Ticonderoga-class cruiser

The Ticonderoga class of guided-missile cruisers is a class of warships in the United States Navy, first ordered and authorized in the 1978 fiscal year. The class uses passive phased-array radar and was originally planned as a class of destroyers. However, the increased combat capability offered by the Aegis Combat System and the AN/SPY-1 radar system, together with the capability of operating as a flagship, were used to justify the change of the classification from DDG (guided missile destroyer) to CG (guided-missile cruiser) shortly before the keels were laid down for Ticonderoga and Yorktown.

This article is about an American guided-missile cruiser class authorized in 1978. For other uses, see Ticonderoga (disambiguation).
USS Bunker Hill transiting in the Atlantic Ocean in 2010.
Class overview
Name: Ticonderoga class
Builders:
Operators:  United States Navy
Preceded by:
Succeeded by:
Built: 1980–1994
In commission: 1983–present
Completed: 27
Active: 22
Laid up: 2
Retired: 5
General characteristics
Type: Guided missile cruiser
Displacement: Approx. 9,600 long tons (9,800 t) full load
Length: 567 feet (173 m)
Beam: 55 feet (16.8 meters)
Draft: 34 feet (10.2 meters)
Propulsion:
Speed: 32.5 knots (60 km/h; 37.4 mph)
Range: 6,000 nmi (11,000 km) at 20 kn (37 km/h); 3,300 nmi (6,100 km) at 30 kn (56 km/h).
Complement: 30 officers and 300 enlisted
Sensors and
processing systems:
Electronic warfare
& decoys:
Armament:
Armor: Limited Kevlar splinter protection in critical areas
Aircraft carried: 2 × Sikorsky SH-60B or MH-60R Seahawk LAMPS III helicopters.

Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruisers are multi-role warships. Their Mk 41 VLS can launch Tomahawk cruise missiles to strike strategic or tactical targets, or fire long-range antiaircraft Standard missiles for defense against aircraft or anti-ship missiles. Their LAMPS III helicopters and sonar systems allow them to perform antisubmarine missions. Ticonderoga-class ships are designed to be elements of carrier battle groups or amphibious ready groups, as well as performing missions such as interdiction or escort.[1] With upgrades to their AN/SPY-1 phased radar systems and their associated missile payloads as part of the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System, members of this class have, in successive tests, repeatedly demonstrated their proficiency as mobile anti-ballistic missile and anti-satellite weaponry platforms.

Of the 27 completed vessels, 19 were built by Ingalls Shipbuilding and eight by Bath Iron Works (BIW). All but one (Thomas S. Gates) of the ships in the class are named for noteworthy events in U.S. military history, and at least twelve share their names with World War II-era aircraft carriers. As of 2020, 22 ships are still active and expected to serve for 35 years since commissioning.

History

The Ticonderoga-class was originally ordered as guided missile destroyers, with the designation DDG-47. These ships were intended to be lower cost platforms for the new Aegis combat system by mounting the system on a hull based on that of the Spruance-class destroyer. They would complement the much larger and more capable Strike Cruiser (CSGN) design. With the cancellation of the Strike Cruiser as well as the scaled down CGN-42 (Virginia-class cruiser hull) alternative, some of the requirements were transferred to the DDG-47, and the class was eventually re-designated as guided missile cruisers, CG-47, to reflect the additional flagship capabilities.[2] Ships of the class from CG-52 onwards were equipped with the Mk. 41 vertical launch system.

As the Aegis combat system and the additional cruiser roles added substantial weight to the Spruance-derived hull, the design had limited growth potential in terms of weight and power margin. In the 1980s, a design study known as Cruiser Baseline (CGBL) was created to accommodate the capabilities of CG-52 (Mk. 41-equipped ships of the Ticonderoga class) on a hull with design and construction techniques matching the DDG-51 (Arleigh Burke-class destroyer) for improved survivability and weight allowances.

Proposed early retirement

Due to Budget Control Act of 2011 requirements to cut the Defense Budget for FY2013 and subsequent years, plans were being considered to decommission some of the Ticonderoga-class cruisers.[3] For the U.S. Defense 2013 Budget Proposal, the U.S. Navy was to decommission seven cruisers early in fiscal years 2013 and 2014.[4]

Because of these retirements, the U.S. Navy was expected to fall short of its requirement for 94 missile defense cruisers and destroyers beginning in FY 2025 and continuing past the end of the 30-year planning period. While this is a new requirement as of 2011, and the U.S. Navy has historically never had so many large missile-armed surface combatants, the relative success of the AEGIS ballistic missile defense system has shifted this national security requirement onto the U.S. Navy.[5] Critics had charged that the early retirement of these cruisers would leave the Navy's ship fleet too small for the nation's defense tasks as the U.S. enacts a policy of "pivot" to the Western Pacific, a predominantly maritime theater. The U.S. House of Representatives passed a budget bill to require that these cruisers instead be refitted to handle the missile defense role.[6]

By October 2012, the U.S. Navy had decided not to retire four of the cruisers early in order to maintain the size of the fleet. Four Ticonderoga-class cruisers, plus 21 Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, are scheduled to be equipped for antiballistic missile and antisatellite operations.[7]

In March 2019, the Navy proposed decommissioning the six oldest of the active ships; Bunker Hill, Mobile Bay, Antietam, Leyte Gulf, San Jacinto and Lake Champlain, in 2021 and 2022, instead of dry-docking them for life-extension maintenance updates, as a cost-saving measure. This wouldn't technically be an "early retirement", as the ships would be at their originally planned 35-year life dates, but they would be able to serve longer with the upgrades. The proposal still needs the approval of Congress, which is usually hesitant to approve any actions that would reduce the size of the active combat fleet.[8]

Scheduled decommissionings

In December 2020 the U.S. Navy's Report to Congress on the Annual Long-Range Plan for Construction of Naval Vessels stated that the following ships were planned to be placed Out of Commission in Reserve;[9]

2022
San Jacinto (CG-56), Monterey (CG-61),
Hué City (CG-66), Anzio (CG-68),
Vella Gulf (CG-72), Port Royal (CG-73)
2023
Bunker Hill (CG-52), Mobile Bay (CG-53)
2024
Antietam (CG-54), Shiloh (CG-67)
2026
Chancellorsville (CG-62)

Design
Bunker Hill (rear) with Lekir of the Royal Malaysian Navy during a passing exercise in the Strait of Malacca

The Ticonderoga-class cruiser's design was based on that of the Spruance-class destroyer.[1] The Ticonderoga class introduced a new generation of guided missile warships based on the Aegis phased array radar that is capable of simultaneously scanning for threats, tracking targets, and guiding missiles to interception. When they were designed, they had the most powerful electronic warfare equipment in the U.S. Navy, as well as the most advanced underwater surveillance system. These ships were one of the first classes of warships to be built in modules, rather than being assembled from the bottom up.[1]

The greater size and equipment on the CG-47–class warships increased displacement from 6,900 tons of the DD-963–class destroyers to 9,600 tons of displacement for the heavier cruisers. Aegis cruisers can steam in any ocean and conduct multi-warfare operations anywhere. Some cruisers reported some structural problems in early service after extended periods in extremely heavy seas; they were generally corrected from the late 1980s to the mid-1990s. Several ships had superstructure cracks, which were repaired.

These ships' superstructures were a modification of that on the Spruance-class destroyers and were required to support two deck-houses (one forward for antennas forward and starboard), and the aft deck-house housed the aft and port antenna arrays. The later Arleigh Burke-class Aegis destroyers are designed from the keel up to carry the SPY-1D radars and have them all clustered together on the forward deck-house, saving space and weight and simplifying cooling requirements. Radar support equipment is closer together, minimizing cable runs and concentrating support equipment.

Ticonderoga–class cruisers were built on the same hull as the Spruance-class destroyer.

Operations research was used to study manpower requirements on the Ticonderoga class. It was found that four officers and 44 enlisted sailors could be removed from the ship's complement by removing traditional posts that had been made obsolete.[1] However, manpower savings achieved by eliminating the very manpower-intensive Mk 26 guided missile system and replacing it with the far more capable and versatile MK 41 Vertical Launching System (VLS) were harder to emulate with the Mk 45 127 mm (5") gun systems. The Aegis Cruisers are "double-enders", and along with the Zumwalt-class, are the only surface combatants in the fleet that can employ two large caliber guns simultaneously.

Vertical Launching System
See also: Vertical Launching System
An overhead view of the Ticonderoga class Lake Champlain, with VLS visible fore and aft as the gray boxes near the bow and stern of the ship.
The older Ticonderoga with the pre-VLS twin-arm launchers visible fore and aft.

In addition to the added radar capability, the Ticonderoga-class ships built after USS Thomas S. Gates included two Mark 41 Vertical Launching Systems (VLS). The two VLS allow the ship to have 122 missile storage and launching tubes that can carry a wide variety of missiles, including the Tomahawk cruise missile, Standard surface-to-air missile, Evolved Sea Sparrow surface-to-air missile, and ASROC antisubmarine warfare (ASW) guided rockets. More importantly, the VLS enables all missiles to be on full standby at any given time, shortening the warship's response time before firing. The original five ships (Ticonderoga, Yorktown, Vincennes, Valley Forge, and Thomas S. Gates) had Mark 26 twin-arm launchers that limited their missile capacity to a total of 88 missiles, and that could not fire the Tomahawk missile. After the end of the Cold War, the lower capabilities of the original five warships limited them to duties close to the home waters of the United States.

A standard missile loadout for a Ticonderoga cruiser is 80 SM-2 SAMs, 16 ASROC anti-submarine rockets, and 26 Tomahawk cruise missiles.[10]

Upgrades

Originally, the U.S. Navy had intended to replace its fleet of Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruisers with cruisers produced as part of the CG(X) missile cruiser program; however, severe budget cuts from the 21st century surface combatant program coupled with the increasing cost of the Zumwalt-class guided missile destroyer program resulted in the CG(X) program being canceled. The Ticonderoga-class cruisers were instead to be replaced by Flight III Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers.[11]

All five of the twin-arm (Mk-26) cruisers have been decommissioned. In 2003, the newer 22 of the 27 ships (CG-52 to CG-73) in the class were upgraded to keep them combat-relevant, giving the ships a service life of 35 years.[12] In the years leading up to their decommissioning, the five twin-arm ships had been assigned primarily home-waters duties, acting as command ships for destroyer squadrons assigned to the eastern Pacific and western Atlantic areas.

As of July 2013 12 cruisers have completed hull, mechanical, and electrical (HM&E) upgrades and 8 cruisers have had combat systems upgrades. These include an upgrade of the AEGIS computational system with new computers and equipment cabinets, the SPQ-9B radar system upgrade introducing an increased capability over just gunfire control, some optical fiber data communications and software upgrades, and modifications to the vertical launch system allowing two 8 cell modules to fire the RIM-162 ESSM. The most recent upgrade packages will include SM-6 and Naval Integrated Fire Control – Counter Air (NIFC-CA) capability. Another upgrade is improving the SQQ-89A(V)15 sonar with a multi-function towed array. Hull, sonar, radar, electrical, computer, and weapons systems upgrades can cost up to $250 million per ship.[13][14]

In its 2015 budget request, the Navy outlined a plan to operate 11 cruisers, while the other 11 were upgraded to a new standard. The upgraded cruisers would then start replacing the older ships, which would be retired starting in 2019.[15] This would retain one cruiser per CVN group to host the group's air warfare commander, a role for which the DDGs do not have sufficient facilities. Flight III Arleigh Burke destroyers equipped with the Air Missile Defense Radar give enhanced coverage, but putting the radar on standard DDG hulls does not allow enough room for extra staff and command and control facilities for the air warfare commander; DDGs can be used tactically for air defense, but they augment CGs that provide command and control in a battle group and are more used for other missions such as defending other fleet units and keeping sea lanes open. Congress opposed the plan on the grounds that it makes it easier for Navy officials to completely retire the ships once out of service; the Navy would have to retire all cruisers from the fleet by 2028 if all are kept in service, while deactivating half and gradually returning them into service could make 11 cruisers last from 2035 to 2045. There is no current CG replacement program, as most funding is committed to the Columbia-class submarine, so work on a new cruiser is expected to begin in the mid-2020s, and begin fielding by the mid-2030s.[16]

Service

Downing of Iran Air Flight 655
Main article: Iran Air Flight 655

One ship of the class, Vincennes, achieved notoriety in 1988 when, in the midst of a running gun battle with Iranian Revolutionary Guard gunboats, she shot down Iran Air Flight 655, resulting in 290 civilian deaths.[17][18] The commanding officer of USS Vincennes, William C. Rogers III, believed the airliner to be an Iranian Air Force F-14 Tomcat fighter jet on an attack vector, based on mis-reported radar returns. The investigation report recommended that the AEGIS large screen display be changed to allow the display of altitude information on plots, and that stress factors on personnel using AEGIS be studied.[19]

Interception of United States satellite USA-193
Main article: Operation Burnt Frost

On 14 February 2008, the United States Department of Defense announced that Lake Erie would attempt to hit the dead satellite USA-193 over the North Pacific Ocean just before it would burn up on reentry.[20][21] On 20 February 2008, at approximately 22:30 EST (21 February, 03:30 UTC), an SM-3 missile was fired from Lake Erie and struck the satellite. The military intended that the missile's kinetic energy would rupture the hydrazine fuel tank allowing the toxic fuel to be consumed during re-entry.[22] The Department of Defense confirmed that the fuel tank had been directly hit by the missile.[23]

Ships in class
Name Hull no. Builder Laid down Launched Commissioned Decommissioned Homeport Status
Mark-26 twin-arm missile launcher variant
Ticonderoga CG-47 Ingalls Shipbuilding 21 January 1980 25 April 1981 22 January 1983 30 September 2004 Scrapped in Brownsville, Texas, 2020
Yorktown CG-48 Ingalls Shipbuilding 19 October 1981 17 January 1983 4 July 1984 10 December 2004 Awaiting scrapping
Vincennes CG-49 Ingalls Shipbuilding 19 October 1982 14 January 1984 6 July 1985 29 June 2005 Scrapped 2011
Valley Forge CG-50 Ingalls Shipbuilding 14 April 1983 23 June 1984 18 January 1986 30 August 2004 Sunk as target 2006
Thomas S. Gates CG-51 Bath Iron Works 31 August 1984 14 December 1985 22 August 1987 16 December 2005 Scrapped 2017
Mark-41 Vertical Launch System (VLS) Variant
Bunker Hill CG-52 Ingalls Shipbuilding 11 January 1984 11 March 1985 20 September 1986 Planned 2023 San Diego, California in active service
Mobile Bay CG-53 Ingalls Shipbuilding 6 June 1984 22 August 1985 21 February 1987 Planned 2023 San Diego, California in active service
Antietam CG-54 Ingalls Shipbuilding 15 November 1984 14 February 1986 6 June 1987 Planned 2024 Yokosuka, Japan in active service
Leyte Gulf CG-55 Ingalls Shipbuilding 18 March 1985 20 June 1986 26 September 1987 Norfolk, Virginia in active service
San Jacinto CG-56 Ingalls Shipbuilding 24 July 1985 14 November 1986 23 January 1988 Planned 2022 Norfolk, Virginia in active service
Lake Champlain CG-57 Ingalls Shipbuilding 3 March 1986 3 April 1987 12 August 1988 San Diego, California in active service
Philippine Sea CG-58 Bath Iron Works 8 April 1986 12 July 1987 18 March 1989 Mayport, Florida in active service
Princeton CG-59 Ingalls Shipbuilding 15 October 1986 2 October 1987 11 February 1989 San Diego, California in active service
Normandy CG-60 Bath Iron Works 7 April 1987 19 March 1988 9 December 1989 Norfolk, Virginia in active service
Monterey CG-61 Bath Iron Works 19 August 1987 23 October 1988 16 June 1990 Planned 2022 Norfolk, Virginia in active service
Chancellorsville CG-62 Ingalls Shipbuilding 24 June 1987 15 July 1988 4 November 1989 Planned 2022 Yokosuka, Japan in active service
Cowpens CG-63 Bath Iron Works 23 December 1987 11 March 1989 9 March 1991 San Diego, California in active service
Gettysburg CG-64 Bath Iron Works August 17, 1988 22 July 1989 22 June 1991 Mayport, Florida in active service
Chosin CG-65 Ingalls Shipbuilding 22 July 1988 1 September 1989 12 January 1991 San Diego, California in active service
Hué City CG-66 Ingalls Shipbuilding 20 February 1989 1 June 1990 14 September 1991 Planned 2022 Mayport, Florida in active service
Shiloh CG-67 Bath Iron Works 1 August 1989 8 September 1990 18 July 1992 Planned 2024 Yokosuka, Japan in active service
Anzio CG-68 Ingalls Shipbuilding 21 August 1989 2 November 1990 2 May 1992 Planned 2022 Norfolk, Virginia in active service
Vicksburg
(ex-Port Royal)		 CG-69 Ingalls Shipbuilding 30 May 1990 2 August 1991 14 November 1992 Mayport, Florida in active service
Lake Erie CG-70 Bath Iron Works 6 March 1990 13 July 1991 10 May 1993 San Diego, California in active service
Cape St. George CG-71 Ingalls Shipbuilding 19 November 1990 10 January 1992 12 June 1993 San Diego, California in active service
Vella Gulf CG-72 Ingalls Shipbuilding 22 April 1991 13 June 1992 18 September 1993 Planned 2022 Norfolk, Virginia in active service
Port Royal CG-73 Ingalls Shipbuilding 18 October 1991 20 November 1992 4 July 1994 Planned 2022 Pearl Harbor, Hawaii in active service

See also

Notes

    References
    1. "CG-47 Ticonderoga (class)". Federation of American Scientists. Archived from the original on 7 May 2015. Retrieved 26 April 2015.
    2. Friedman, Norman (1984). U.S. CRUISERS An Illustrated Design History. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. pp. 419–422.
    3. Cavas, Christopher P. (26 January 2012). "Navy avoids most of Pentagon's latest cuts". Navy Times. Retrieved 25 April 2015.
    4. Fellman, Sam (13 February 2012). "Navy budget request avoids deep cuts". Navy Times. Retrieved 25 April 2015.
    5. O'Rourke, Ronald. "CRS-RL32109 Navy DDG-51 and DDG-1000 Destroyer Programs: Background and Issues for Congress." Archived 2013-09-11 at the Wayback Machine Congressional Research Service, 2 March 2012.
    6. Dutton, Nick (28 May 2012). "US Navy: 'Hollow' force or 'the best in the world'?". WTVR 6. CNN. Archived from the original on 8 January 2016. Retrieved 25 April 2015.
    7. "American Cruisers Not Allowed To Retire". Strategypage.com. 2 October 2012. Archived from the original on 8 January 2016. Retrieved 25 April 2015.
    8. "Once again, the US Navy looks to scrap its largest combatants to save money". defensenews.com. 18 March 2019. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
    9. "Report to Congress on the Annual Long-Range Plan for Construction of Naval Vessels" (PDF). Office of the Chief of Naval Operations. 9 December 2020. p. 16. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
    10. Comparison: Russian Navy Slava-class and US Navy Ticonderoga-class Cruisers in Combat Archived 2016-03-14 at the Wayback Machine - Navyrecognition.com, 12 March 2016
    11. "Navy DDG-51 and DDG-1000 Destroyer Programs: Background and Issues for Congress". Open CRS. Archived from the original on October 4, 2011. Retrieved 2011-12-28.
    12. "The Ticonderoga (CG 47) - Class". navysite.de. Archived from the original on 27 April 2015. Retrieved 25 April 2015.
    13. Osborn, Kris (9 July 2013). "Navy Upgrades More Than a Third of Cruisers". DoDBuzz.com. Archived from the original on 22 May 2015. Retrieved 25 April 2015.
    14. NAVEDTRA 14324A, Gunner's Mate, Chapter 7.
    15. Axe, David (13 March 2014). "The Navy's New Cruiser Is … the Navy's Old Cruiser". medium.com. War is Boring. Archived from the original on 13 March 2014. Retrieved 13 March 2014.
    16. Cavas, Christopher P. (6 July 2014). "US Navy's Cruiser Problem". www.defensenews.com. Gannett Government Media. Retrieved 6 July 2014.
    17. David, Crist (2013). The twilight war : the secret history of America's thirty-year conflict with Iran. New York. ISBN 9780143123675. OCLC 852699041.
    18. McCarthy, Julian Daniel (1991). U.S.S. Vincennes (CG 49) shootdown of Iran Air Flight. Dudley Knox Library Naval Postgraduate School. Springfield, Va. : Available from the National Technical Information Service. Archived from the original on 2019-06-22. Retrieved 2018-07-21.
    19. Fogarty, William M. (28 July 1988). Formal Investigation into the Circumstances Surrounding the Downing of Iran Air Flight 655 on July 3, 1988 (PDF) (Report). CM-1485-88 / 93-FOI-0184. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 September 2012. Retrieved 28 February 2012.
    20. Mount, Mike (14 February 2008). "Officials: U.S. to try to shoot down errant satellite". CNN. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 25 April 2015.
    21. Roberts, Kristin (14 February 2008). "Pentagon plans to shoot down disabled satellite". Reuters. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 25 April 2015.
    22. Shanker, Thom (21 February 2008). "Missile Strikes a Spy Satellite Falling From Its Orbit". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 17 March 2015. Retrieved 25 April 2015.
    23. "Navy Succeeds In Intercepting Non-Functioning Satellite". NNS. 20 February 2008. Archived from the original on 25 February 2008. Retrieved 25 April 2015.
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