Designed under project
SCB 172, the first three ships were constructed at
Bath Iron Works, the next two at New York Shipbuilding Corp, and the rest at
Puget Sound Bridge and Dry Dock Company,
Todd Shipyards, San Pedro, CA,
San Francisco Naval Shipyard and
Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. Modernizations were accomplished between 1967 and 1972 under SCB 244, upgrading air warfare capabilities. Nearly all modernizations were completed at
Bath Iron Works, but
Leahy received the modernization at
Philadelphia Naval Shipyard at a cost of $36.1 million. All
Leahy-class ships were modernized again in the late 1980s
New Threat Upgrade program. This program added advanced air search and track radars (
AN/SPS-49 and
AN/SPS-48E), updated targeting radars (
AN/SPG-55), and combat direction systems. The upgrade included massive remodeling of the ship from food service space rehabilitation to a main propulsion system overhaul. Entire systems were removed and replaced, for example the
AN/SPS-40 air-search radar was replaced with the
AN/SPS-49 air-search radar. The upgrade was also quite expensive and the ships didn't serve much longer after the modification. For example,
USS Gridley (CG-21) received NTU in 1991 at a cost of $55 million, but was decommissioned in early 1994. The
Leahy class (and near sisters of the ) were taken out of service in the early 1990s as part of the
Clinton Administration's desire to reduce defense spending in light of reduced tensions with Russia. The entire class was decommissioned between 1993 and 1995, stricken from the naval register, and transferred to the
Maritime Administration (MARAD) for disposal.
USS Bainbridge |name=
Bainbridge class |builders=Bethlehem Steel Corporation |operators= |built_range=1959–1962 |in_commission_range=1962–1996 |total_ships_completed=1 |total_ships_active=0 |total_ships_retired=1 }} |class=Guided missile cruiser |displacement=9100 tons |length= |beam= |draft = (maximum |propulsion=; 2 G.E. Reactors (D2G), Geared Turbines, 2 screws |speed= |range= Unlimited |complement=475 |sensors=*1 AN/SPS-10 surface search RADAR *AN/SPS-37 search RADAR *AN/SQS-26 SONAR |armament=As
Leahy class |notes= }} }} '
USS Bainbridge
(CGN-25)' was a
nuclear-powered development of the
Leahy-class. Originally a
guided-missile destroyer leader, the class was re-designated
guided-missile cruiser in 1975. As with
USS Long Beach (CGN-9) and
USS Enterprise (CVN-65),
Bainbridge was the only member of its single-ship class.
Bainbridge was largely identical to the
Leahy class except for the replacement of the conventional design's four steam boilers with two
D2G reactors, and related increases in displacement, length and beam.
Bainbridges engineering department carried 7 officers and 156 enlisted men—respectively 3 and 42 more than a contemporary steam-powered vessel. The lessons learned on
Bainbridge were later adapted to the next nuclear-powered ship, and the and classes of nuclear-powered cruiser. ==Ships in class==