Tag Archives: Ticonderoga class

Navy to Wring out another Decade from 3 Ticos

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Following a decision to pencil whip the service lives of 12 early Flight I Arleigh Burke-class (DDG 51) destroyers, pushing each beyond its 35-year expected service life to gain another 48 “ship years” in total from the high-mileage Cold Warriors, SECNAV made a similar announcement that will slow roll the retirement of a trio of Ticonderoga class cruisers.

We’ve been chronicling the snuff film that is the Ticos’ departure at the same confusing time that several class members have just completed very lengthy (up to 8 years per hull) and very expensive (you don’t want to know the cost) modernizations.

That odd duality caught up to the SECNAV at just the right time when the Navy’s frigate replacement class had lapsed years behind schedule.

From the Navy:

The Department of the Navy plans to operate three Ticonderoga-class (CG 47) cruisers beyond their expected service life: USS Gettysburg (CG 64), USS Chosin (CG 65), and USS Cape St. George (CG 71). This decision adds 10 years of cumulative ship service life from fiscal year 2026 to 2029.

All three cruisers received extensive hull, mechanical, and engineering, as well as combat system upgrades as part of an extended modernization program. USS Gettysburg (CG 64) and USS Chosin (CG 65) completed modernization in fiscal year 2023 and fiscal year 2024, respectively. USS Cape St. George (CG 71) is on schedule to complete modernization this fiscal year.

Further, the Navy pointed out that Chosin recently broke new ground in the respect that she pulled off a successful VLS re-arm at sea demonstration last month. The Transferrable Reload At-sea Mechanism (TRAM) demonstration was the first time the Navy transferred missile canisters from a replenishment ship to a warship while at sea.

The Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Chosin (CG 65) steams alongside the Lewis and Clark-class dry cargo ship USNS Washington Chambers (T-AKE 11) during an at-sea demonstration of the Transferrable Reload At-sea Method (TRAM) while underway in the Pacific Ocean Oct. 11, 2024. Sailors aboard Chosin used the hydraulically- powered TRAM device to load an empty missile canister into the ship’s MK 41 Vertical Launching System (VLS) while off the coast of San Diego. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Charlotte Dudenhoeffer)

Victory is Certain, or Damn the Torpedoes?

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The early flight II (VLS-equipped) Ticonderoga-class cruiser USS San Jacinto (CG-56) is the third U.S. Navy warship named in honor of the decisive 1836 battle of the Texas Revolution, following in the path of a Civil War-era screw frigate and a WWII light carrier (CVL-30). Ingalls-built at Pascagoula, she was commissioned in 1988 and, among other notable service over the past 35 years, fired the opening shots of Operation Desert Storm.

San Jac received a Navy Unit Commendation from the Secretary of the Navy for exceptional support of the Eisenhower Strike Group during their difficult Covid-era 206-day, no port visit, 2020 deployment.

San Jacinto decommissioned on 15 September 2023 in a ceremony at Norfolk, joining sisterships USS Lake Champlain (CG-57), USS Mobile Bay (CG-53), and USS Bunker Hill (CG-52) who likewise have been paid off this year with USS Vicksburg (CG-69) still to go on the schedule.

Before the end of the year, just 12 of the 27 members of the class will be active going into next year. The Navy plans to put the final Ticos in mothballs by the end of FY 27.

San Jac, whose motto is “Victory is Certain,” after a quote from General Sam Houston’s speech as he spoke to his outnumbered men before the Battle of San Jacinto, was towed off to Philadelphia’s “red lead row” this week.

Since the battleship USS Texas’s old berth at San Jacinto Battlegrounds is vacant, it has been floated by some that the recently decommissioned USS San Jacinto (CG-56) should take it over.

There is a certain logic to that as she is orders of magnitude smaller and in better material condition than a 28,000-ton battleship with a 113-year-old riveted steel hull. Yes, the USS Texas (BB 35), once she leaves drydock, will be going somewhere else, likely Galveston, as the San Jac battlefield is low-traffic and not enough to sustain the Two World War veteran dreadnought, it is about time that a circa 1980s Cold War Reagan/Lehman-era vessel is preserved as none of the Sprucans, Perrys, Knoxes, Garcias, Adams, or assorted classes of CGs have been. Besides the obvious Texas tie-in, she would be a centrally located mecca for former bluejackets from the “600 Ship Navy” as well as Gulf War vets. 

Sure, the circuit boards on all the commo, sensors, and EW gear will have to be removed and her VLS, CIWS, Harpoon cans, Mk.32s, and Mk.45s demilled, but it could be done fairly easily.

If not San Jacinto, then I suggest taking her sister and fellow Gulf War vet, USS Mobile Bay (CG-53), and putting her alongside the old SoDak-class battlewagon-turned-museum ship USS Alabama (BB 60), which gets plenty of traffic. That would update that particular park past its current WWII-Korean War focus as well as highlight the nearby (an hour away) Ingalls shipbuilding, where she was built. Ingalls would likely get behind such an effort as well. 

SAN DIEGO (Aug.10, 2023) – The Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Mobile Bay (CG 53) sits pier side during a decommissioning ceremony. The Mobile Bay was decommissioned after more than 36 years of distinguished service. Commissioned Feb. 21, 1987, Mobile Bay served in the U.S. Atlantic, Seventh, and U.S. Pacific Fleet and supported Operation Desert Storm. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Stevin C. Atkins)

Food for thought.

As these old Ticos will likely be disposed of sometime after 2027, the time to start the ball rolling on a museum ship is now. 

And the Navy List Keeps Shrinking by the minute…

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As covered in past posts, the Ticonderoga class guided-missile cruisers are not long for us, with Cold Warriors USS Lake Champlain (CG-57) and USS Mobile Bay (CG-53) already decommissioned in the past several weeks.

Add to that the USS Bunker Hill (CG-52), wrapping 37 years of naval service during a decommissioning ceremony at Naval Base San Diego on 22 September.

SAN DIEGO (Sept. 22, 2023) – The crew of the Ticonderoga class guided-missile cruiser USS Bunker Hill (CG 52) stands at attention during the ship’s decommissioning ceremony. Bunker Hill was decommissioned after more than 37 years of distinguished service. Commissioned Sept. 20, 1986, Bunker Hill served in the U.S. Pacific Fleet supported Operation Desert Shield, and Operation Desert Storm, and participated in the establishment of Operation Southern Watch. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Claire M. DuBois)

The third warship to carry the name of the famed Revolutionary War battle, important for naval history was the first built with a VLS system and had a very active career.

As noted by the Navy:

Bunker Hill operated in the North Arabian Sea and Gulf of Oman, supporting 10 Earnest Will convoys in 1987. The ship arrived in its new homeport of Naval Base Yokosuka, Japan the following year. At the end of January 1991, the ship launched its first Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles (TLAMs), a total of 28, against targets in Iraq from its station in the North Arabian Gulf, in support of Operation Desert Storm. It also supported Operations Desert Shield. In 2008, it was one of the Coalition ships from the British-led Combined Task Force (CTF) 150 maintaining a presence off the east coast of Africa in response to the recent events in Somalia. The following year it was the first guided-missile cruiser to receive a complete set of upgrades as part of the Navy’s Cruiser Modernization program including a new Aegis Weapons System, the Cooperative Engagement Capability (CEC), and SPQ-9B Radar. The guided missile cruiser made full speed from off the coast of Panama to reach Haiti, joining U.S. military efforts on the Caribbean island devastated by a massive earthquake in 2010.

A key moment in my life concerning Bunker Hill, her plankowner skipper, Captain F. Richard Whalen, to me was just “Coach Whalen” as I played on the same soccer team as his son in 6th grade. He hosted us on an unofficial tour of the ship and we attended her departure. The life of a 1980s Pascagoula kid, I guess.

With Bunker Hill gone, and sisters USS Vicksburg (CG-69) and USS San Jacinto (CG-56) slated to join her in mothballs before the end of the year, just 12 of the 27 members of the class will be active going into next year. The Navy plans to put the final Ticos in mothballs by the end of FY 27.

Adios, San Juan

USS San Juan (SSN 751), a late model 688i and the third warship to carry the name, was commissioned on 6 August 1988. Last week, she shifted homeports cross-country from Groton to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and will begin inactivation, decommissioning, and recycling soon, capping a 35-year career.

The Los Angeles-class attack submarine USS San Juan (SSN 751), transits the Puget Sound, on Sept. 20, 2023. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Commu

Taking her final ride to Bremerton was a group of sailors from the French Navy and Royal Canadian Navy on exchange.

Sailors from the French Navy and Royal Canadian Navy completed a joint exercise with the U.S. Navy’s Los Angeles-class attack submarine, USS San Juan (SSN 751), on Sept. 20, 2023. 

Importantly, in 1993 San Juan conducted the first through-ice surfacing for a 688i-class submarine in the Arctic, showing off a key ability of the type.

The once-mighty 62-boat Los Angeles class is currently down to just 26 hulls, counting San Juan, with only 15 of the class slated to still be operational by FY27.

San Juan follows in the footsteps of the more than 140 other U.S. nuclear-powered submarines sent to spend their last days at the nation’s largest public shipyard, her reactor compartment stored, her hull cut up and sold for scrap, with possibly her sail or diving planes retained ashore as a monument.

Slo-mo Cruiser Slaughter Continues

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The Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruisers have passed an important threshold in their story: as of this month, they have hit nearly 50 percent strength in numbers with only 15 still active (soon to be just 12) of the 27 completed.

So far in 2023, USS Lake Champlain (CG-57) and USS Mobile Bay (CG-53) have been decommissioned.

USS Lake Champlain (CG-57) was decommissioned on 1 September, capping a 35-year career. Here, she is being towed off. She earned 11 Battle E Awards, 3 Navy Unit Commendations, and 2 Meritorious Unit Commendations.

SAN DIEGO (Aug.10, 2023) – The Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Mobile Bay (CG 53) sits pier side during a decommissioning ceremony. The Mobile Bay was decommissioned after more than 36 years of distinguished service. Commissioned Feb. 21, 1987, Mobile Bay served in the U.S. Atlantic, Seventh, and U.S. Pacific Fleet and supported Operation Desert Storm. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Stevin C. Atkins)

Likely to still be retired this year from the class are USS Vicksburg (CG-69), USS Bunker Hill (CG-52), and USS San Jacinto (CG-56).

Sayonara, Shiloh

Meanwhile, one of the last in the fleet, USS Shiloh (CG 67), departed Yokosuka, Japan, on Sept. 5 to transit to her new homeport of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, “as part of a planned rotation of forces in the Pacific.”

Shiloh has been forward deployed in Japan for 17 years and is slated to be retired next year.

U.S. Navy Sailors and members of Ship Repair Facility (SRF) Yokosuka bow to the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Shiloh (CG 67) in Yokosuka, Japan, Sept. 5, 2023. Shiloh departed Yokosuka on Sept. 5 to transit to its new homeport of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, as part of a planned rotation of forces in the Pacific. Shiloh is attached to Commander, Carrier Strike Group 5 forward-deployed to the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Askia Collins)

The Flight IIA Burke, USS John Finn (DDG 113), which left Naval Base San Diego and arrived in Yokosuka back in March, is Shiloh’s official replacement. Notably, Finn was the first ship to intercept an ICBM using an SM-3 Block IIA missile, done in a test at Kwaj in 2020.

The Navy plans to put the final Ticos in mothballs by the end of FY 27.

Four Ticos deep

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The ships of the Ticonderoga-class Aegis cruisers were the most advanced warships in the world when they were commissioned. Now pushing over 20-years old, they are the likely the last U.S. cruisers but are still no less formidable.

 

Here we see the four of them at work “Somewhere in the Pacific”

 

PACIFIC OCEAN (Sept. 23, 2014) The Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruisers USS Shiloh (CG 67), foreground, USS Antietam (CG 54), USS Bunker Hill (CG 52), and USS Cape St. George (CG 71) from the George Washington and Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Groups transit in formation at the conclusion of Valiant Shield 2014. The U.S.-only exercise integrates Navy, Air Force, Army, and Marine Corps assets. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Trevor Welsh/Released) --Click to big-up

PACIFIC OCEAN (Sept. 23, 2014) The Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruisers USS Shiloh (CG 67), foreground, USS Antietam (CG 54), USS Bunker Hill (CG 52), and USS Cape St. George (CG 71) from the George Washington and Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Groups transit in formation at the conclusion of Valiant Shield 2014. The U.S.-only exercise integrates Navy, Air Force, Army, and Marine Corps assets. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Trevor Welsh/Released) –Click to big-up

Tico’s go for the 11/11 Plan

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The most advanced Cold-War era warships developed were the CG-47 (Ticonderoga, or “Battle”)-class Aegis cruisers. These 27 ships, built on a Sprunance-class destroyer hull but with the revolutionary SPY-1 phased array radars and advanced battle control systems, were game-changing. They could manage the entire battlefleet’s anti-air campaign, making a carrier task force capable of defeating a massed cruise missile attack from a regiment or three of Soviet Bear or Backfire bombers.

At a billion dollars apiece, they were expensive to build and expensive to maintain. As a kid I watched these ships come down the ways at Ingalls in Pascagoula and went on Tiger cruises and tours of just about all of these ships.

080713-N-6822T-078 ATLANTIC OCEAN (July 13, 2008) The guided-missile cruiser USS Vella Gulf (CG 72) steams through the Atlantic Ocean during the Iwo Jima Expeditionary Strike Group composite unit training exercise (COMPTUEX). COMPTUEX provides a realistic training environment to ensure the strike group is capable and ready for its upcoming scheduled deployment. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Daniel A. Taylor (Released)

The guided-missile cruiser USS Vella Gulf (CG 72) steams through the Atlantic Ocean during the Iwo Jima Expeditionary Strike Group composite unit training exercise (COMPTUEX). COMPTUEX provides a realistic training environment to ensure the strike group is capable and ready for its upcoming scheduled deployment. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Daniel A. Taylor (Released)

Well by 2005, the Cold War was over and the first five of the class, twin-armed bandits not equipped with vertical launch systems (VLS), were retired. This left 22 cruisers in the entire U.S. Navy as older nuke boats were likewise put out to pasture. Since then, these ships have been on the chopping block off and on every FY with the Navy, Congress, and the White House taking turns saying they should be phased out.

The thing is, the principal surface combat ship in the big blue, the DDG-51 type destroyers, are Aegis and have VLS, but don’t have the same accommodations for a carrier battle-group’s air warfare commander– which the CG47s were designed for. Because of this, the Navy is now going with an 11/11 plan for these ships.

This will keep the 11 oldest cruisers at sea until 2019, while the newest 11 will be docked in reduced operating status while undergoing limited modernization.  The magic ’11’ figure comes from the fact that the Navy *plans* to have 11 carrier battlegroups/11 amphibious ready-groups for the foreseeable future. (Dont mention that the refueling of the supercarrier USS George Washington still hasn’t been funded, leaving it in limbo)

At that point, one or two of the older Ticos will decommission every year, with one or two upgraded Ticos returning to service to replace them. The formerly laid-up cruisers will stick around until they, too, begin leaving the fleet one or two at a time starting in 2035. This will keep the class around until 2045-ish, which means the last Tico-class sailor is probably ten years away from being born.

Not bad for a 1970s design built by the lowest bidder.