USS Ticonderoga (CG-47)

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 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 . CG-47 was launched on 25 April 1981 and christening on 16 May 1981 with First Lady Nancy Reagan, 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. christened USS Ticonderoga on 16 May 1981. Naming CG-47 is the fifth United States Navy vessel to bear the name Ticonderoga. She was named for the Capture of Fort Ticonderoga 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, 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. 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==

• 1x Joint Meritorious Unit Award – (1997) • 5x Meritorious Unit Commendations (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 – (Oct 1991-Feb 1992) • 2x Armed Forces Service Medals • 2x Coast Guard Special Operations Service Ribbons • (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 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 bombers. Ticonderoga was mentioned in the Tom Waits song "Shore Leave" on his 1983 album Swordfishtrombones. ==References==