_in_the_Persian_Gulf_1997.jpg) |
|
| Career |  |
|---|---|
| Namesake: | Battle of Port Royal |
| Ordered: | 25 February 1988 |
| Laid down: | 18 October 1991 |
| Launched: | 20 November 1992 |
| Commissioned: | 9 July 1994 |
| Homeport: | Pearl Harbor, Hawaii |
| Motto: | The Will to Win |
| Status: | Active in service as of 2009[update] |
| Badge: |  |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Ticonderoga-class cruiser |
| Displacement: | approx. 9,600 tons full load |
| Length: | 567 feet (173 m) |
| Beam: | 55 feet (17 m) |
| Draft: | 33 feet (10 m) |
| Propulsion: | 4 × General Electric LM2500 gas turbines, 2 shafts, 80,000 shp (60 MW) |
| Speed: | 32.5 knots (60 km/h) |
| Complement: | 33 officers & 327 enlisted |
| Sensors and processing systems: |
AN/SPY-1A/B multi-function radar AN/SPS-49 air search radar AN/SPG-62 fire control radar AN/SPS-55 surface search radar AN/SPQ-9 gun fire control radar AN/SQQ-89(V)3 Sonar suite, consisting of
|
| Armament: | 2 × 61 cell Mk 41 vertical launch systems 122 × RIM-66 SM-2, RIM-162 ESSM, BGM-109 Tomahawk, or RUM-139 VL-Asroc 8 × RGM-84 Harpoon missiles 2 × Mark 45 5 in / 54 cal lightweight gun 2 × 25 mm 2–4 × .50 cal (12.7 mm) gun 2 × Phalanx CIWS 2 × Mk 32 12.75 in (324 mm) triple torpedo tubes |
| Aircraft carried: | 2 × Sikorsky SH-60 Seahawk LAMPS III helicopters. |
USS Port Royal (CG 73) is a United States Navy Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser, the 27th and final in the class. She is the second U.S. warship to bear the name of two naval battles of Port Royal Sound, South Carolina, of the American Revolutionary War and the American Civil War. However, during the initial building phase, the builders and crew were unaware of this history of the first Port Royal, as a result, the Engineering Control Center bears a plaque "First ship named".
The cruiser was ordered 25 February 1988, laid down 18 October 1991 by Ingalls Shipbuilding at Pascagoula, Mississippi, launched on 20 November 1992, christened on 5 December 1992 by Susan G. Baker (wife of James A. Baker III, chief of staff to President Bush, and former Secretary of State), and formally commissioned on 9 July 1994 at Savannah, Georgia, Captain Nicholas L. Richards Commanding, Lieutenant Commander Derek B. Kemp Executive Officer, and Master Chief Petty Officer Dennis W. Mills, Command Master Chief. Decommissioning is tentatively set for 2029, but the Navy has already decommissioned the early units in the class that were not equipped with vertical launching systems.
Contents |
Characteristics
 |
This section may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please improve this section if you can. (February 2009) |
Weapons
FMK 7 Mod 7 Aegis Weapon System, two 5"/54 caliber Mark 45 gun Mounts, two MK 41 Vertical Launching System (126 cells) capable of firing Standard surface-to-air missiles, Evolved Sea Sparrow missiles and Tomahawk cruise missiles, two Harpoon Missile Quad-Canister Launchers, two MK 32 Mod 14 Three-Barrelled Torpedo Tube Mounts, two Mk 15 Mod 12 Phalanx Close-In Weapons System mounts, antisubmarine rockets, one Mk 36 Mod 2 Super Rapid Blooming Chaff System, and passive detection systems. The antisubmarine warfare suite consists of a trio of underwater surveillance equipments: hull mounted sonar, acoustic array sonar towed system, and two SH-60B LAMPS Mk III helicopters.
Propulsion
Four powerful gas turbine engines (LM 2500) propel Port Royal with 80,000 shaft horsepower at speeds greater than 30 knots. Two five-bladed controllable reversible pitch propellers (17 foot diameter) and two rudders assist in rapid acceleration and deceleration.
Sensors
- AN/SPY-1B(V) Multi-Function Radar (Four Mounts)
- AN/SPS-49(V)8 Air Search Radar
- AN/SPS-55 Surface Search Radar
- AN/SPS-64(V)9 Navigation Radar
- AN/SPQ-9 Gun Fire Control Radar
- AN/SPG-62 Illuminators (Four Mounts)
- AN/SQQ-89A(V)15 Sonar Suite
- AN/SLQ-32A(V)3 Electronic Warfare Suite
Navy Area Theater Missile Defense
Port Royal (CG-73) and Lake Erie (CG-70) are the original cruisers for the Navy's Linebacker program (Milestone Phase I, II and III), which provided theater ballistic missile defense capability, as test platforms to detect, track, cue, intercept, and interact with other national assets to shoot down ICBMs.[1] The vessel's Aegis and Stand Missile Tracking systems have been upgraded with "long range surveillance and track (LRS&T)", and the ships were outfitted to carry the modified SM-2 Block IVA TMD.[2] Along with later upgrades to the USS Shiloh it is expected the these three ships will be the only Ticonderoga-class cruisers to be so capable.[3] The Lake Erie continues its role, but the Port Royal's role has been taken by the USS Hopper.[4]
Laser
Originally, Port Royal was to be outfitted with the experimental shipboard mounted HELWEPS (High Energy Laser Weapon System). Based on a megawatt-class deuterium/fluorine chemical laser, HELWEPS would have replaced the standard 5-inch forward gun. HELWEPS was to have been used to destroy missiles up to about 4 km away, or to burn out electro-optical sensors about 10 km away. The outfitting, scheduled to occur in Port Hueneme, California in 1994 was cancelled, along with all plans to install HELWEPS on Ticonderoga-class cruisers.
Operations
Port Royal deployed from Dec 1995 until May 1996 as part of the Nimitz battle group Carrier Group Seven. The CVBG was participating in Operation Southern Watch, but was deployed to the South China Sea in March 1996 to act as a stabilizing force the Third Taiwan Strait Crisis. During this deployment, Captain Richards transferred command to Captain Gary Roughead on 21 January 1996. Following her first deployment, Port Royal became the first US Naval cruiser to integrate women into the crew.
Port Royal deployed with Nimitz battle group for participation in Operation Southern Watch from September 1997 until March, 1998.
Port Royal deployed with the John C. Stennis battle group, participating in Operation Southern Watch. Leaving in January 2000, she returned to Hawaii early after sustaining damage to her port shaft and Hub during pursuit of a vessel suspected of smuggling Iraqi oil in violation of U.N. sanctions. She returned in June and then in August went into drydock for repairs and upgrades.
Port Royal deployed early Pearl Harbor on 17 November 2001 to join the John C. Stennis battle group on deployment in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.
Port Royal deployed with Peleliu Expeditionary Strike Group-One (ESG-1) in support of the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT) from 3 September 2003 until 11 March 2004. This was the very first deployment of an Expeditionary Strike Group.
Port Royal deployed with Peleliu Expeditionary Strike Group-Three (ESG-3) in support of the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT) from 27 February 2006 until 5 August 2006.
On 6 January 2008 the destroyer USS Hopper, the USS Port Royal and the frigate USS Ingraham were entering the Persian Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz when five Iranian boats approached them at high speed and in a threatening manner. The U.S. ships had been in the Arabian Sea searching for a sailor who had been missing from the USS Hopper for one day. The US Navy says the Iranian boats made "threatening" moves toward the U.S. vessels, coming as close as 200 yards (180 m). The U.S. Navy allegedly received a radio transmission saying, "I am coming at you. You will explode in a couple of minutes." As the U.S. ships prepared to fire, the Iranians abruptly turned away, the U.S. officials said. Before leaving, the Iranians dropped white boxes into the water in front of the U.S. ships. The U.S. ships did not investigate the boxes.[5] Officials from the two nations differed on the severity of the incident. The Iranians claimed they were conducting normal maneuvers while American officials claimed that an imminent danger to American naval vessels existed.[5]
2009 grounding
On 5 February 2009, at 9 p.m. the Port Royal ran aground about a half-mile south of the Honolulu International Airport's Reef Runway. The ship had just come out of a dry dock after undergoing maintenance and was undergoing its first sea trials. No one was injured in the incident and no fuel was spilled. On 9 February 2009, the Port Royal was pulled off the rock and sand shoal at around 2 a.m. No one was injured during the recovery effort. Captain John Carroll was relieved of his duties and, along with the ship's executive officer and three other sailors, subsequently disciplined for dereliction of duty and improperly hazarding a vessel. Carroll had been skipper of the Port Royal since October 2008.[6] Captain John Lauer, an official in Smith's Naval Surface Group Middle Pacific, temporarily assumed command.[7][8]
The warship suffered heavy damage to the underwater bow sonar dome and to its propellers and propeller shafts and was drydocked for repairs. Captain Neil Parrott was assigned to preside over the investigation into the grounding.[9][10] On February 18, the ship entered Dry Dock Number 4 at Pearl Harbor. The Navy estimated that repairs would cost between $25 and $40 million.[11]
In fiction
In the Tom Clancy novel, Debt of Honor, Port Royal is mentioned as one of the escorts for the USS John C. Stennis. She serves as a landing platform for Army RAH-66 Comanche helicopters after a special operation.
In the Tom Clancy novel, Executive Orders, Port Royal is one of the missile cruisers escorting Task Force Comedy to the conflict between the UIR and other Gulf States.
In the Patrick Robinson novel, Nimitz Class, Port Royal is part of a CVBG that is attacked by a rogue Kilo-class submarine in an attempt to destroy the USS Thomas Jefferson.
Gallery
 USS Port Royal (top right) in a 5-country multinational fleet, during Operation Enduring Freedom in the Oman Sea. |
 Iranian small craft maneuver near USS Port Royal |
 USS Port Royal |
 USS Port Royal |
 USS Port Royal |
 ship model |
_aft_elevated_drydock_view.jpg) Port Royal in drydock following grounding. |
_aft_section_in_drydock.jpg) Damaged propellers following grounding. |
_forward_section_after_grounding_in_drydock.jpg) Port Royal in drydock following grounding. |
References
- ^ http://ftp.fas.org/spp/starwars/program/dote99/99natbmd.htm
- ^ Pike, John. Ballistic Missile Defense Program Status Update, Arms Control Today, July 1998
- ^ Missile Defense Update #8, Center for Defense Information, Sep. 14, 2006
- ^ De Coster, Jamie Lynn. USS Hopper Supports Ballistic Missile Defense in Sky Hunter, Armed Forces News Service Pacific Ocean, 1 March 2006.
- ^ a b "Iranian boats 'harass' U.S. Navy, officials say". CNN. 7 January 2008. http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/01/07/iran.us.navy/index.html?eref=rss_topstories. Retrieved on 2008-01-07.
- ^ http://blog.usni.org/?p=1150
- ^ http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20090210/NEWS08/902100331/1001
- ^ McAvoy, Audrey, "Navy punishes former Port Royal CO", Military Times, June 5, 2009.
- ^ Kakesako, Gregg, "Navy Cruiser Dumps 5,000 Gallons Of Slop", Honolulu Star-Bulletin, February 11, 2009.
- ^ Cole, William, "Damaged Port Royal Returned To Drydock", Honolulu Advertiser, February 19, 2009.
- ^ Cole, William, "Navy Says Port Royal Repairs To Run Between $25 Million And $40 Million", Honolulu Advertiser, March 6, 2009.
This article includes information collected from the Naval Vessel Register, which, as a U.S. government publication, is in the public domain.
External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: USS Port Royal (CG-73) |
- Port Royal (CG 73) homepage
- Unofficial Navysite.de USS Port Royal webpage
- Video of January 2008 incident in the Straight of Hormuz
- 'Honolulu Advertiser' breaking news of Port Royal grounding.
- Video of Port Royal grounding.
- Associated Press Navy frees stuck warship off coast of Honolulu.
|
|||||||||||
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
