The guided-missile cruiser USS Chancellorsville (CG-62) departed from San Diego May 28 for Yokosuka, Japan, where the ship will join U.S. 7th Fleet’s Forward Deployed Naval Forces. Chancellorsville will enhance presence in 7th Fleet as part of the U.S. Navy’s long-range plan to send the most advanced and capable units to the Asia-Pacific region.

«It is Navy policy to forward deploy our most capable ships and there is no ship more capable than Chancellorsville», said Captain Curt Renshaw, Chancellorsville’s commanding officer. «That capability is not just a result of recent modernization, but is also a function of the readiness of the crew; and this crew has worked very hard to prepare for this day to ensure we are able to arrive immediately prepared for any mission».

USS Chancellorsville (CG-62) completed a combat systems update through the Navy’s Cruiser Modernization program, making her among the most capable ships of her class. She is fitted with the latest Aegis Baseline 9 combat system, and will be the first to be forward deployed with that capability.

The Cruiser Modernization program is designed to upgrade in-service ships to keep pace with evolving threats while enabling ships to meet service life requirements and future operational commitments. Cruiser modernization enhances overall combat systems capability through numerous system improvements.

Future missions will include maritime security operations and cooperative training exercises with allies and partners in the Asia-Pacific region. This ship, along with her counterparts in the Japan Self-Defense Forces, makes up part of the core capabilities needed by the alliance to meet our common strategic objectives.

Guided Missile Cruisers – CG

Modern U.S. Navy guided missile cruisers perform primarily in a Battle Force role. These ships are multi-mission [Air Warfare (AW), Undersea Warfare (USW), Naval Surface Fire Support (NSFS) and Surface Warfare (SUW)] surface combatants capable of supporting carrier battle groups, amphibious forces, or of operating independently and as flagships of surface action groups. Cruisers are equipped with Tomahawk cruise missiles giving them additional long range Strike Warfare (STRW) capability. Some Aegis Cruisers have been outfitted with a Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) capability.

Technological advances in the Standard Missile coupled with the Aegis combat system in the Ticonderoga class cruisers have increased the Anti-Air Warfare (AAW) capability of surface combatants to pinpoint accuracy from wave-top to zenith. The addition of Tomahawk in the CG-47 has vastly complicated unit target planning for any potential enemy and returned an offensive strike role to the surface forces that seemed to have been lost to air power at Pearl Harbor.

The Cruiser Modernization program aims to improve the Ticonderoga class by modernizing the computing and display infrastructure, and the Hull, Mechanical and Electrical (HM&E) systems. Weapons and sensor sets will also be improved, in order to upgrade their anti-submarine capabilities, add short-range electro-optical systems that can monitor the ships surroundings without the use of radar emissions, as well as routine machinery upgrades to improve all areas of ship functionality.

General Characteristics

Builder	Ingalls Shipbuilding: 52-57, 59, 62, 65-66, 68-69, 71-73
	Bath Iron Works: 58, 60-61, 63-64, 67, 70
Date Deployed	22 January 1983: USS Ticonderoga (CG-47)
Unit Cost	About $1 billion each
Length	567 feet/172.82 m
Beam	55 feet/16.76 m
Displacement	9,600 long tons (9,754 metric tons) full load
Propulsion	4 General Electric LM 2500 gas turbine engines
	2 shafts
	80,000 shaft horsepower/60 MW total
Speed	30+ knots/34.5 mph/55.5 km/h
Crew	330: 30 Officers, 300 Enlisted
Armament	Mk-41 Vertical Launching System Standard Missile (MR)
	Vertical Launch ASROC (VLA) Missile
	Tomahawk Cruise Missile
	Mk-46 torpedoes (from two triple mounts)
	2 Mk-45 127-mm/5-inch/54 caliber lightweight guns
	2 Phalanx Close-In-Weapons systems
Aircraft	2 SH-60 Seahawk (LAMPS III)

 

Ships

USS Bunker Hill (CG-52), San Diego, California

USS Mobile Bay (CG-53), San Diego, California

USS Antietam (CG-54), Yokosuka, Japan

USS Leyte Gulf (CG-55), Norfolk, Virginia

USS San Jacinto (CG-56), Norfolk, Virginia

USS Lake Champlain (CG-57), San Diego, California

USS Philippine Sea (CG-58), Mayport, Florida

USS Princeton (CG-59), San Diego, California

USS Normandy (CG-60), Norfolk, Virginia

USS Monterey (CG-61), Norfolk, Virginia

USS Chancellorsville (CG-62), San Diego, California

USS Cowpens (CG-63), San Diego, California

USS Gettysburg (CG-64), Mayport, Florida

USS Chosin (CG-65), Pearl Harbor, Hawaii

USS Hue City (CG-66), Mayport, Florida

USS Shiloh (CG-67), Yokosuka, Japan

USS Anzio (CG-68), Norfolk, Virginia

USS Vicksburg (CG-69), Mayport, Florida

USS Lake Erie (CG-70), Pearl Harbor, Hawaii

USS Cape St. George (CG-71), San Diego, California

USS Vella Gulf (CG-72), Norfolk, Virginia

USS Port Royal (CG-73), Pearl Harbor, Hawaii