauty, some 32 years young, in a recent photo essay from PAO of PHIBRON 8m built around the Iwo ARG and the 22nd MEU (SOC):
Official caption: Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Lake Erie (CG 70) approaches Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima (LHD 7) for a replenishment-at-sea while underway in the Caribbean Sea, Feb. 3, 2026. U.S. military forces are deployed to the Caribbean in support of the U.S. Southern Command mission, Department of War-directed operations, and the president’s priorities to disrupt illicit drug trafficking and protect the homeland. (U.S. Navy photos by Seaman Andrew Eggert)
Ticonderoga class guided-missile cruiser USS Lake Erie (CG 70) breaks away from the Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima (LHD 7) after a replenishment-at-sea while underway in the Caribbean Sea, Feb. 3, 2026. (U.S. Navy photos by Seaman Andrew Eggert)
Commissioned 24 July 1993, Lake Erie is named after the circa 1813 battle in which 28-year-old Master Commandant Oliver Hazard Perry, with five newly constructed shallow draft schooners, three brigs, and a sloop under his command, bested a smaller British Squadron under CDR Robert Heriot Barclay. OHP’s battle flag carried the rallying cry “Don’t Give Up the Ship,” the last words spoken by mortally wounded Capt. James Lawrence three months before Lake Erie during the USS Chesapeake vs. HMS Shannon battle.
It is CG-70s rallying cry as well.
Good to see her still looking great.
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