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USS ''Ticonderoga'' (DDG/CG-47), nicknamed "Tico", was a guided-missile
cruiser A cruiser is a type of warship. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and can usually perform several roles. The term "cruiser", which has been in use for several hu ...
built for the United States Navy. She was the lead ship of the ''Ticonderoga'' class and the first U.S. Navy combatant to incorporate the Aegis combat system. Originally ordered as a guided-missile destroyer, she was redesignated as a cruiser after capabilities from the cancelled
Strike cruiser The strike cruiser (proposed hull designator: CSGN) was a proposal from DARPA for a class of cruisers in the late 1970s. The proposal was for the Strike Cruiser to be a guided missile attack cruiser with a displacement of around , armed and e ...
program were implemented into the ship's design. The new AEGIS system allowed ''Ticonderoga'' to track and engage many aerial targets more effectively than any previous U.S. Navy warship. ''Ticonderoga'' entered service in 1983 and deployed later that year to the Mediterranean. Over her first 10 years of service, ''Ticonderoga'' deployed multiple times to the Mediterranean, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans and the Persian Gulf. During Operation Desert Storm, she was attached to
Battle Force Zulu Battle Force Zulu is the code-name designation for the following U.S. Navy task forces: *Task Force 60 during 1986's Operation El Dorado Canyon, Operation Prairie Fire, and Attain Document series of freedom of navigation (FON) naval maneuvers in th ...
and served as Arabian Gulf Track Coordinator. Although she was built with a 35-year service life, the limited missile capacity of ''Ticonderoga's'' twin Mark 26 missile launch systems rendered her obsolete by the end of the
Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
. As a result, ''Ticonderoga'' adopted a primary mission of counternarcotics in the 1990s and 2000s, and made multiple patrols of the
Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...
in that role. After being decommissioned in 2004, ''Ticonderoga'' was stored at the
Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility A Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility (NISMF) is a facility owned by the United States Navy as a holding facility for decommissioned naval vessels, pending determination of their final fate. All ships in these facilities are inactive, but s ...
in Philadelphia. She arrived in
Brownsville, Texas Brownsville () is a city in Cameron County in the U.S. state of Texas. It is on the western Gulf Coast in South Texas, adjacent to the border with Matamoros, Mexico. The city covers , and has a population of 186,738 as of the 2020 census. It ...
, for scrapping in 2020.


Design and construction

The contract to build DDG-47 ''Ticonderoga'' was awarded to Ingalls Shipbuilding on 22 September 1978. The ship's design was based on that of the ''Spruance''-class destroyer. While sharing the same hull, the ''Ticonderoga''-class design featured two large deckhouses and the Aegis combat system that together increased the ship's displacement from the ''Spruance''-class baseline of 6,900 tons to 9,600 tons. On each of the two deckhouses were two AN/SPY-1 radars that gave the ship 360° coverage of the surrounding airspace. Following the cancellation of the
Strike Cruiser The strike cruiser (proposed hull designator: CSGN) was a proposal from DARPA for a class of cruisers in the late 1970s. The proposal was for the Strike Cruiser to be a guided missile attack cruiser with a displacement of around , armed and e ...
program, flagship capabilities were added to the ''Ticonderoga'' class's design and the ship was then redesignated as a guided-missile cruiser, CG-47 on 1 January 1980, shortly before her keel was laid. ''Ticonderoga's'' keel was laid down on 21 January 1980, the 35th anniversary of the devastating kamikaze attack on the
aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft. Typically, it is the capital ship of a fleet, as it allows a ...
. CG-47 was launched on 25 April 1981 and christening on 16 May 1981 with First Lady
Nancy Reagan Nancy Davis Reagan (; born Anne Frances Robbins; July 6, 1921 – March 6, 2016) was an American film actress and First Lady of the United States from 1981 to 1989. She was the second wife of president Ronald Reagan. Reagan was born in N ...
, the ship's main sponsor, in attendance. ''Ticonderoga'' was delivered to the U.S. Navy on 13 December 1982 and commissioned in Pascagoula, Mississippi, on 22 January 1983 with Captain Roland Guilbault in command.


Naming

CG-47 is the fifth United States Navy vessel to bear the name ''Ticonderoga''. She was named for the
Capture of Fort Ticonderoga The capture of Fort Ticonderoga occurred during the American Revolutionary War on May 10, 1775, when a small force of Green Mountain Boys led by Ethan Allen and Colonel Benedict Arnold surprised and captured the fort's small British garrison. T ...
in 1775, the start of the American offensive during the American Revolution. The name "Ticonderoga" is derived from the Iroquois word ''tekontaró:ken'', meaning "it is at the junction of two waterways". Most of the ships in the ''Ticonderoga'' class are similarly named for significant battles in U.S. history.


Service history


1980s

Departing for her new homeport of Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia, soon after her commissioning in Pascagoula, ''Ticonderoga'' completed exercises in the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean. She arrived in Norfolk on 3 June 1983, and then deployed on 20 October to the Mediterranean with the Independence carrier strike group. Although stopping in Portsmouth, England, for a brief port visit, ''Ticonderoga'' was dispatched to the coast of Beirut following the bombing of U.S. Marine barracks on 23 October 1983. During her 48 days on station, she fired her five-inch guns at hostile artillery units attempting to shoot down two F-14 Tomcat fighter aircraft performing a reconnaissance mission over Lebanon. ''Ticonderoga'' made a port stop in Haifa, Israel, for the New Year and then returned to Norfolk, arriving on 4 May 1984. On 8 September 1984, while ''Ticonderoga'' was conducting exercises east of
Mayport, Florida Mayport is a small community located between Naval Station Mayport and the St. Johns River in Jacksonville, Florida. It is part of the Jacksonville Beaches communities. The only public road to Mayport is State Road A1A, which crosses the St. Johns ...
, a fire broke out in her aft main engine exhaust uptake. The At-Sea and General Quarters fire parties eventually put the fire out and ''Ticonderoga'' returned to Norfolk under her own power in early October. On 23 March 1986, ''Ticonderoga'', while conducting a Freedom of Navigation exercise in the
Gulf of Sidra The Gulf of Sidra ( ar, خليج السدرة, Khalij as-Sidra, also known as the Gulf of Sirte ( ar, خليج سرت, Khalij Surt, is a body of water in the Mediterranean Sea on the northern coast of Libya, named after the oil port of Sidra or ...
, moved south of the "Line of Death" in Libya, covered by fighter aircraft. Libya responded by unsuccessfully attacking battle-force aircraft. ''Ticonderoga'' responded by destroying several Libyan patrol boats. For her participation in the operation, ''Ticonderoga'' received her second
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 ...
and Navy Expeditionary Medal. During joint Navy-Air Force air strikes on Libyan targets on 15 April, she received the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal. In the late 1980s, she served in the Persian Gulf as part of Operation Earnest Will while under the command of
Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
James M. Arrison III, USN.


1990s

For a time in the late 1990s, she was based at Pascagoula, Mississippi, as part of Commander, Naval Surface Forces Atlantic's Western Hemisphere Group.


2000s

On 4 May 2004, she completed transit of the Panama Canal and then moved to cross the equator. Her ship crew engaged in the rites and rituals of the crossing, inducting the captain of the ship and many of the crew in to "Shell-Backs". She completed her final deployment on 3 August 2004. ''Ticonderoga'' then made liberty port visits to Cozumel, Mexico (15-17 March); Colon (27-28 March); Mayport (1-9 April); Guantánamo Bay (12-13 April); Cartagena, Colombia (27-29 May); Vasco Núñez de Balboa, Panama (6-7 May); and Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala (17-19 May). She conducted counter-narcotics operations in conjunction with Colombian military authorities from April–June. Ticonderoga successfully intercepted five cigarette-shaped “go-fast” smuggling boats, and one fishing vessel, netting over 14,000 pounds of cocaine, and detaining 25 suspects in the process. She was decommissioned on 30 September of that year. After her decommissioning, she was towed to the
Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility A Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility (NISMF) is a facility owned by the United States Navy as a holding facility for decommissioned naval vessels, pending determination of their final fate. All ships in these facilities are inactive, but s ...
in Philadelphia. In 2010, she was offered for museum donation by the Navy. An effort was made to bring ''Ticonderoga'' to Pascagoula, Mississippi, where she was built, to serve as a museum ship. In May 2013, the vessel was formally stricken from the Naval Vessel Register, for disposal. In October of the same year, The Ticonderoga Historical Society reported that the US Navy was going to scrap the ship after a number of potential museum sites were unable to add her to their collections. In June 2014, NAVSEA released a disposal reporting letter declaring the ex-''Ticonderoga'' to be available for inspection by bidders and ready for disposal by scrapping or sinking. In September 2020, she arrived at Brownsville, Texas, for scrapping.


Deployments


Awards

* 1x Joint Meritorious Unit Award - (1997) * 6x
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 ...
s - (May 1982-May 1984, Mar-Apr 1986, Aug 1987-Apr 1988, Sep 1987-Mar 1989 BATTLESHIP BATTLE GROUP 1-87, Mar-Sep 1990, Sep 1991-Apr 1992) * 5x
Meritorious Unit Commendation The Meritorious Unit Commendation (MUC; pronounced ''muck'') is a mid-level unit award of the United States Armed Forces. The U.S. Army awards units the Army MUC for exceptionally meritorious conduct in performance of outstanding achievement or s ...
s (3 to the ship, two as part of the Battle Group, 1990-1992) * 3x Battle Efficiency (Navy E) Ribbons - (1994, 1998, 2001) * 1x Navy Expeditionary Medal - (Mar-Jun 1986) * 2x National Defense Service Medal * 4x Armed Forces Expeditionary Medals * 1x
Southwest Asia Service Medal The Southwest Asia Service Medal (SASM or SWASM) is a military award of the United States Armed Forces which was created by order of President George H.W. Bush on March 12, 1991. The award is intended to recognize those military service members ...
- (Oct 1991-Feb 1992) * 2x Armed Forces Service Medals * 2x Coast Guard
Special Operations Service Ribbon The Special Operations Service Ribbon is a service award of the United States Coast Guard which was first created 1 July 1987 by order of Commandant of the Coast Guard, Admiral Paul A. Yost Jr. The award is authorized for certain acts of non-comb ...
s * (multiple) Sea Service Deployment Ribbon * 2x Secretary of the Navy Letters of Commendation (one to the ship, one as part of Battleship Battle Group 1-87, 1987-1988) * 1x
Chief of Naval Operations The chief of naval operations (CNO) is the professional head of the United States Navy. The position is a statutory office () held by an admiral who is a military adviser and deputy to the secretary of the Navy. In a separate capacity as a memb ...
Letter of Commendation * Arleigh Burke Fleet Trophy - (2003)


In popular culture

''Ticonderoga'' was featured in the 1986 Tom Clancy novel '' Red Storm Rising'', defending the and combined battlegroups against, and getting seriously damaged by, the saturation antiship missile attack in the Norwegian Sea by Soviet
Tu-22M The Tupolev Tu-22M (russian: Туполев Ту-22М; NATO reporting name: Backfire) is a supersonic, variable-sweep wing, long-range strategic and maritime strike bomber developed by the Tupolev Design Bureau in the 1960s. According to some s ...
bombers. ''Ticonderoga'' was mentioned in the Tom Waits song "Shore Leave" on his 1983 album '' Swordfishtrombones''.


References


Further reading

*


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ticonderoga (Cg-47) Ticonderoga-class cruisers Ships built in Pascagoula, Mississippi 1981 ships Cold War cruisers of the United States