USS England (DLG-22)

For other ships of the same name, see USS England.

USS England (CG-22)
Career (US)
Name:	England
Namesake:	John C. England
Builder:	Todd Shipbuilding, San Pedro, California
Laid down:	4 October 1960
Launched:	6 March 1962
Acquired:	16 June 1971
Commissioned:	7 December 1963
Decommissioned:	21 January 1994
Struck:	21 January 1994
Fate:	scrapped, 2004
General characteristics
Class & type:	Leahy class cruiser
Displacement:	7,903 tons
Length:	533 ft
Beam:	53 ft
Draft:	24 ft 6 in
Propulsion:	2 × De Laval steam turbines providing 85,000 shp (63 MW); 2 shafts 4 × Foster-Wheeler boilers
Speed:	34 kts
Range:	8,000 nm at 20 knots
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
Aircraft carried:	None

The second USS England (DLG/CG-22), a Leahy-class guided missile cruiser, was a ship of the United States Navy named in honor of Ensign John C. England. Originally called a "destroyer leader" or frigate, in 1975 she was re-designated a cruiser in the Navy's 1975 ship reclassification.

Ensign John Charles England was born in Harris, Mo., on 11 December 1920. He attended Pasadena City College, in Pasadena, California and was on the pep-squad there. He enlisted in the Naval Reserve on 6 September 1940 and was commissioned ensign on 6 June 1941. On 3 September 1941 he reported for duty on the USS Oklahoma (BB-37) and was killed three months later while saving others aboard during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941.

CG/DLG-22 was the second USS England. The first was USS England (DE-635), the ship that sunk six enemy submarines in 12 days in May 1944. That act caused the Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Ernest King, to declare "There’ll always be an England in the United States Navy." DE-635 was decommissioned in 1945.

To fulfill Admiral King’s promise, USS England DLG-22 was built by Todd Shipbuilding. The keel was laid on 4 October 1960, launched 6 March 1962, and commissioned on 7 December 1963. Her designation was changed in 1976 to CG-22 at Bremerton Naval Shipyard during an overhaul.

The USS England served in every major Pacific engagement from Vietnam to Desert Storm, from rescuing pilots, performing as plane guard or picket, to showing force around the globe. The USS England was awarded the Navy Unit Commendation Ribbon for supporting search and rescue operations in the Gulf of Tonkin from 3 January to 6 June 1966.

The USS England was awarded the Navy Unit Commendation a final time for actions performed 2 August to 16 August 1990. As the leading Naval Warship in the region, England assumed primary shipping interdiction and air defense roles while forces were mobilized to support what would become Operation Desert Shield. She was decommissioned on 21 January 1994, mothballed in the Suisun Bay for ten years and later scrapped in 2004.

External links

• http://www.ussengland.org/
• Naval Vessel Register - CG-22
• USS England (CG 22)

USS England (DLG-22)
USS Leahy (CG-16)
Class overview
Name:	Leahy class destroyer leader / cruiser
Builders:	Several
Operators:	United States Navy
Preceded by:	Albany-class cruiser
Succeeded by:	Belknap-class cruiser
Subclasses:	Bainbridge-class cruiser
Built:	1959–1964
In commission:	1962–1995
Completed:	9
Active:	0
Retired:	9
General characteristics
Type:	Guided missile cruiser
Displacement:	7,800 tons (full load)
Propulsion:	2 × steam turbines providing 85,000 shp (63 MW); 2 shafts 4 × boilers
Speed:	32 knots
Range:	8,000 nm @ 20 knots
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
Aircraft carried:	None

Leahy class cruisers were a class of guided missile cruisers built for the United States Navy. They were originally designated as Destroyer Leaders (DLG), but in the 1975 cruiser realignment, they were reclassified as guided missile cruisers (CG).

They were a new "double-ender" class fitted with Terrier (later Standard ER) missile launchers fore and aft, and the first and only frigate class designed without a main gun battery for shore bombardment or ship-vs.-ship engagements—the gun armament was reduced in order to carry a larger missile load. One of the principal missions of these ships, like their predecessors the Farragut class, was to form part of the anti-air and antisubmarine screen for carrier task forces, while also controlling aircraft from the carrier by providing vectors to assigned targets. The ships carried over the propulsion plant of the Farragut class, fitted into a longer hull designed with a knuckled “hurricane” bow that reduced plunging in a rough sea, thus keeping the forecastle dry as needed to operate the forward missile launcher. Other features included an expanded electrical plant and increased endurance. A major design innovation was the use of "macks"—combined masts and stacks—on which the radars could be mounted without smoke interference.

Description

Worden prior to modernization in late 1960s or early 1970s.

The first three ships were constructed at Bath Iron Works, the next two at New York Shipbulding Corp, and the rest at Puget Sound Bridge and Dry Dock Company, Todd Shipyards, San Pedro, CA, San Francisco Naval Shipyard and Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. Modernizations were accomplished between 1967 and 1972, upgrading air warfare capabilities. Nearly all modernizations were completed at Bath Iron Works, but Leahy received the modernization at Philadelphia Naval Shipyard at a cost of $36.1 million.

Gridley after modernization, but prior to NTU.

All Leahy class ships were modernized again in the late 1980s New Threat Upgrade program. This program added advanced air search and track radars (AN/SPS-49 and AN/SPS-48E), updated targeting radars (AN/SPG-55), and combat direction systems. The upgrade included massive remodeling of the ship from food service space rehabilitation to a main propulsion system overhaul. Entire systems were removed and replaced, for example the AN/SPS-40 air-search radar was replaced with the AN/SPS-49 air-search radar. The upgrade was also quite expensive and the ships didn't serve much longer after the modification. For example, USS Gridley (CG-21) received NTU in 1991 at a cost of $55 million, but was decommissioned in early 1994. The Leahy class was taken out of service in the early 1990s, stricken from the naval register, and transferred to the maritime administration for disposal.

The sole Bainbridge class cruiser, USS Bainbridge (CGN-25), was largely identical to the Leahy class; the main difference being that it was nuclear powered.

Ships in class

Ship Name	Hull No.	Commission– Decommission	Fate	Link
Leahy	(CG-16)	August 4, 1962 – October 1, 1993 (31.2 years)	Disposed of by scrapping, dismantling, July 6, 2005	[1]
Harry E. Yarnell	(CG-17)	February 2, 1963 – October 29, 1993 (30.7 years)	Disposed of by scrapping, dismantling, April 17, 2002	[2]
Worden	(CG-18)	August 3, 1963 – October 1, 1993 (30.2 years)	Disposed of in support of Fleet training exercise, June 17, 2000	[3]
Dale	(CG-19)	November 23, 1963 – September 27, 1994 (30.8 years)	Disposed of in support of Fleet training exercise, April 6, 2000	[4]
Richmond K. Turner	(CG-20)	June 13, 1964 – April 13, 1995 (30.8 years)	Disposed of in support of Fleet training exercise, August 9, 1998	[5]
Gridley	(CG-21)	May 25, 1963 – January 21, 1994 (30.7 years)	Disposed of by scrapping, dismantling, March 31, 2005	[6]
England	(CG-22)	December 7, 1963 – January 21, 1994 (30.1 years)	Disposed of by scrapping, dismantling, October 20, 2004	[7]
Halsey	(CG-23)	July 20, 1963 – January 28, 1994 (30.5 years)	Disposed of by scrapping, dismantling, November 30, 2003	[8]
Reeves	(CG-24)	May 15, 1964 – November 12, 1993 (29.5 years)	Disposed of in support of Fleet training exercise, June 1, 2001	[9]

See also

• List of United States Navy destroyer leaders
• List of United States Navy cruisers

External links

• Leahy-class frigates at Destroyer History Foundation