USS Halsey (CG-23)

USS Halsey (CG-23)
History
United States
Name	Halsey
Namesake	William Halsey, Jr.
Builder	San Francisco Naval Shipyard
Laid down	26 August 1960
Launched	15 January 1962
Sponsored by	Margaret Denham and Jane Halsey
Commissioned	20 July 1963
Decommissioned	28 January 1994
Reclassified	Guided-missile cruiser, 30 June 1975
Stricken	28 January 1994
Identification	DLG-23/CG-23
Fate	Sold for scrap to International Shipbreaking LTD, Brownsville, Texas. Scrapping completed 30 November 2003
Badge
General characteristics
Class and type	Leahy-class cruiser
Displacement	7,903 tons
Length	533 ft (162 m)
Beam	53 ft (16 m)
Draft	24 ft 6 in (7.47 m)
Propulsion	2 × Allis-Chalmers steam turbines providing 85,000 shp (63 MW); 2 shafts 4 × Foster-Wheeler boilers
Speed	32 kn (59 km/h; 37 mph)
Range	8,000 nmi (15,000 km; 9,200 mi) at 20 kn (37 km/h; 23 mph)
Complement	400 officers and enlisted
Sensors and processing systems	AN/SPS-39 followed by AN/SPS-48 3D air search radar AN/SPS-43 followed by AN/SPS-49 2D air search radar AN/SPS-10 surface search radar AN/SPG-55 missile fire control radar AN/SQS-23 bow mounted sonar
Electronic warfare & decoys	AN/SLQ-32 Mark 36 SRBOC
Armament	2 × Mark 10 Terrier SAM 1 × ASROC ASW system 4 × 3 in(76 mm)guns (replaced by Harpoon missiles during 1980s) 6 × 12.75 in(324 mm)ASW TT 2 x Phalanx CIWS

The USS Halsey (DLG-23, later CG-23) was a Leahy-class guided missile cruiserof the United States Navy named in honor of Fleet Admiral William Halsey. Originally called a destroyer leader or frigate (DLG-23), on 30 June 1975 she was redesignated a cruiser (CG-23) in the U.S. Navy's ship reclassification.

Operations testing

Halsey was launched on 15 January 1962 at San Francisco Naval Shipyard, having been sponsored by late Admiral Halsey's, for whom the ship is named after, granddaughters Margaret Denham and Jane Halsey. She was then commissioned on 20 July 1963. Halsey departed from San Francisco on 25 November 1963 for the Bangor Submarine Base in the Hood Canal for testing. She was then sent to San Diego, arriving on 11 December.^[1]

Halsey was assigned to Destroyer Squadron 7 and participated in a special sea power demonstration for the Secretary of the Navy. She then went on to conduct weapons qualification trials from January to February 1964 and performed a shakedown cruise over the next two months. She returned to the San Francisco Naval Shipyard on 15 May 1964 and concluded her post-shakedown on 17 July 1964.^[1]

Active service

During her first years of active service, Halsey experimented with a unique operations system which combined the responsibilities of the CIC with all weapons systems, and also involved separate hull and communications administrations departments.^[1]

On 2 July 1966, Halsey left San Diego for Subic Bay, Philippines, where she performed ASW operations and air-sea rescue missions in the South China Sea. During this period, Halsey rescued some 16 airmen while cruising in the Gulf of Tonkin.^[1]

On 5 December, the frigate departed from Yokosuka, Japan, arriving in San Diego on 21 December.^[1]

1967 was spent in training cruises off the West Coast, but Halsey underwent overhaul in April, rejoining training exercises in September.^[1]

On 15 April 1968, Halsey was involved in an air-sea rescue mission off the coast of North Vietnam, with her Sea King helicopter helping to rescue 4 downed airmen.^[2]

Halsey was reclassified as a guided-missile cruiser and redesignated CG-23 on 30 June 1975.

For the rest of Halsey's career, she spent her time participating in regular operations in the West Pacific and Indian Ocean. She was involved in Operations Desert Storm and Desert Shield in the Gulf War.^[3]

Fate

Halsey was decommissioned and struck from the Naval Vessel Register in January 1994.^[3] She was scrapped in 2003.