Tag Archives: USS Bunker Hill (CG-52)

Flight to Baghdad

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Some 35 years ago today. 17 January 1991. The morning that Desert Shield switched to Desert Storm.

USS Paul Foster (DD-964), USS Missouri (BB-63), and USS Bunker Hill (CG-52) on the horizon at 3 in the morning fire off the first missiles in the opening round of the Iraqi war. Described by one of the junior officers, “It looked like a Roman candle going off on the horizon as the missiles arced over on their way to Iraq.”

Painting, Watercolor on Paper; by John Charles Roach; 1991; Framed Dimensions 34H X 39W. NHHC Accession #: 92-007-J

As for the TLAM slingers, the WWII VJ Day host Missouri decommissioned for the final time in March 1992, just 14 months after her third war, and is a museum on Battleship Row in Pearl within sight of the old Arizona.

Bunker Hill decommissioned in September 2023, capping 37 years of naval service.

Foster?

Foster decommissioned on 14 March 2003 and was turned over before the end of the month to the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Port Hueneme Division, as the U.S. Navy’s new Self Defense Test Ship (SDTS). Ex-Foster still carries her hull number and recently just underwent a shoestring refurb to keep her in service another five years. She is the only ship of her class, the cursed Sprucans, still in existence.

Perhaps, when the Navy is finished with her, she will become a museum.

As seen against the backdrop of the Los Padres National Forest, the Self Defense Test Ship, formerly USS Paul F. Foster (DD-964), supports self-defense engineering, testing, and evaluation for the U.S. Navy. She is homeported at Naval Surface Warfare Center, Port Hueneme Division, located at Naval Base Ventura County in Southern California. (U.S. Navy photo by Eric Parsons/Released)

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.