The Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Shiloh (CG 67) was honored in her homeport of Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam with a formal decommissioning ceremony yesterday, marking 34 years of continued service at sea and a revered naval legacy.
U.S. Navy Chief Interior Communications Electrician Deja Washington, assigned to the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Shiloh (CG 67), left and led the crew in disembarking Shiloh for the final time at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, Sept. 30, 2026. Shiloh was decommissioned after 34 years of continuous service. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Claire M. Alfaro)
Her sister, USS Lake Erie (CG 70), lowered her Navy Jack for the final time during the ship’s decommissioning ceremony held onboard Naval Base San Diego on 25 September, capping a 33-year career.
Erie deployed with Phibron8 just a few months ago, wrapping up her final cruise in style.
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 Photo by Seaman Andrew Eggert)
With Lake Erie and Shiloh inactivated, that leaves only five of 27 completed Ticos in the fleet: USS Princeton, Robert Smalls (ex-Chancellorsville), Gettysburg, Chosin, and Cape St. George.
All of these are scheduled to retire in the next few years.
Speaking of which, check out this sad batch of Ticonderogas awaiting disposition on “Red Lead Row,” the Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility (NISMF) in Philadelphia, image taken on September 20th, 2026.
They include
- USS Monterey (CG 61)
- USS San Jacinto (CG 56)
- USS Hue City (CG 66)
- USS Anzio (CG 68)
- USS Vella Gulf (CG 72)
- USS Leyte Gulf (CG 55)
- USS Philippine Sea (CG 58)
- USS Normandy (CG 60)
- USS Vicksburg (CG 69)
Even that assembly has changed for the worse, with Vicksburg being towed out of Philadelphia en route to Brownsville, Texas, for scrapping on 30 September.
These are from Warship Cam, SRC: YT- Al Stinger
Done with Civil War names?
The U.S. Navy of the late Cold War was replete with Civil War references, from battle names to the fighting men who fought there —on both sides. The Ticos alone had USS Vicksburg and Antietam, along with the aforementioned Shiloh, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg. Even sub-tenders were involved in the act (Dixon and Hunley). The Fig-7s took a break from 1812 and WWII heroes to name one for a Confederate officer (Capt. Duncan Ingraham, defender of Charleston Harbor).
Now, with Shiloh gone, Gettysburg and Smalls remain. The latter is named for a Civil War-era figure who went over to the North with the CSS Planter, then later served as a pilot for the Union fleet, including the ironclad USS Keokuk, during the Second Battle of Fort Sumter.
Of the great Union admirals and heroes, just two names endure, both on destroyers:
Admiral David “Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!” Farragut, commander of the West Gulf Blockading Squadron famous for forcing Mobile Bay, is on the fifth torpedo-carrying vessel to have his name: USS Farragut (DDG 99)
Farragut, a Goula Boy, has long had a banner across from the Jackson County Courthouse.
USS Farragut’s quarterdeck while in Mobile for Mardi Gras 2026 earlier this year, by Chris Eger
RADM David Dixon Porter, commander of the Mississippi Squadron, which handed Vicksburg to Grant, and later the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, which took Fort Fisher. As with his adoptive brother. Farragut, Porter is also on his fifth torpedo-carrying vessel, USS Porter (DDG 78).
Both Admiral Farragut and Porter, brothers, were remembered on a joint postal stamp along with their closely associated flagships– including Powhatan
USS Porter (DDG 78) (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Juan Sua/Released) 200329-N-CR843-0264
These storied names are gone from the fleet:
RADM John A. Dahlgren, the “Father of American Naval Ordnance” and later commander of the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron, which met Sherman in Savannah without destroying it. He had three TBs and DD/DDGs named for him, the last decommissioned in 1992.
RADM Louis M. Goldsborough, who gave Burnside Roanoke Island, closing the coast of North Carolina. As with Dahlgren, he had a TB, a DD, and a DDG named in his honor; the last was decommissioned in 1993.
RADM Samuel Phillips Lee, Robert E. Lee’s cousin, commanded both the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron and the Mississippi Squadron at times; a destroyer (DD 310) and a research vessel (T-AGS-31) were named after him, with the latter leaving service in 1974.
RADM John Ancrum Winslow, who bested the commerce raider CSS Alabama off the French coast from the helm of the USS Kearsarge, later commanded the Pacific Squadron and had only two ships named after him. The last, DD-53, was paid off in 1922. Alabama’s pirate leader, Raphael Semmes, had two as well; the last was decommissioned only in 1992.
Capt. John A. Winslow (3rd from left) and officers on board the U.S.S. Kearsarge after sinking the C.S.S. Alabama, 1864
RADM John Marston, who cut his teeth on USS Constitution during the War of 1812, sailed with Perry to China, and commanded the USS Roanoke at the Battle of Hampton Roads– where he ordered the unproven USS Monitor to enter the battle against CSS Virginia— was described as “one of the most efficient officers of the United States Navy during the Civil War,” but he has never had a ship named for him.
RADM John Lorimer Worden, who commanded Monitor at Hampton Roads, then went on post-war to lead the European Squadron, became the first president of the USNI, and superintendent of Annapolis (where his Tiffany sword hangs), had four vessels named for him (DD 16, DD 288, DD 352, and CG 18), the last decommissioned in 1993.
Commodore William D. “Dirty Bill” Porter, David Porter’s (and by extension Farragut’s) brother who ably commanded the USS Essex during the war, has only ever had one ship named for him, an unlucky Fletcher-class destroyer.
As a sort of consolation prize, Admiral George Dewey (USNA 1858), before he became famous at Manila Bay against the Spanish, served as executive lieutenant on USS Mississippi, a steam paddle frigate assigned to the Union West Gulf Blockading Squadron during the Civil War. Currently a Burke, DDG-105, the third destroyer to carry his name, continues his legacy.
At least for now, anyway.
