USS Bainbridge (CGN-25)
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The USS Bainbridge (identification until 1975: DLGN-25, from 1975: CGN-25) was the fourth of five ships under this name to date and the first nuclear-powered destroyer or frigate in the world. When it was reclassified as a cruiser (1975), it became a nuclear cruiser . She entered service with the United States Navy in 1962. With a displacement of 8,400 tons, she was the lightest surface nuclear warship ever put into service .
The Bainbridge took part in both the Vietnam War and Operation Desert Storm in 1991, was decommissioned in 1996 and scrapped from 1997 to 1999 .
Type of use and classification
The Bainbridge was put into service as a destroyer or frigate. The official DLGN classification actually stands for a destroyer sub-type ( Destroyer leader / guided missile / nuclear , German " Destroyer leader with guided missiles, nuclear driven"). However, the part DL (for large destroyer or command destroyer ) is often interpreted as a large frigate. Since the distinction between these two types of ship has decreased significantly since the Second World War , the Bainbridge , like other ships with DL identification, was later removed from the group of destroyers due to its size and upgraded to a nuclear-powered guided missile cruiser.
The Bainbridge was a classic representative of the US Navy definition of the ship type destroyer / frigate: Thanks to its armament, it was able to protect the main ship of the association (usually an aircraft carrier) accompanied by it against threats from within the combat group to which it belonged Protect the air as well as against submarines . Especially in interaction with nuclear-powered aircraft carriers , it was able to exploit its speed and unlimited range (without having to bunker fuel in between ).
With the reclassification in 1975 (which resulted from the dissolution of the DLGN classification), the Bainbridge became a cruiser and, according to the class definition, should have carried out more operations outside of a fleet , for example monitoring and keeping sea routes clear . However, it was only able to do this from 1985, since it was only at that time that it received missiles of the Harpoon type against surface targets. Ultimately, the example of the Bainbridge clearly shows that it is hardly possible to assess the tasks of a ship simply by looking at the classification.
technology
hull
The Bainbridge is the smallest surface nuclear warship ever commissioned. The design was based heavily on that of the conventionally powered ships of the Leahy class , which led to great external and internal similarities between the ships, so that the Leahy class is viewed as a sister class.
drive
The Bainbridge was powered by two pressurized water reactors . These were of the type D2G from General Electric . They were connected to two steam turbines , which together delivered around 44,000 kW (60,000 hp) of power to the ship's two drive shafts. This enabled the Bainbridge to maintain speeds in excess of 30 kn (56 km / h) over almost any length of distance. For a long time it held the US Navy's endurance speed record for an average of 29.9 knots of travel on the 6,600 nm (12,223 km) route from Fremantle , Australia , to the Gulf of Tonkin , Vietnam , in 1966.
The Bainbridge has covered over 1.8 million nautical miles in her career . Their first filling with new fuel rods took place after 300,000 nm in 1967/1968 in the Mare Island Naval Shipyard in California , the second between 1974 and 1976 in the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton , Washington . During the docking time between 1983 and 1985, new fuel rods were inserted for the third and last time, with the second and third fillings with improved material, which increased the range.
Armament
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The RIM-2-Terrier system with a range of up to 80 nm (around 150 km) served as the anti-aircraft missile system when it was commissioned . For this purpose, there were two Mk 10 launchers on board at the bow and one aft , and 40 rockets each were stored in the two magazines. Between 1974 and 1976 the ship received a newer system with the RIM-66 Standard Missile 1 ER ( extended range , German "increased range"), which in turn was replaced by RIM-67 Standard Missile 2 ER between 1983 and 1985 . Two AGM-84 Harpoon anti-ship missile launchers were also installed during this period . There were no reserve missiles on board for this, so the ship was equipped with eight Harpoon missiles.
A Mk 16 RUR-5-ASROC launcher was installed on the Bainbridge for submarine hunts , which could transport the eight rocket torpedoes on board within a radius of a good nine kilometers, where they dived into the water and became active. In addition, the Bainbridge had two Mk 32 triple starters for torpedoes of the Mark 46 type light weight torpedo on board, as well as probably twelve reserve torpedoes for this system.
The Bainbridge was equipped with two 7.6 cm double guns, which were replaced by more modern 2.0 cm guns in 1976 and completely dismantled in the mid-1980s. During this period, the ship received two phalanx close-up defense systems instead to repel approaching missiles.
The Bainbridge lacked a hangar for the permanent accommodation of a helicopter , aft there was only a landing deck, which was mainly used for VERTREP (VERTREP = VERTical REPlenishment , German "vertical supply [carried out by helicopters]").
Sensors
When it was commissioned, the Bainbridge carried the air surveillance radar SPS-37 from Westinghouse Electric , and the SPS-39 from Hughes Aircraft , whose range is specified as 160 nm , as the corresponding 3D radar for finding the height of a target . The SPS-39 was replaced between 1974 and 1976 by the model SPS-48 from ITT-Gilfillan , which had a much longer range of 230 nm. The 2D model (which is only responsible for the bearing) SPS-37 was replaced between 1983 and 1985 by the more modern SPS-49 from Raytheon , which had a range increased by approx. 50% (approx. 250 nm). As a navigation radar, the Bainbridge carried the SPS-10 from Raytheon until 1967, which was then replaced by the more modern SPS-67 from Norden Systems .
The SQS-23, an active search and attack sonar with ranges of over 10,000 yards (9,144 meters), was installed as a sonar device for anti-submarine defense . In the early 1980s it was replaced by an SQQ-23, basically an improved SQS-23, but the coordination with the sonar computers was improved. The SQQ-23 uses two sonodomes to achieve the greatest possible coverage of the surroundings - especially aft, where the screws create acoustically difficult conditions.
history
In its 34-year history, the Bainbridge took part in a circumnavigation of the world, carried out escort duties in the Vietnam War and was involved in the Second Gulf War. Later she also took part in the Bosnian War.
Construction and construction
Planning for a class of nuclear-powered destroyers began in January 1957, and finally the Bainbridge was ordered on September 1, 1958 . Construction took place at Bethlehem Steel at the Fore River Shipyard in Quincy , Massachusetts , where the keel was laid on May 15, 1959. The launch took place on April 15, 1961, the ship was christened by Mrs. Robert Goodale , the great-great-great-granddaughter of the namesake of the ship, William Bainbridge , who held the rank of commodore in the British-American War . The ship finally entered service with the US Navy on October 6, 1962, and its first home port was Charleston , South Carolina .
Operations in Europe
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After only three weeks of training off the American coast, the Bainbridge relocated to Europe for the first time in February 1963 , where it met with the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise in the Mediterranean . The first port visit was to the city of Toulon in France . After she drove back to Charleston later that year, the Bainbridge's first big voyage followed in 1964 : She left her home port and met again in the Mediterranean with the Enterprise , the USS Long Beach and the USS Seawolf in April . These four ships formed Nuclear Task Force One , the world's first purely nuclear-powered combat group. Without the submarine, the group began Operation Sea Orbit on August 1, 1964 , during which they carried out a complete circumnavigation of the world and thus over 30,000 nm in just under two months. Thanks to the nuclear drive, this was achieved without even having to bunker. In October, Sea Orbit ended off the east coast of the United States .
Operations in the Vietnam War
The Bainbridge was withdrawn from the Atlantic Fleet in October 1965 and reassigned to the Pacific Fleet, where it reached its new home port of Long Beach , California in November . From there she also relocated to her first assignment during the Vietnam War, where she spent Christmas in the Gulf of Tonkin. There she protected the carrier Enterprise , whose machines flew operations against North Vietnam from Yankee Station . She did so until 1966, when she returned to Long Beach on June 21st. In December, however, she arrived back in front of Vietnam and carried out operations on Yankee Station. In the summer of 1967, the Bainbridge sailed to her new home port of Vallejo , California, where she was put in dry dock at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard for the first refill with nuclear fuel. After she was put back into the water in April 1968, she carried out local operations and exercises off California, where she sank the destroyer USS Jaccard, which had been declared a target ship, by gunfire in the Beat Cadence maneuver .
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The beginning of 1969 that drove Bainbridge on their third tour in the Western Pacific (WESTPAC), where they make the carrier USS Kitty Hawk , USS Ticonderoga and USS Bon Homme Richard protected on Yankee Station. When she returned from this tour, she changed her home port back to Long Beach. There she sank two more target ships in October and November. From April to November 1970, the Bainbridge was back at Yankee Station, and she drove into the Indian Ocean to show its presence there. About a year later, the Bainbridge was a fifth time in the Gulf of Tonkin, where it guarded the carriers USS Oriskany , USS Midway and USS Enterprise and carried out other exercises. The sixth voyage towards WESTPAC between September 1972 and April 1973 took place mostly off the coast of South Vietnam . a. Mine clearers supported and carried out search and rescue tasks.
A change from the usual routine came about on the seventh WESTPAC tour, where she was at Gonzo Station in the Arabian Sea between November 18, 1973 and March 31, 1974 to protect aircraft carriers. After this tour, the Bainbridge was relocated to Bremerton for its first major overhaul, where it remained for 27 months instead of the 19 planned. In total, the modifications cost US $ 103 million. During this time, the reclassification as CGN-25 took place, with which the ship was officially a guided missile cruiser from June 30, 1975.
Later deployments in the Pacific Fleet
After the docking time, the Bainbridge was relocated to San Diego . At the time, the Navy was trying to save costs by preferring to station ships in large bases. The next bet ride went from 20 March 1978. towards Vietnam, where boat people ( boat people supported). She returned to San Diego on August 9, 1978. The turn of the year 1978/1979 spent the Bainbridge again in the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, where, among other things, the Harpoon missiles were installed.
In August 1979, the Bainbridge left San Diego again for WESTPAC, where it also operated off Iran as part of the hostage-taking of Tehran . This ninth voyage through the Pacific lasted until March 7, 1980. The routine was maintained, and so the next voyage started on February 27, 1981, on which the Bainbridge again took boat people and rescued three Malaysian fishermen in the Strait of Malacca whose boat was wrecked. The Bainbridge returned to San Diego Harbor on September 21, 1981. The eleventh voyage (September 1, 1982 to April 29, 1983) was partly carried out together with the Enterprise , later the Bainbridge first rescued 51 other boat people and later off the west coast of India 318 workers of an oil rig that had gotten out of control. This was the last WESTPAC tour, after the eleventh voyage, the Bainbridge moved again to the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, where it remained until April 1985 for the second major overhaul. After a short time in San Diego, the Bainbridge finally moved its home port back to the Atlantic, to Norfolk , Virginia .
Operations in the Atlantic
The first missions from Norfolk took the Bainbridge to the Caribbean , where they carried out missions to combat drug smuggling . In 1986 and 1988 she carried out two operations in the Mediterranean, including visiting numerous ports in North Africa . In June 1990, the Bainbridge made further port visits in Northern Europe, including visiting the British Isles for the first time. On this voyage, she also escorted the ships Flickertale State and Gopher State from Wilhelmshaven to the Pacific. These ships transported canisters of nerve gas that were to be destroyed there. After being replaced as escort by the USS Truxtun , the Bainbridge drove back to Norfolk through the Panama Canal .
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From November 1991 the Bainbridge drove one more time into the Mediterranean, crossed the Suez Canal and took part in Operation Desert Storm as part of the combat group of the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower . In 1992 she took part in Operation Teamwork 92 in the Northern European Sea , in 1993 in Solid Stance 93 , where she also visited Germany. Also in 1993, the Bainbridge conducted immigration and drug control drives off Haiti . In November of that year she carried out operations with the combat group of the USS George Washington off Puerto Rico .
From 1994, the Bainbridge took part as the flagship of Rear Admiral J. Stark in Operation Sharp Guard , an operation intended to enforce UN sanctions against Yugoslavia . She also took part in Operation Deny Flight , where she monitored the no-fly zones over Yugoslavia. Her last trip to Europe was at the beginning of 1995, where she also visited Bremerhaven . In April 1995, the Bainbridge moved to Yorktown Naval Weapons Station , where their missiles were unloaded. Shortly thereafter, the reactors were emptied and the ship towed to Bremerton, where it was dismantled in the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard as ex-Bainbridge as part of the Ship-Submarine Recycling Program from October 1, 1997, a process that began on October 30 1999 was completed.
Awards
The Bainbridge has received a total of eleven Battle E awards during its career , which are given annually to the best ship in a squadron. In 1973 she was the first surface ship to achieve the rating Excellent in an Operational Reactor Safeguards Exam (ORSE) (safety test for the operational safety of the reactor). In November 1983, the Bainbridge won the Majorite Sterrett Battleship Award , which is given every six years to the best surface combat ship in the Pacific Fleet. In the same year she was able to win a prize for air space defense from the commander of the surface forces of the Pacific Fleet.
Home ports
| October 6, 1962 to November 1965 | Charleston , South Carolina |
| November 1965 to August 1967 | Long Beach , California |
| August 1967 to August 1969 | Vallejo , California |
| August 1969 to June 1974 | Long Beach, California |
| June 1974 to April 1977 | Bremerton , Washington |
| April 1977 to the end of 1978 | San Diego , California |
| Late 1978 to March 1979 | Bremerton, Washington |
| March 1979 to October 1983 | San Diego, California |
| October 1983 to April 1985 | Bremerton, Washington |
| April 1985 to July 1985 | San Diego, California |
| July 1985 to September 1996 | Norfolk , Virginia |
Commanders
| October 6, 1962 to July 27, 1964 | Raymond E. Peet |
| July 27, 1964 to December 17, 1966 | Hal C. Castle |
| December 17, 1966 to August 30, 1970 | James H. Doyle Jr. |
| August 30, 1970 to February 9, 1974 | William R. Sheridan |
| February 9, 1974 to March 26, 1977 | B. Bruce Newell |
| March 26, 1977 to May 20, 1980 | TA Almstedt Jr. |
| May 20, 1980 to June 24, 1983 | JF Shaw |
| June 24, 1983 to June 28, 1986 | J. Paul Reason |
| June 28, 1986 to June 23, 1989 | J. Thomas Gilmartin |
| June 23, 1989 to December 23, 1991 | Laurance M. Bergin |
| December 23, 1991 to November 24, 1993 | GM Ziller Jr. |
| November 24, 1993 until retirement | James M. Brown |
literature
- Wilhelm M. Donko: The nuclear cruisers of the US Navy . Bernard & Graefe Verlag, Koblenz 1987, ISBN 3-7637-5836-4 .
Web links
- The Bainbridge on navsource.org (English)
- The Bainbridge at history.navy.mil (English)
- Side former crew members (English)
