Tag Archives: USS Mobile Bay (CG-53)

VS22 Looking Flat

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It is just a little bit over 80 years after the Plum/Pensacola/Republic Convoy was ordered to make for Australia instead of reinforcing the Philippines– a good call because the 2,000 mobilized National Guardsmen and two warships (the cruiser USS Pensacola and gunboat USS Niagra) of Task Group 15.5 would have had little-to-no effect on the disastrous Dec. 1941-May 42 Fall of the Philippines, only adding to the number of 78,000 surrendered American and Allied troops.

However, in a reboot of naval power on display, Valiant Shield 2022 was just held in the Philippine Sea and the ninth biennial U.S.-only exercise was a decent show of strength, at least in terms of carrier power.

VS22 this year included both two carrier strike groups —USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) with Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 5 embarked, and USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) with CVW 9 embarked– along with USS Tripoli (LHA-7), the latter of which recently showed off a 16-strong F-35B loadout as part of the “Lightning Carrier” concept.

Roll that beautiful bean footage:

How about those stills: 

(U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Gray Gibson)

(U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Gray Gibson)

(U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Gray Gibson)

(U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Gray Gibson)

On the downside, I would love to see two or three times that amount of escorts around three flattops, as the carriers are only trailed by two elderly Ticos (which are soon to be retired)– USS Mobile Bay (CG 53) and USS Antietam (CG 54)— and three Burkes: USS Benfold (DDG 65), USS Spruance (DDG 111), and the recently-rebuilt USS Fitzgerald (DDG 62).

It really is sad that the vast squadrons of CGNs, CG-converted DLGs, DDG-2s, Spru-Cans, Knoxes, and FFG-7s were slaughtered in the 1990s and early 2000s without replacement other than the Navy continuing to order $1.8-Billion-per-hull Burkes.

Appropriately, the pinnacle event of VS22 was the sinking exercise (SINKEX) on the decommissioned FFG-7, ex-USS Vandegrift (FFG 48).

Fab Flattop Five! 365K tons of Good Times

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What do you get when you take two 105,000-ton supercarriers, add two chunky 42,000-ton Goula-built LHD/LHAs, and a 20,000-ton Japanese “helicopter destroyer” along with their five principal surface warfare escorts in one big photo-ex? 

This: 

PHILIPPINE SEA (Jan. 22, 2022) Aircraft assigned to Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 2 and CVW 9 fly over the Philippine Sea, Jan. 22, 2022. Operating as part of U.S. Pacific Fleet, units assigned to the Carl Vinson and Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Groups, Essex and America Amphibious Ready Groups, and Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force are conducting training to preserve and protect a free and open Indo-Pacific region. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Haydn N. Smith)

PHILIPPINE SEA (Jan. 22, 2022) Aircraft assigned to Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 2, CVW 9, and the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) fly over the Philippine Sea as Nimitz-class aircraft carriers USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) and USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72), JMSDF Hyuga-class helicopter destroyer JS Hyuga (DDH 181), America-class amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA 6), Wasp-class landing helicopter dock USS Essex (LHD 2), Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers USS Spruance (DDG 111), USS Chafe (DDG 90), and USS Gridley (DDG 101) and the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruisers USS Mobile Bay (CG 53) and USS Lake Champlain (CG 57) transit the Philippine Sea Jan. 22, 2022.

“Operating as part of U.S. Pacific Fleet, units assigned to Carl Vinson and Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Groups, America and Essex Amphibious Ready Groups alongside Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, are conducting training to preserve and protect a free and open Indo-Pacific region.”

(U.S. Navy video)

Bon chance!

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While the Mississippi Dixiecrat lawmaker John C. Stennis and the founder of the Fifth Republic of France Charles de Gaulle probably wouldn’t have played well together in many cases, their namesake modern nuclear-powered supercarriers seem to do just fine.

A great series of images were released this week from a passing exercise held Monday (15APR), where the John C. Stennis (CVN 74) Strike Group/Carrier Strike Group 3 was able to maneuver and cooperate with the French Marine Nationale’s Charles de Gaulle Carrier Strike Group in the Red Sea. Commanded by Rear Adm. Olivier Lebas (Fr) and Rear Adm. Michael Wettlaufer (USN), besides the two carriers their escorts included the guided-missile destroyer USS McFaul (DDG 74), and the guided-missile cruiser USS Mobile Bay (CG 53) on the U.S. side, and the French air defense destroyer FS Forbin (D 620) along with the attached Royal Danish Navy frigate HDMS Niels Juel (F 363) accompanying De Gaulle. (Below U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Joshua L. Leonard and Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Skyler Okerman)

Enjoy!

Note the spread of U.S. and French E-2 Hawkeyes as bookends, sandwiching F-18Es and Dassault Rafale Ms. Of note, while De Gaulle was in her refit over the past several years, the French worked up on U.S. carriers, so there is a lot of common knowledge between the two forces

 

Mobile Bay at 30: Still a brawler

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Mobile Bay was ordered from Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula on 15 January 1982. She was laid down on 6 June 1984, launched on 22 August 1985 and commissioned on 21 February 1987. At 30-years young, she is still worth keeping around. Photo Caption: (Oct. 22, 2017) The guided-missile cruiser USS Mobile Bay (CG 53) sails past Port Hueneme, Calif. after the successful transport of passengers and equipment to and from the ship. Mobile Bay is currently underway testing the updated AEGIS Baseline 9 weapons system in preparation for its upcoming deployment. (U.S Navy Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Chad M. Butler/Released)

Defense News has a great piece about USS Mobile Bay (CG-53) an aging Ticonderoga-class Aegis cruiser, one of the most senior of her class, set to be decommissioned as early as 2020. However, with new Baseline 9 software enhancements, she is no “ghetto” warship on her last legs ready to push, pull or drag to mothballs, but one of the most potent missile slingers in the world.

“Right now, on a 30-year-old ship, I have the most capable combat system,” said Capt. Jim Storm. “It was a pretty powerful moment when we were sitting on the pier directly across from a destroyer that had just got commissioned two weeks prior – we were gearing up for our MISSILE-EX. I was able to tell my crew that when we deploy, based on where we are going and the threats we’ll be facing, I’d rather be on this ship than that one. That’s a pretty powerful thing to be able to tell your crew, it’s something to get excited about.”

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