USS Valley Forge in San Diego on 2 November 2002
History
United States
NameValley Forge
NamesakeValley Forge
Ordered28 August 1981
BuilderIngalls Shipbuilding
Laid down14 April 1983
Launched23 June 1984
Christened29 September 1984
Commissioned18 January 1986
Decommissioned30 August 2004
Stricken30 August 2004
Identification
MottoFirst In War - First In Peace
FateSunk as target, 2 November 2006
Badge
General characteristics
Class and typeTiconderoga-class cruiser
DisplacementApprox. 9,600 long tons (9,800 t) full load
Length567 feet (173 m)
Beam55 feet (16.8 meters)
Draft34 feet (10.2 meters)
Propulsion
Speed32.5 knots (60 km/h; 37.4 mph)
Complement30 officers and 300 enlisted
Sensors and
processing systems
Armament
Aircraft carried2 × MH-60R Seahawk LAMPS Mk III helicopters.

USS Valley Forge (CG-50) was a Ticonderoga-class cruiser in the United States Navy. She was named for Valley Forge, where the Continental Army camped during one winter in the American Revolution.

Construction and commissioning

The ship was built by Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Mississippi, and was launched on 29 September 1984, by her sponsor Julia Vadala Taft, wife of Deputy Secretary of Defense William H. Taft IV.

Service history

During the 1986 RIMPAC naval exercise, she acted as the plane guard for the aircraft carrier USS Ranger.

She saw action during Desert Storm in the USS Ranger battle group and served as the overall Anti-Air warfare commander for the gulf (Bravo Zulu AAWC).

In March 2003, Valley Forge was assigned to Destroyer Squadron 21.[1]

The ship was decommissioned on 31 August 2004, at San Diego Naval Station, the first ship with the Aegis combat system withdrawn from service. Valley Forge was sunk on 2 November 2006, as part of a target practice on a test range near Kauai, Hawaii.[2]

Awards

References

  1. ^ Toppan, Andrew (10 March 2003). "World Navies Today: US Navy Aircraft Carriers & Surface Combatants". Hazegray.org. Retrieved 19 August 2017.
  2. ^ Cavas, Christopher P. (17 November 2006). "Aegis ship sunk on target range". Navy Times. Archived from the original on 4 September 2012. Retrieved 19 August 2017.

This article includes information collected from the Naval Vessel Register, which, as a U.S. government publication, is in the public domain.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to USS Valley Forge (CG-50).


Ticonderoga-class cruisers
Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in 2006
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