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USS Leyte Gulf (CG-55)
USS Leyte Gulf underway
USS Leyte Gulf (CG-55) underway
Career (US) Flag of the United States
Name: USS Leyte Gulf
Namesake: Battle of Leyte Gulf
Operator: Flag of the United States United States Navy
Ordered: 20 June 1983
Builder: Ingalls Shipbuilding
Laid down: 18 March 1985
Launched: 20 June 1986
Commissioned: 26 September 1987
Homeport: Norfolk, Virginia
Motto: Arrayed For Victory
Status: in active service, as of 2025
Badge: USS Leyte Gulf CG-55 Crest
General characteristics
Class & type: Ticonderoga-class cruiser
Displacement: Approx. 9,600 long tons (9,800 t) full load
Length: 567 feet (173 m) She lost 2 feet after colliding with the TR
Beam: 55 feet (16.8 meters)
Draft: 34 feet (10.2 meters)
Propulsion:
  • 4 × General Electric LM2500 gas turbine engines, 80,000 shaft horsepower (60,000 kW)
  • 2 × controllable-reversible pitch propellers
  • 2 × rudders
Speed: 32.5 knots (60 km/h; 37.4 mph)
Complement: 33 officers, 27 Chief Petty Officers, and approx. 340 enlisted
Armament:
Aircraft carried: 2 × Sikorsky SH-60B or MH-60R Seahawk LAMPS 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.

US Navy 040501-N-7586B-122

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

USS Leyte Gulf (CG 55) under the Verrazano Narrows Bridge

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

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 the Leyte Gulf was behind her and slammed into the cruiser's bow. There were no personnel casualties or injuries reported.[1]

In 2002, she won the Marjorie Sterrett Battleship Fund Award for the Atlantic Fleet. In March 2003 Leyte Gulf was assigned to Carrier Group Eight.[2]

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.[3]

In February 2011, the Leyte Gulf was involved in an incident with Somali pirates after they captured the United States flagged yacht named Quest.[4]

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.[5]

See also[]

References[]

  1. "USS Leyte Gulf at DCHM". Naval Sea Systems Command DC Museum. http://www.dcfp.navy.mil/mc/museum/LEYTEGULF/LEYTEGULF.htm. Retrieved 16 September 2007. 
  2. http://www.hazegray.org/worldnav/usa/suface.htm, Retrieved May 2012
  3. "Fire on Navy cruiser in shipyard sends five to hospital". WAVY10 News, Hampton Roads. http://www.wavy.com/global/story.asp?s=7079180. Retrieved 16 September 2007. 
  4. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41715530/ns/world_news-africa/t/four-american-hostages-killed-somali-pirates/
  5. Wilson, Todd Allen, "USS Enterprise Returns To Norfolk", Newport News Daily Press, 16 July 2011.

External links[]


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