USS Leyte Gulf

Guided missile cruiser of the United States Navy

For ships with similar names, see USS Leyte.

USS Leyte Gulf on 22 February 2004

History
United States
Name| Leyte Gulf
Namesake| Battle of Leyte Gulf
Ordered| 20 June 1983
Builder| Ingalls Shipbuilding
Laid down| 18 March 1985
Launched| 20 June 1986
Commissioned| 26 September 1987
Decommissioned| 20 September 2024
Homeport| Norfolk
Identification|

* MMSI number: 368846000
* Call sign: NLEG
*   * Hull number: CG-55

Motto| Arrayed For Victory
Nickname(s)| Double Nickel, America's Battle Cruiser
Status| Out of service
Badge|
General characteristics
Class and type| Ticonderoga-class cruiser
Displacement| Approx. 9,600 long tons (9,800 t) full load
Length| 565 feet (172 meters) She lost 2 feet after colliding with USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71)
Beam| 55 feet (16.8 meters)
Draft| 34 feet (10.2 meters)
Propulsion|

* 4 × General Electric LM2500 gas turbine engines
* 2 × controllable-reversible pitch propellers
* 2 × rudders

Speed| 32.5 knots (60 km/h; 37.4 mph)
Complement| 30 officers and 300 enlisted
Armament|

* 2 × 61 cell Mk 41 vertical launch systems containing
* 122 × mix of:
* RIM-66M-5 Standard SM-2MR Block IIIB
* RIM-156A SM-2ER Block IV
* RIM-161 SM-3
* RIM-162A ESSM
* RIM-174A Standard ERAM
* BGM-109 Tomahawk
* RUM-139A VL-ASROC
* 8 × RGM-84 Harpoon missiles
* 2 × 5 in (127 mm)/62 caliber Mark 45 Mod 4 lightweight gun
* 2 × Mk 38 25 mm Machine Gun Systems
* 2–4 × .50 in (12.7 mm) cal. machine gun
* 2 × Phalanx CIWS Block 1B
* 2 × Mk 32 12.75 in (324 mm) triple torpedo tubes

Aircraft carried| 2 × MH-60R Seahawk LAMPS Mk III helicopters.

USS Leyte Gulf (CG-55) is a Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser in the United States Navy. She was named in memory of the World War II Battle of Leyte Gulf in the Pacific. She is powered by four large gas-turbine engines, and she has a large complement of guided missiles for air defense, attack of surface targets at sea and ashore, and anti-submarine warfare (ASW). In addition, she carries two "Seahawk" LAMPS multi-purpose helicopters, whose primary mission is ASW.

Leyte Gulf was laid down by the Litton-Ingalls Shipbuilding Corporation at Pascagoula, Mississippi, on 18 March 1985, launched on 20 June 1986, and commissioned on 26 September 1987 at Port Everglades, Florida.[1][2]

Leyte Gulf was decommissioned on 20 September 2024 at Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia.[3]

## History

[edit]

On 14 October 1996, Leyte Gulf collided with the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, USS Theodore Roosevelt while conducting operations off the coast of North Carolina. The incident occurred as the carrier, without prior warning, reversed her engines while Leyte Gulf was behind her and slammed into the cruiser's bow. There were no personnel casualties or injuries reported,[4] and damage to the Leyte was only $2 million.[5]

In 2002, she won the Marjorie Sterrett Battleship Fund Award for the Atlantic Fleet.

In late 1992 Leyte Gulf was assigned to Carrier Group 2.[6] In March 2003 Leyte Gulf was assigned to Carrier Group Eight.[7]

USS Leyte Gulf steams under the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge during the parade of ships on the opening day of New York Fleet Week 2008.

On 15 September 2007, there was a fire aboard Leyte Gulf as she underwent an extensive modernization program in BAE Systems Shipyard in Norfolk, Virginia. Initially the fire received national attention due to the possibility that it was a terrorist incident, however, it was quickly revealed to be an industrial accident. Five shipyard workers were injured in the incident, one seriously, but no naval personnel were involved.[8]

In February 2011, Leyte Gulf was involved in an incident with Somali pirates after they captured the United States flagged yacht Quest.[9]

U.S. sailors from USS Leyte Gulf's Vessel Board Search and Seizure Team return to their ship

The cruiser returned to Norfolk on 15 July 2011. During her deployment, she had participated in operations which had captured 75 Somali pirates and had missile strikes by her carrier strike group against the Libyan government.[10]

In January 2015, Leyte Gulf returned from a six-month deployment to the Mediterranean Sea. The ship served as flagship of Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 for much of the deployment.[11]

In August 2022 Leyte Gulf was again deployed to the Mediterranean Sea.[12] She returned to Norfolk on 9 June 2023.

On 29 January 2024, Leyte Gulf deployed Sunday from Naval Station Norfolk, Va., to the 4th Fleet area of operations, which includes the Caribbean and Central and South America. It will host HSM-50, Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron 50 and Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment 404 and is expected to conduct passing exercises with regional partners and make port visits to counter threats such as illegal drug trafficking.[13] She returned to Naval Station Norfolk on 17 May 2024. This will be her final deployment before decommissioning.[14]

In March 2024, the Navy announced plans to inactivate Leyte Gulf on 20 September 2024.[15]

On March 21, 2024, the Leyte Gulf and the US Coast Guard captured a narco-submarine 150 miles off the coast of Guyana carrying 5,225 pounds of cocaine.[16]

On September 20, 2024 at Naval Station Norfolk, USS Leyte Gulf (CG-55) was decommissioned with Commanding Officer Commander Brian Harrington and Command Master Chief Michael Jedrykowski presiding.[17]

## See also

[edit]

* Carrier Strike Group Two

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "USS LEYTE GULF (CG 55)". NVR. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
2. ^ "USS Leyte Gulf (CG 55) history". U.S. Carriers. 14 March 2024. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
3. ^ "USS Leyte Gulf (CG 55) Holds Decommissioning Ceremony". DVIDS. Retrieved 23 September 2024.
4. ^ "USS Leyte Gulf at DCHM". Naval Sea Systems Command DC Museum. Archived from the original on 14 February 2008. Retrieved 16 September 2007.
5. ^ "Navy Officers Reprimanded for Role in Ships Collision".
6. ^ Polmar, Norman (1993). The Naval Institute Guide to The Ships and Aircraft of the U.S. Fleet, 15th ed. Annapolis, Maryland: U.S. Naval Institute Press. pp. 36 (Table 6-5), 375, 377–381, 383, 386. ISBN 1-55750-675-2.
7. ^ Toppan, Andrew (10 March 2003). "World Navies Today: US Navy Aircraft Carriers & Surface Combatants". hazegray.org. Retrieved 21 May 2012.
8. ^ "Fire on Navy cruiser in shipyard sends five to hospital". WAVY10 News, Hampton Roads. Retrieved 16 September 2007. [dead link‍]
9. ^ "Four American hostages killed by Somali pirates". NBC News. 22 February 2011. Retrieved 24 July 2015.
10. ^ Wilson, Todd Allen (16 July 2011). "USS Enterprise Returns To Norfolk". Newport News Daily Press.
11. ^ "USS Leyte Gulf Returns to Home Port". US Navy News Service NNS150107-04. 7 January 2015.
12. ^ "Carrier USS George H.W. Bush Joins Truman Strike Group in Mediterranean, Two Guided-Missile Subs in 6th Fleet". USNI News. 25 August 2022.
13. ^ McElhiney, Brian (29 January 2024). "USS Leyte Gulf deploys to Caribbean, South America". Stars and Stripes. Retrieved 3 April 2024.
14. ^ Burchett, Caitlyn (22 May 2024). "USS Leyte Gulf returns to Norfolk from final deployment before decommissioning in September". Stars and Stripes. Retrieved 9 June 2024.
15. ^ VADM J. E. Pitts (11 March 2024). "NAVADMIN 050/24 FY24 PROJECTED SHIP INACTIVATION SCHEDULE (UPDATED COPY)". MyNavyHR. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
16. ^ "'Narco-submarine' carrying more than 5,000 pounds of cocaine intercepted offshore". 4 April 2024.
17. ^ https://www.dvidshub.net/news/481515/uss-leyte-gulf-decommissioned

## Further reading

[edit]

* "Leyte Gulf (CG-55) I - Ship Command Operations Reports". history.navy.mil.

## External links

[edit]

* Official website
* Photo gallery of USS Leyte Gulf (CG-55) at NavSource Naval History

Wikimedia Commons has media related to USS Leyte Gulf (CG-55).

* v
* t
* e

Ticonderoga-class cruisers

Mark 26 twin-arm missile launcher ships|

* Ticonderoga
* Yorktown
* Vincennes
* Valley Forge
* Thomas S. Gates

Mark 41 vertical launching system ships|

* Bunker Hill
* Mobile Bay
* Antietam
* Leyte Gulf
* San Jacinto
* Lake Champlain
* Philippine Sea
* Princeton
* Normandy
* Monterey
* Chancellorsville / Robert Smalls
* Cowpens
* Gettysburg
* Chosin
* Hué City
* Shiloh
* Anzio
* Vicksburg
* Lake Erie
* Cape St. George
* Vella Gulf
* Port Royal

* Preceded by: Virginia class
* Followed by: CG(X) (planned), Flight III Arleigh Burke-class (actual), DDG(X) (actual)

* List of cruisers of the United States Navy

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