Tico
History and Info
The
USS Ticonderoga CG 47 was decommissioned on Thursday, September 30th,
2004. For news, commentary, and pictures, check this page: Decommissioning
info.
When the Department
of Navy announced in February, 1980 that the lead ship of a new class
of AEGIS-equipped, guided missile cruisers would be called TICONDEROGA,
it marked the fifth time in U.S. Navy history that a ship would bear
that historic name. The newest ship was named, not after the great stone
fortress itself, but in commemoration of the capture of Fort Ticonderoga
on 10 May, 1775 by Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys. One of the
first military successes in the Revolutionary War, the seizure of the
fort provided desperately needed cannons and supplies that were hauled
over the New England mountains to George Washington's army surrounding
Boston and eventually led to the withdrawal of the British. Today, Fort
Ticonderoga, restored to her pre- Revolutionary War grandeur, sits on
the southern banks of Lake Champlain on the eastern border of New York
State.
Click these
links to go to short history write-ups for each of the Ticonderoga ships:
USS Ticonderoga CG 47 (1981-present)
USS Ticonderoga CV 14 (1944-1974)
USS Ticonderoga (1917-1918)
USS Ticonderoga (1863-1887)
USS Ticonderoga (1814-1825)
THE
CONSTRUCTION OF USS TICONDEROGA (CG 47)
The
commissioning of the USS TICONDEROGA (CG 47) is a momentous occasion
for the nation and the Navy.
Authorized in Fiscal Year
1978, TICONDEROGA's keel laying ceremony occurred on 27 January 1980.
Over the next three years, Combat Systems Engineers and Computer Technicians,
as well as riveters, welders and Propulsion Engineers worked together
as members of a unique team to create this formidable warship. On 25
April 1981, TICONDEROGA was launched, and for the first time was afloat
in her natural environment. The following month, on 16 May 1981, the
then First Lady, Mrs. Nancy Reagan, the ship's sponsor, accompanied
by military and civilian dignitaries, christened TICONDEROGA, with some
9,000 people in attendance. An extensive test and check-out effort and
outfitting period was then undertaken as the mighty hull was brought
to life. TICONDEROGA men arrived in Pascagoula in July 1981 and crew
training, certification and systems check-out were underway. Sea trials
were held in May, August, and November of 1982. During the first trial,
TICONDEROGA's propulsion systems were stringently tested, passing with
flying colors. The new cruiser accomplished a four-hour run at full
power, achieving a speed in excess of 30 knots.
On its second trial, TICONDEROGA
and her Navy crew accomplished an unprecedented "Navy First." She flexed
her muscles for the first time, 6 months prior to commissioning, by
successfully firing every weapon system on board. This included two
Anti-Surface Harpoon Blast Test Missiles, 11 Surface-to-Air Blast Test
Missiles, 5"/54-Caliber Gun Ammunition, CIWS and, finally, two Standard
Surface-to-Air Missiles against drone air targets off Eglin Missile
Range. The latter was a complete success, and the TICONDEROGA, "the
First and Formidable," had truly accomplished a "first" with TICONDEROGA
men manning and firing the combat system in cooperation with Ingalls'
employees and civilian contractors.
TICONDEROGA was delivered
to the Navy on 13 December 1982. Following commissioning, she moved
to Norfolk, her home port. During the next year, CG 47 was scheduled
to participate in extensive Combat System and Engineering Exercises,
as well as intensive single ship and Battle Group readiness evolutions.
She returnd to Pascagoula in the Summer for a six-week Post-Shakedown
Availability.
Cruiser construction went
on in the shipyard as it continued to build the second, third, and fourth
TICONDEROGA Class cruisers. But for TICONDEROGA, it was time to undertake
the duty for which she was built, as she brought her strength and power
into the service for her country. TICONDEROGA sailed from Pascagoula
in February, truly "Combat Ready," with a demanding schedule ahead,
and with the knowledge that her systems, construction, and the TICONDEROGA
men who man her are the very best. "Stand by Admiral Gorshkov, AEGIS
is at sea."
TICONDEROGA was built in
sections, called modules, which allowed improved access to all areas
of the ship during construction. The modules were then moved together
to form the hull of the ship, and the deckhouse sections were then lifted
aboard. For launching, the ship was moved several hundred yards across
land to the floating dry dock, which was used to actually launch the
ship.
CHRISTENING OF USS TICONDEROGA
(CG 47) 16 MAY 1981
Mrs. Nancy Reagan, America's
then First Lady, smashed a champagne bottle across the bow of TICONDEROGA
(CG 47) on Armed Forces Day 1981 at Ingalls Shipbuilding Division of
Litton Industries in Pascagoula, Mississippi.
The christening of a ship
is a time-honored tradition. Ever since man first set out upon the ocean
and felt the fury of the sea, he has known the need for spiritual blessing
upon his ship. The sponsoring of a ship is a great honor and a great
responsibility. At christening, the sponsor enters into a very special
relationship with her ship, which lasts throughout the ship's entire
life.
SHIP CHARACTERISTICS
LENGTH 563 Feet DISPLACEMENT 9,600 Tons
BEAM 55 Feet ACCOMMODATIONS 33 Officers,
DRAFT (KEEL) 24 Feet 27 Chief Petty Officers,
DRAFT (NAVIGATION) 32 Feet 306 Enlisted
PROPULSION
4 General Electric LM-2500 Gas Turbine Engines (80,000
Shaft Horsepower)
2 Controllable-Reversible Pitch Propellers
2 Rudders
SPEED
30+ Knots
SENSORS
1 AN/SPY-1A Radar (Four Arrays)
1 AN/SPS-49 Air Search Radar
1 AN/SPS-55 Surface Search Radar
1 AN/SPQ-9 Surface Surveillance and Tracking Radar
4 AN/SPG-62 Illuminators
1 AN/SQS-53A SONAR
1 AN/SLQ-32(V)3 Electronic Warfare Suite
WEAPONS
1 MK 7 MOD 3 AEGIS Weapons System
2 MK 45 5"/54-Caliber Lightweight Gun Mounts
2 MK 26 Guided Missile Launchers
2 Harpoon Missile Quad-Canister Launchers
2 MK 32 MOD 14 Torpedo Tubes
1 MK 15 MOD 2 Close-in-Weapons Systems (CIWS) (2 Mounts)
1 MK 36 MOD 2 Super Rapid-Blooming Off-Board Chaff System
2 50-Caliber Machine Guns
COMMAND AND CONTROL
MK 1 MOD 0 AEGIS Display Group
USS
Ticonderoga CG 47 (1981-present)
USS Ticonderoga CV 14 (1944-1974)
USS Ticonderoga (1917-1918)
USS Ticonderoga (1863-1887)
USS Ticonderoga (1814-1825)
USS
Ticonderoga (CV-14, later CVA-14 & CVS-14), 1944-1974
USS
Ticonderoga, lead ship of a class of modified 27100-ton Essex class
aircraft carriers, was built at Newport News, Virginia. She was commissioned
in May 1944 and made a West Indies shakedown cruise prior to transiting
the Panama Canal to the Pacific in early September. During the next
few months, Ticonderoga transported aircraft to Hawaii, took part in
underway ordnance replenishment experiments and trained her crew and
air group for participation in the war against Japan. After steaming
to the western Pacific in October, the carrier launched her first strikes
on 5 November 1944, hitting targets ashore and afloat in the northern
Philippines area. As part of Task Force 38, she continued her attacks
in the vicinity for the next two months, riding out a major typhoon
in mid-December.
In January 1945,
Ticonderoga took part in raids against Japanese assets in Indochina,
China, Luzon and Formosa. Hit by two "Kamikaze" suicide planes on 21
January, she lost over 140 crewmen and had to go to the U.S. for repairs.
Ticonderoga returned to the combat area in late May. For the remaining
two and a half months of the Pacific War, her planes made regular attacks
on the Japanese home islands. From September 1945 into January 1946,
she transported veterans home across the Pacific. Inactive after that,
Ticonderoga was decommissioned at the Puget Sound Navy Yard in January
1947.
Five years later,
Ticonderoga was temporarily reactivated and sent to the New York Naval
Shipyard to receive an extensive SCB-27C modernization. Redesignated
CVA-14, she recommissioned in September 1954 and served with the Atlantic
Fleet for two years, making one Mediterranean deployment in 1955-56.
More modifications followed in 1956-57, providing an angled flight deck
and enclosed bow to fully suit her to operate high-performance jet aircraft.
She then returned to the west coast, her home for the rest of her career.
Ticonderoga
deployed ten times to the western Pacific in 1957-69. In August 1964,
during her sixth WestPac cruise, her planes participated in air strikes
against North Vietnamese targets during the "Tonkin Gulf Incident",
where TICONDEROGA found herself in the South China Sea launching aircraft
to help defend the US Navy destroyers TURNER JOY and MADDOX from attack
by North Vietnamese PT boats. This action gradually led to massive U.S.
involvement in Southeast Asian combat operations. She made five more
combat deployments during the Viet Nam War before being converted to
an Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) aircraft carrier (CVS-14) in 1970. Vietnam
War missions dominated Ticonderoga's next four Seventh Fleet deployments.
In October 1969,
she was redesignated CVS-14 and converted to an antisubmarine warfare
support carrier. The ship made two more cruises to Asian waters in that
capacity. In 1972, she took part in space flight recovery efforts for
the Apollo 16 and 17 Moon flights. Decommissioned in September 1973;
having earned five battle stars in World War II and three Navy Unit
Commendations, one Meritorious Unit Commendation, and 12 battle stars
in the Vietnam War; USS Ticonderoga was sold for scrapping a year later.
http://www.hazegray.org/danfs/carriers/cv14.htm
USS Ticonderoga
CG 47 (1981-present)
USS Ticonderoga CV 14 (1944-1974)
USS Ticonderoga (1917-1918)
USS Ticonderoga (1863-1887)
USS Ticonderoga (1814-1825)
USS Ticonderoga (1917-1918)
The third USS TICONDEROGA was a captured, German built, merchant ship
that was put into service to carry animals, troops, and supplies to
Europe in World War I. On September 22nd, 1918, during her third crossing
to Europe, TICONDEROGA developed engine troubles and fell behind her
convoy. A German submarine, U-152, soon found her and prepared to attack.
TICONDEROGA reacted quickly and attempted to ram the surfaced submarine.
Nearly missing the sub, a two hour running gun battle resulted that
eventually knocked out both of TICONDEROGA's deck guns, killed or wounded
almost all of the crew and passengers and left the ship taking on water.
The commanding officer, nearly faint from the loss of blood and his
ship's decks nearly awash, ordered the ship abandoned. She subsequently
sank.
Of the 237 sailors and soldiers
embarked only 24 survived. Two officers were taken prisoner and held
onboard U-152 for the remaining two months of the war. The other 22
survivors spent four days in one lifeboat until a passing ship picked
them up. The commanding officer, LCDR James J. Madison, was awarded
the Congressional Medal of Honor for his gallantry.
USS Ticonderoga
CG 47 (1981-present)
USS Ticonderoga CV 14 (1944-1974)
USS Ticonderoga (1917-1918)
USS Ticonderoga (1863-1887)
USS Ticonderoga (1814-1825)
USS
Ticonderoga (1863-1887)
USS
Ticonderoga, a 2526-ton Lackawanna class screw sloop of war built at
the New York Navy Yard, Brooklyn, New York, was commissioned in May
1863. From June into September, she operated in the West Indies, guarding
against Confederate raiders, and performed the same role in the northwestern
Atlantic during October 1863 to July 1864.
She was then directed to
search for the Confederate cruiser CSS Florida, work that continued
until October. Assigned to the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron in
the next month, Ticonderoga participated in the December 1864 and January
1865 attacks on Fort Fisher, North Carolina. Her Civil War service ended
with a brief tour with the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron in January-March
1865, after which she was placed out of commission.
Ticonderoga went back into
active service in 1866, after modifications to her rig, and was sent
to European waters. She operated there, in the Mediterranean and off
Africa until 1869, when she returned home for refit. In 1871-73, the
ship served along South America's Atlantic coast, then spent much of
1874 with the North Atlantic Squadron. Out of commission from October
1874 until November 1878, Ticonderoga's next mission was an eastbound
cruise around the World, travelling over 36,000 miles and visiting over
40 ports, that lasted until she arrived at New York in August 1882.
Decommissioned a month later, USS Ticonderoga had no further active
service and was sold in August 1887.
USS Ticonderoga
CG 47 (1981-present)
USS Ticonderoga CV 14 (1944-1974)
USS Ticonderoga (1917-1918)
USS Ticonderoga (1863-1887)
USS Ticonderoga (1814-1825)
USS Ticonderoga (1814-1825)
The first USS TICONDEROGA was laid down as a merchant steamer and nearly
became the first steam powered warship when purchased by the Navy in
1814 to help even the naval balance on Lake Champlain during the War
of 1812. She was converted to a sail powered 17-gun schooner rig for
reliability and ease of operation and put into service in the squadron
commanded by Captain Thomas Macdonough.
On September 11th, 1814,
she played a key role in the victory at the Battle of Lake Champlain
including forcing the surrender of one British ship and assisting with
the capture of another while all the time defending herself from attack
by numerous gunboats.
