Function: Surface Action Combatant with multiple target response capability.





Description: Based on the DD963 Spruance class destroyer hull, the Ticonderoga is the first non-nuclear cruiser since the CG26 Belknap class guided missile cruiser, commissioned in 1964. The Ticonderoga uses the same gas turbine propulsion system as the Spruance, though it lacks hull stabilizers and is equipped with supplemental Kevlar armor to provide additional protection in critical areas. With 27 cruisers slated for construction over a period of 14 years, construction was broken up into four separate "blocks" to take advantage of technological advancements.



Since the commissioning of the final Ticonderoga class cruiser (CG73 USS Port Royal) the class has undergone three technology "block" upgrades.



Block I: Includes CG47 and CG48. Block I represents the "baseline" design, incorporating fore and aft Mk 26 Mod 5 missile launchers, 2 SH-2F Seasprite LAMPS I ASW/Recon helicopters, and the AN/SPY-1A radar.



Block II: Includes CG49-CG51. Replaces the 2 SH-2F LAMPS I helicopters with 2 SH-60B Seahawk helicopters (LAMPS III.) In addition the RAST haul down helicopter landing system is also incorporated and SM-2MR Block II Standard missile is introduced.



Block III: Includes CG52-CG55. Mk 26 Mod 5 missile launchers are removed and replaced with fore and aft Mk 41 Mod 0 Vertical Launch Systems (VLS.) In addition, the Ticonderoga's anti-ship and land strike potential are increased with the introduction of VLS launched Tomahawk cruise missiles.



Block IV: Includes CG56-CG58. The class' ASW capabilities are improved with the addition of the SQQ-89(V)3 towed passive sonar array. Later retrofitted with UYK-43/44 combat information system.



Block V: Includes CG59-CG73. Encompassing the remaining cruisers, the Aegis radar is upgraded to the AN/SPY-1B and the combat information systems are upgraded to the UYK-43/44 standard.



Following the completion of class' production run, a number of weapon and electronic systems upgrades have been introduced, improving the combat and sensor capabilities of the class. The Block IV SM-2 has replaced the SM-2MR Block II, which, coupled with improved tracking ability, gives the class a Theater Ballistic Missile Defense (TBMD) capability. In addition, improvements have been made in Tomahawk guidance capabilities. In order to improve small craft targeting and tracking, the Mk 15 Mod 2 Phalanx Close In Weapon System (CIWS) is being upgraded with thermal imaging units, though the weapon systems are slated to be replaced with the Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM block I) beginning in 2001.





History: Commissioned on 22 January, 1983, the Ticonderoga represents a revolution in surface warfare ship design. Though similar in design to earlier ships (specifically the DD963 Spruance class destroyer), the Ticonderoga class differs in that its primary weapon system is not a weapon at all, but the powerful SPY-1 Aegis radar. Capable of acquiring, tracking, and engaging multiple targets simultaneously, the Aegis system sets a new standard in Surface and Anti-Air Warfare. Furthermore, the Aegis system can integrate itself with the weapon and combat information systems of other ships in the battle group, to coordinate and direct the actions of the entire group. This capability allows the Ticonderoga cruiser battle groups to operate effectively and for an extended period in any Anti-Air, Anti-Submarine, Anti-Surface or strike environment.





General Characteristics, Ticonderoga Class



Cost:

About $1 billion each





Builders:

Ingalls Shipbuilding: CG 47-50, CG 52-57, 59,62, 65-66, 68-69, 71-73



Bath Iron Works: CG-51,58,60-61,63-64,67,70





Power Plant:

4 General Electric LM 2500 gas turbine engines; 2 shafts with controllable reversible pitch propellers, 80,000 shaft horsepower total





Date Deployed:

January 22, 1983 (USS Ticonderoga)





Crew:

24 Officers, 340 Enlisted





Sensors:



Radars:

1 AN/SPY-1 phased array air search and fire control radar



1 AN/SPS-49 air search radar



1 AN/SPS-55 surface search radar



1 AN/SPS-64 surface search radar



1 AN/SPQ-9A gunfire control radar



4 AN/SPG-62 fire control illuminators





Sonars:

One AN/SQS-53 hull mounted sonar



One AN/SQR-19 towed array sonar



One AN/SQQ-89 ASW combat system





Countermeasures:

One Mk 36 Mod 2 Super Rapid-Blooming Off Board Chaff System (SRBOC)



One AN/SLQ-32(v)3 electronic warfare suite



One AN/SLQ-25 towed torpedo decoy (Nixie)







Length, Overall:

567 feet (172.82 meters)





Beam:

55 feet (16.76 meters)





Displacement:

9,600 long tons (9,754.06 metric tons) full load





Speed:

30+ knots (34.52+mph, 55.55+ kph)





Armament:



Guns:

Two Mk 45 5"/54 caliber Lightweight Gun Mounts





Torpedos:

Two Mk 32 Mod 14 triple torpedo tubes firing either the Mk 46 Mod 5 or Mk 50 ASW torpedoes



CG52 - CG73 Vertical Launch ASROC with Mk 46 Mod 5 or Mk 50 ASW torpedoes





Missiles:

Tomahawk cruise missiles



Standard 2MR Surface to Air missile



Vertical Launch ASROC torpedoes



CG47-CG51 Missiles launched from fore and aft twin rail launchers



CG52-CG73 Missiles launched from 2 forward mounted Mk 41 Vertical Launch Systems (VLS)



Two aft mounted Harpoon Missile Quad-Cannister Launcher



One Mk 15 Mod 2 Close-In Weapon System (2 mounts)





Aircraft:

Two SH-2 Seasprite (LAMPS) in CG 47-48



Two SH-60 Sea Hawk (LAMPS III)











Ships:

USS Ticonderoga (CG 47), Pascagoula, MI

USS Yorktown (CG 48), Pascagoula, MI

USS Vincennes (CG 49), Yokosuka, Japan

USS Valley Forge (CG 50), San Diego, CA

USS Thomas S. Gates (CG 51), Pascagoula, MI

USS Bunker Hill (CG 52), San Diego, CA

USS Mobile Bay (CG 53), Yokosuka, Japan

USS Antietam (CG 54), San Diego, CA

USS Leyte Gulf (CG 55), Norfolk, VA

USS San Jacinto (CG 56), Norfolk, VA

USS Lake Champlain (CG 57), San Diego, CA

USS Philippine Sea (CG 58), Norfolk, VA

USS Princeton (CG 59), San Diego, CA

USS Normandy (CG 60), Norfolk, VA

USS Monterey (CG 61), Norfolk, VA

USS Chancellorsville (CG 62), Yokosuka, Japan

USS Cowpens (CG 63), San Diego, CA

USS Gettysburg (CG 64), Norfolk, VA

USS Chosin (CG 65), Pearl Harbor, HI

USS Hue City (CG 66), Mayport, FA

USS Shiloh (CG 67), San Diego, CA

USS Anzio (CG 68), Norfolk, VA

USS Vicksburg (CG 69), Mayport, FA

USS Lake Erie (CG 70), Pearl Harbor, HI

USS Cape St. George (CG 71), Norfolk, VA

USS Vella Gulf (CG 72), Norfolk, VA

USS Port Royal (CG 73), Pearl Harbor, HI