USS ''England'' (DLG/CG-22), was a guided missile cruiser in service with the United States Navy from 1963 to 1994. She was scrapped in 2004.

History

''England'' named in honor of Ensign

John C. England Ensign John Charles England (December 11, 1920 – December 7, 1941) was an officer in the United States Navy. He died on USS ''Oklahoma'' after it was torpedoed and sank in the Japanese Empire's attack on Pearl Harbor. The circumstances o ...

. He was born in

Harris, Missouri Harris is a city in Sullivan County, Missouri, Sullivan County, Missouri, United States. The population was 61 at the United States Census, 2010, 2010 census, at which time it was a town. History Harris was laid out in 1887. The community was name ...

, on 11 December 1920. He attended Pasadena City College, in

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. I ...

, and was on the pep-squad there. He enlisted in the Naval Reserve on 6 September 1940 and was commissioned ensign on 6 June 1941. On 3 September 1941 he reported for duty on the

battleship A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of large caliber guns. It dominated naval warfare in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The term ''battleship'' came into use in the late 1880s to describe a type of ...

and was killed three months later while saving others aboard during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941. CG/DLG-22 was the second USS ''England''. The first was , the ship that sank six enemy submarines in 12 days in May 1944. That act caused the Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Ernest King, to declare "There’ll always be an ''England'' in the United States Navy." DE-635 was decommissioned in 1945. To fulfill Admiral King's promise, USS ''England'' DLG-22 was built by

Todd Shipyards, Los Angeles Division Todd Pacific Shipyards, Los Angeles Division was a shipyard in San Pedro, Los Angeles, California. Before applying its last corporate name, the shipyard had been called Los Angeles Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company and Todd Shipyards, Los Angeles ...

, San Pedro, California. The keel was laid on 4 October 1960, launched 6 March 1962, and commissioned on 7 December 1963. Her designation was changed in 1976 to CG-22 at Bremerton Naval Shipyard during an overhaul. ''England'' served in every major Pacific engagement from Vietnam to Desert Storm, from rescuing pilots, performing as plane guard or picket, to showing force around the globe. ''England'' was awarded the

Navy Unit Commendation The Navy Unit Commendation (NUC) is a United States Navy unit award that was established by order of the Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal on 18 December 1944. History Navy and U.S. Marine Corps commands may recommend any Navy or Marine Co ...

Ribbon for supporting search and rescue operations in the

Gulf of Tonkin The Gulf of Tonkin is a gulf at the northwestern portion of the South China Sea, located off the coasts of Tonkin (northern Vietnam) and South China. It has a total surface area of . It is defined in the west and northwest by the northern ...

from 3 January to 6 June 1966.USS England Navy Unit Commendation citation
/ref> Originally called a "destroyer leader" or frigate (DLG), in 1975 she was re-designated a cruiser (CG) in the

United States Navy 1975 ship reclassification The United States Navy reclassified many of its surface vessels in 1975, changing terminology and hull classification symbols for cruisers, frigates, and ocean escorts. Classification prior to 1975 From the 1950s to 1975, the US Navy had three t ...

. ''England'' was awarded the Navy Unit Commendation a final time for actions performed 2 to 16 August 1990. As the leading Naval Warship in the region, ''England'' assumed primary shipping interdiction and air defense roles while forces were mobilized to support what would become Operation Desert Shield. She was decommissioned on 21 January 1994, mothballed in the

Suisun Bay Suisun Bay ( ; Wintun for "where the west wind blows") is a shallow tidal estuary (a northeastern extension of the San Francisco Bay) in Northern California. It lies at the confluence of the Sacramento River and San Joaquin River, forming the ent ...

for ten years and was sold for scrap to International Shipbreaking Ltd., Brownsville, Texas (US). Scrapping was completed on 20 October 2004.

References

External links

* http://www.ussengland.org/ *
USS England (CG 22)
Ships built in Los Angeles 1962 ships Cold War cruisers of the United States Leahy-class cruisers {{US-mil-ship-stub