Ticonderoga class (cruiser)

The USS Chancellorsville at sea in 2005
Overview
Type	Guided missile cruiser
units	27 built, 22 in service
Namesake	Battle of Ticonderoga of 1775
period of service	since 1983
Technical specifications
displacement	approx. 10,000 tons fully loaded
length	172.8 meters
width	16.80 meters
Draft	9.5 meters
crew	24 officers, 358 sailors
drive	2 propellers powered by 4 GE LM-2500 gas turbines; 80,000  wave horsepower
speed	30+ knots
Range	6,000  nm (11,000 km) at 20 kn; 3,300 nm (6,000 km) at 30 kn
Armament	All: 2 launchers for anti-ship missiles, 2 triple torpedo launchers, 2 guns 127 mm, 2 Phalanx CIWS Up to CG-51: 2 double-arm launchers for rockets From CG-52: 122 VLS cells

The Ticonderoga-class is a type of cruiser in the United States Navy . A total of 27 units of this class were put into service, 22 of them have been active since January 2006. The Aegis combat system , which was first used on the " Ticos ", makes the ships one of the most modern cruiser types in the world. The ships can attack surface and underwater targets as well as air and land targets and are used as escorts in every American aircraft carrier combat group.

history

Planning and construction

The USS Cowpens in dry dock

Planning for a new class of warships began in the 1970s, intended as a guided missile destroyer . However, on January 1, 1980 the identifier was changed to CG ( guided missile cruiser ). This was mainly because the ships had strong air defense capabilities through the installation of Aegis, which meant that they had outgrown the tasks of a destroyer. In addition, it would have been difficult to convey to Congress to provide a cost of around one billion dollars per unit for a pure escort ship.

The name of the ship class and ship names refer to historical battles, only one ship was named after Thomas S. Gates , a former US Secretary of Defense .

Construction of the first cruiser began in early 1980, the last ship was laid down in 1991. The builders for the Ticos were Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula , Mississippi for 19 units and Bath Iron Works in Bath , Maine for the remaining eight. The construction took place in modular construction . Individual sections are produced that are later joined together. This has the advantage that the workers have more space to install the cabling and similar things and the superstructures can later be placed on the finished shell. Computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing were also used in the planning and construction . As soon as the keel was completed, the ships were brought ashore several dozen meters via a taxiing system to a dry dock, which was finally flooded so that a classic launching no longer took place. It took around 18 months from the start of construction to launching the ships. The ships then spent the same time at the equipment pier and during the first functional tests. The cost of one unit was around a billion dollars. According to the construction contract, $ 287.8 million of this went to the shipyard for the first unit, with the remaining roughly $ 700 million going to development and equipment.

Modifications

Modifications to the design were already made during construction; there were a total of five basic models ( baselines ). Baseline 0 was the original design and included the first two units. Baseline 1 with three units had slight improvements to the electronics and the data connection to the on-board helicopters, so that more modern machines could be embarked. They also had lighter, three-legged masts. Baseline 2 (seven units) replaced the entire missile system and the sonar facilities were improved. The six units of Baseline 3 had improved radar, with which, among other things, the defense against approaching anti-ship missiles was improved. The remaining nine units ( Baseline 4 ) had an improved sonar system on board. With the improvement of the ships to a common standard, from 2006, among other things, the rocket launching systems are to be made ready for future generations of weapons, radar systems are to be brought up to the state of the art and water treatment on board is to be converted to a reverse osmosis system.

In addition, the USS Yorktown (CG-48) was selected as a prototype and test ship for the Smart Ship Project . The aim of this program is to reduce the number of crew members on ships. Among other things, the bridge crew could be reduced to three men. The total strength of the crew could be reduced by about 50 men. This is achieved, among other things, through stronger networking and automation of the ship systems.

After the five ships built on baselines 0 and 1 had been decommissioned, the 22 cruisers remaining in service were modernized from 2008 onwards. The modernization included the equipping of new 127 mm guns with 62 instead of 54 caliber lengths, the ability to fire RIM-162 Evolved Sea Sparrow Missiles from the VLS , improved sonar, improved fire control systems and extensive modernizations in the area of ​​electronics and computers. The first unit to receive the modifications was the USS Bunker Hill (CG-52) in San Diego at a BAE Systems shipyard in March 2008 . The docking time was around a year.

Distinguishing features

The ships on baselines 2 to 4 are visually identical.

• 

  Baseline 0 :
  Mk.26 starter and four-legged masts
  Example:
  USS Yorktown

• 

  Baseline 1 :
  Mk.26 starter and three-legged masts
  Example:
  USS Valley Forge

• 

  Baselines 2-4 :
  Mk.41 VLS starter and three-legged masts
  Example:
  USS San Jacinto

present

→ Main article : List of Ticonderoga-class cruisers

The USS Cape St. George fires a tomahawk cruise missile during the Iraq War (2003)

The Ticonderoga-class cruisers came into service from 1983 and complemented the very diversified cruiser fleet of the US Navy. This consisted of the single nuclear-powered ships USS Long Beach (CGN-9) , USS Bainbridge (CGN-25) , USS Truxtun (CGN-35) and the conventional Belknap and Leahy classes , all of which were completed in the 1960s, and the nuclear cruiser classes Virginia and California from the 1970s. Among other things, the great success of the Ticonderogas pushed them out of active service after a period of service of sometimes less than twenty years. Since 1998 it has been the only still active cruiser class. With the destroyers of the Arleigh Burke and Zumwalt classes , the Littoral Combat Ships of the Freedom and Independence classes , the aircraft carriers and landing and docking ships, the " Ticos " now make up the entire surface fleet of the US Navy.

The original plan was to bring all units to a common baseline and to take the first units out of service in the early 2020s. Instead, however, the first five units were decommissioned between September 2005 and December 2005 due to the outdated rocket launch system and for cost reasons, so that 22 units are still in active service.

The cost of running a ship in 1996 was $ 28 million a year. The ships of the Ticonderoga class that are not decommissioned are to achieve a service life of 40 years each with further modernizations, i.e. they will be decommissioned between 2026 and 2034 . As the replacement cruisers of Project CG (X) have been canceled, no successor class is currently determined.

technology

hull

Aerial view of the USS Lake Champlain

The hull is 172.8 meters long and 16.8 meters wide. These are almost exactly the dimensions of the hull of the destroyers of the Spruance class , on whose design the Ticonderoga class is also based. The draft, measured at the bow, where the deepest part of the ship is due to the sonar dome, is 10.2 meters. The empty displacement is just under 7,000 ts ( standard displacement ), and when fully loaded it is around 10,000  tn. l. This increase in weight compared to the ships of the Spruance class of around 2,000 tons is mainly due to the heavy elements of the radar system.

These radar devices also cause the structures to look somewhat unusual, as they do not have rotating antennas, but surface antennas that require a relatively large amount of space within the structures. The bridge is on the front structure. Another factor contributing to the unusual appearance is that the exhaust pipes protrude relatively far out of the chimney cladding.

drive

A Ticonderoga-class ship is capable of maintaining speeds in excess of 30 knots. The two shafts are each driven by two LM 2500 gas turbines from General Electric , which provide around 80,000 hp. According to the US Navy, in an emergency or during exercises, the ships are able to stop at full speed ahead within two ship lengths. This is made possible by the use of controllable pitch propellers ; This means that the propeller pitch is switched from “ahead” to “back” without having to change the direction of the engine or gearbox.

The energy for the on-board electrical system is provided by three generators driven by gas turbines. Each of these generators has an output of up to 2.5 megawatts.

Armament

Aft Vertical Launching System Mk. 41 on the USS Normandy

The armament differs significantly within the class. Because the ships of the first two baselines had rocket starters, for which the Navy no longer wanted to keep rockets, they had to be decommissioned.

On the 22 units of the later baselines , which are still in service today, there is an Mk 41 Vertical Launching System where the rocket double-arm launchers were on the first units . These have a total of 122 cells from which, in addition to Standard Missile  2, RIM-162 Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile (ESSM) and VL-ASROC , BGM-109 Tomahawk can also be fired against land targets. Additional magazines for reloading weapons at sea are not required here. Several cruisers are currently being converted for missile defense as part of the National Missile Defense ; the cruiser USS Lake Erie (CG-70) is the main test ship for the seaborne portion of the program.

Aft Mk-26 starter of the USS Ticonderoga with SM. Right behind the two Harpoon starters

All units, including the oldest, have two launchers for four AGM-84 Harpoon anti-ship missiles on the aft platform for attacking sea targets . Moreover, the ships have on both sides at the level of the landing platform three torpedo tubes Mk 32 , in each of which a torpedo type Mk 46 is entrained. These can be reloaded via a magazine located behind.

For land target fire, each unit has two 5-inch naval guns of the 54 caliber of the Mark 45 type . These guns are located in front of (bow) or behind (stern) the VLS. They are at a distance of less than 13 nautical miles used against surface targets and achieve doing a cadence of up to 20 rounds per minute. Against approaching missiles, the ships each have two Phalanx CIWS , Gatling cannons with a rate of up to 4,500 rounds per minute. For close-range defense, two 25 mm automatic cannons , various Browning 12.7 mm machine guns, grenade machine guns and 7.62 mm M60 machine guns are also mounted on the upper deck.

The first five units of the class, which have all been decommissioned since 2006, had two Mk-26-Mod-1 double-arm launchers as rocket launch systems , one of which was installed on the foredeck and one on the aft deck. Directly below the decks were the magazines in which standard missiles for air defense and ASROCs for use against submarines were stored. Usually there were 44 SMs in the aft, 24 SMs in the front and 20 ASROCs.

Aircraft

SH-60 hovering over USS Lake Champlain

The first two units were only able to carry Kaman SH-2 Seasprite helicopters . All other units as well as the first two after a successful upgrade are equipped to take the more versatile Sikorsky SH-60B Seahawk on board. The landing deck is located aft of the superstructure, with the aft deck superstructure serving as a hangar for two helicopters. In addition to one on the landing deck, each ship also has an area above the foredeck for VERTREP (short for vertical replenishment ), i.e. for supply by hovering helicopters.

It is possible to land helicopters up to the size of a Sikorsky MH-53 Sea Stallion or Boeing-Vertol CH-47 Chinook on the deck . In addition, if the flight deck is occupied, helicopters can be refueled in the air via a hose. The helicopters can land and be brought into the hangar by means of a positioning and fixing system, even in rough seas.

electronics

Note the multitude of radar antennas on the forward mast of the USS Normandy

The ships of the Ticonderoga class are based on the Aegis combat system , whose core system, the phased array antennas of the SPY-1 radar, can detect, track and combat several dozen targets at the same time. The range is around 200 nautical miles . The system is produced by Lockheed Martin and is considered the best combat system in the world. As a conventional air surveillance radar, the SPS-49 is installed on board the " Ticos ", which has a range of 250 nautical miles and is installed on the aft mast.

Combat Information Center of the USS Ticonderoga

The surface search radar, type SPS-55 on the forward mast has a range of 50+ nautical miles, while the navigation radar SPS-64 is on the bridge. The guns are controlled by the SQR-9 from Norden Systems , which is also located on the forward mast, while the anti-aircraft missiles are controlled by the SPG-62 , two of which are located on both deckhouses.

The sonar system on board is the SQS-53 sonar , which is located in the bow of the ship and can work in both active and passive mode. Behind the ship one can SQR-19 - towed array sonar being towed. The ship's sonar system is also able to receive and process signals from sonar buoys . All sonar data obtained are then merged in the SQQ-89 anti- submarine system.

The systems for electronic warfare consist of the AN / SLQ-32 . The antennas, which are located between the deckhouses, can be used for telecommunication and electronic reconnaissance and as jammers . The SLQ-32 package also includes the Mark 36 SRBOC , which shoots chaffs and flares into the air that are intended to deflect approaching missiles away from the ship with both radar and infrared seekers.

Mission profile

The USS Vella Gulf (above) escorts the USS George Washington with the destroyer USS Bulkeley

The main task of the Ticonderoga class is escort in Carrier Strike Groups . A cruiser always belongs to such a combat group around a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier . Due to the Aegis combat system, the main task of the ship is the air defense against enemy aircraft as well as against approaching anti-ship missiles.

In addition, the cruisers can attack other surface and land targets as well as submarines, so they have the ability to act independently of combat groups. The units can serve as flagships within fleet associations ; there is a command center in which the fleet admiral can receive summarized data from other ships.

Since they belong to the standard crew of the carrier combat groups, the cruisers of the Ticonderoga class have been used in all wars in the United States since their commissioning. These include the Second and Third Gulf Wars , the Afghanistan Campaign and the Kosovo War . In addition to pure escort tasks, the cruisers also used Tomahawk cruise missiles against land targets.

Web links

Commons : Ticonderoga class  - collection of images, videos, and audio files

• Fact sheet of the US Navy (English)
• Ticonderoga class on globalsecurity.org (English)

Footnotes

1. ↑ from: Terzibaschitsch: Sea power USA. Bernard & Graefe Verlag, Bonn, ISBN 3-86047-576-2 , p. 369.
2. ↑ Modernization on Defense Industry Daily (Eng.)
3. ↑ Mission on the official website of the USS Shiloh ( Memento from February 3, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) (English)
4. ↑ ^{a b} Modern Naval Combat ISBN 0-517-61350-6
5. ↑ http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ship/systems/mk26-gmls.pdf

This version was added to the list of articles worth reading on March 19, 2006 .