USS South Carolina (CGN-37)
_underway_in_the_Atlantic_Ocean_on_1_November_1984_(6405117).jpg)
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| career |
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|---|---|
| Ordered: | June 13, 1968 |
| Keel laying: | 1st December 1970 |
| Launch: | July 1, 1972 |
| Commissioning: | January 25, 1975 |
| Decommissioning: | 4th September 1998 |
| Fate: | Will be disassembled |
| Technical specifications | |
| Displacement : | 10,150 tons |
| Length: | 181.7 m |
| Width: | 18.6 m |
| Draft: | 9.6 m |
| Drive: | 2 nuclear reactors, 2 propellers |
| Speed: | 30+ kn |
| Crew: | 28 officers, 512 men |
The USS South Carolina (DLGN-37 / CGN-37) was a nuclear cruiser of the California class .
history
The keel laying of the South Carolina took place in 1972 at Newport News Shipbuilding , in 1975 the ship was put into service with the United States Navy .
The South Carolina made its first mission trips with the USS Nimitz (CVN-68) in the Mediterranean. From 1979 the cruiser was used with the combat group of the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) in the Indic and in the Caribbean. From 1983 the ship underwent its first overhaul at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard , which lasted until May 1984. In the same year the ship conducted exercises in the Caribbean and was transferred to the Mediterranean in 1985. It spent most of its time off the coast of Lebanon following the hijacking of TWA Flight 847 . In 1986 the ship sailed the North Atlantic and visited Wilhelmshaven , among others . South Carolina spent the remainder of the 1980s fighting drug smuggling in the Caribbean.
In October 1990, the South Carolina left its home port with the carrier battle group around the USS Saratoga (CV-60) and crossed the Atlantic and then the Suez Canal to participate in Operation Desert Shield . During the actual Gulf War, the ship was used for air surveillance and keeping air corridors clear over the Mediterranean. From 1991 the ship lay for overhaul in the Norfolk Naval Shipyard, this lasted until the end of 1994. From autumn 1995 the ship served again in the Mediterranean, as Green Crown during NATO operation Deny Flight . For this mission the crew was rewarded with the NATO Medal , the Meritorious Unit Commendation and the Armed Forces Service Medal .
After her last voyages in the Mediterranean, the South Carolina was decommissioned in 1998 and is to be added to the Ship-Submarine Recycling Program in the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard .
Web links
- South Carolina in the NVR