USS Belknap (CG-26)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

USS ''Belknap'' (DLG-26/CG-26), named for Rear Admirals George E. Belknap (1832–1903) and his son Reginald Rowan Belknap (1871–1959), was the
lead ship The lead ship, name ship, or class leader is the first of a series or class of ships all constructed according to the same general design. The term is applicable to naval ships and large civilian vessels. Large ships are very complex and may ...
of her class of guided missile cruisers in the
United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
. She was launched in 1963 as DLG-26, a guided missile frigate under the then-current designation system, and reclassified as CG-26 on 30 June 1975. On 22 November 1975, ''Belknap'' and the aircraft carrier collided, killing seven sailors on the cruiser and one on the aircraft carrier.


Construction

''Belknap'', the first of a new class of guided missile frigates, was laid down by the
Bath Iron Works Bath Iron Works (BIW) is a major United States shipyard located on the Kennebec River in Bath, Maine, founded in 1884 as Bath Iron Works, Limited. Since 1995, Bath Iron Works has been a subsidiary of General Dynamics. It is the fifth-largest ...
Corporation at Bath in
Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and ...
on 5 February 1962. She was christened by Mrs. Leonard B. Cresswell, the granddaughter and daughter of the RADMs Belknap and was launched by the Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine on 20 July 1963 and commissioned on 7 November 1964.


Collision, fire, and reconstruction

''Belknap'' was severely damaged in a collision with the aircraft carrier on 22 November 1975 off the coast of
Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...
. A fire broke out on ''Belknap'' following the collision, during which her
aluminum Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It ha ...
superstructure collapsed after it was weakened by the heat. Seven sailors were killed on ''Belknap'' and one on ''John F. Kennedy''. Shortly after the fire began, boats from other vessels operating with ''John F. Kennedy'' and ''Belknap'' began to pull alongside the burning ship, often with complete disregard for their own safety. The
guided missile destroyer A guided-missile destroyer (DDG) is a destroyer whose primary armament is guided missiles so they can provide anti-aircraft warfare screening for the fleet. The NATO standard designation for these vessels is DDG, while destroyers who have a prim ...
and destroyer moved in on both sides of ''Belknap'', their men directing fire hoses into the amidships area that the stricken ship's crew could not reach. ''Bordelon'' was also badly damaged in a collision with ''Kennedy'' the following year, forcing her removal from service. ''Claude V. Ricketts'' moved in, secured alongside ''Belknap'' port side, and evacuated the injured while fragments from exploding ammunition showered down upon her weather decks. The frigate closed in the carrier's starboard side to provide firefighting assistance. Ammunition from ''Belknap'' three-inch ready storage locker, located amidships, cooked off, hurling fiery fragments into the air and splashing around the rescue boats. Undaunted, the rescuers pulled out the seriously wounded and delivered fire-fighting supplies to the sailors, who refused to surrender their ship to the conflagration. The ammunition ship was involved later in the rescue and salvage of ''Belknap'', escorting her to an ammunition depot and then providing electric and water services as ''Mount Baker''
Explosive Ordnance Disposal Bomb disposal is an explosives engineering profession using the process by which hazardous explosive devices are rendered safe. ''Bomb disposal'' is an all-encompassing term to describe the separate, but interrelated functions in the milit ...
team retrieved all of the remaining ammunition from ''Belknap''. ''Mount Baker'' also took aboard most of ''Belknap'' crew until they could be transferred to a way station for reassignment. The fire and the resultant damage and deaths, which would have been less had ''Belknap'' superstructure been made of steel, helped persuade the U.S. Navy to pursue all-steel construction in future classes of surface combatants. However, in 1987, the
New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
cited cracking in aluminum superstructures such as what occurred in the s, rather than fire, as the reason the Navy returned to steel on some ships. The first USN combatant ships to revert to all steel superstructure were the , which were commissioned beginning in the 1990s. ''Belknap'' was reconstructed by the
Philadelphia Navy Yard The Philadelphia Naval Shipyard was an important naval shipyard of the United States for almost two centuries. Philadelphia's original navy yard, begun in 1776 on Front Street and Federal Street in what is now the Pennsport section of the ci ...
from 30 January 1976 to 10 May 1980. Since the hull was still in good condition the Navy decided to use this as a test platform for the
Aegis The aegis ( ; grc, αἰγίς ''aigís''), as stated in the ''Iliad'', is a device carried by Athena and Zeus, variously interpreted as an animal skin or a shield and sometimes featuring the head of a Gorgon. There may be a connection with a d ...
class cruiser electronics and updated weapons systems. Until the Aegis class cruisers came along, ''Belknap'' was one of the most powerful warships in the world and saw service in Beirut as part of the multinational peacekeeping force, becoming the first American ship to fire on an enemy since the Vietnam War. It was the ship's Naval Tactical Data Systems' (NTDS) reliability during this time in Beirut that was named as the defining reason that the ''Belknap'' was chosen as the Sixth Fleet flagship.


Later service and Malta

''Belknap'' was converted to a flagship by Norfolk Naval Shipyard from May 1985 to February 1986. This conversion work entailed building out the superstructure forward to just aft of the missile launcher and three decks up to add flag spaces (accommodation and office), and additional communications gear. In addition, the helicopter hangar aft was turned into accommodation spaces for flag staff and a small detachment of Marines. After this conversion she sailed to Italy aeta naval baseand became Sixth Fleet flagship, relieving . On 27 May 1986, she participated in a naval parade with ships from 10 countries at
Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
. ''Belknap'' played a role in the Malta Summit between
U.S. President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...
George H. W. Bush and Soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev on 2 December and 3 December 1989. President Bush, along with his advisers, James Baker, John Sununu and Brent Scowcroft, had their sleeping quarters aboard ''Belknap'', whereas the Soviet delegation used the missile cruiser ''Slava''. The ships were anchored in a roadstead off the coast of
Marsaxlokk Marsaxlokk () is a small, traditional fishing village in the South Eastern Region of Malta. It has a harbour, and is a tourist attraction known for its views, fishermen and history. As at March 2014, the village had a population of 3,534. The ...
. Stormy weather and choppy seas resulted in some meetings being canceled or rescheduled, and gave rise to the moniker the "Seasick Summit" among international media. In the end, the meetings took place aboard ''Maxsim Gorkiy'', a Soviet
cruise ship Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports-of-call, where passengers may go on tours known as ...
anchored in the harbor at
La Valletta Valletta (, mt, il-Belt Valletta, ) is an administrative unit and capital of Malta. Located on the main island, between Marsamxett Harbour to the west and the Grand Harbour to the east, its population within administrative limits in 2014 wa ...
. Engineers from the Navy Ship Systems Engineering Station devised a mooring arrangement for this event, and, despite the worst-case 100-year storm event, ''Belknap'' held its ground using emergency operating procedures as outlined by the engineers.


Decommissioning

''Belknap'' was decommissioned and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 15 February 1995 and sunk as a target on 24 September 1998.


References


Bibliography

* * *


External links


Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships – Belknap – II
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Belknap (DLG-26) Belknap-class cruisers Cold War cruisers of the United States Maritime incidents in 1975 Ship fires Ships built in Bath, Maine 1963 ships Ships sunk as targets Maritime incidents in 1998