 USSPort Royal underway in August 2007 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | Port Royal |
| Namesake | Battle of Port Royal |
| Ordered | 25 February 1988 |
| Builder | Ingalls Shipbuilding |
| Laid down | 18 October 1991 |
| Launched | 20 November 1992 |
| Acquired | 25 April 1994 |
| Commissioned | 9 July 1994 |
| Decommissioned | 29 September 2022 |
| Stricken | 30 September 2022 |
| Homeport | Pearl Harbor |
| Identification |
|
| Motto | The Will to Win |
| Status | Stricken from the Naval Registry; final disposition pending as of October 2022 |
| Badge |  |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Ticonderoga-classcruiser |
| Displacement | Approx. 9,600 long tons (9,800 t) full load |
| Length | 567 feet (173 m) |
| Beam | 55 feet (16.8 meters) |
| Draft | 34 feet (10.2 meters) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 32.5 knots (60 km/h; 37.4 mph) |
| Complement | 30 officers and 300 enlisted |
| Sensors and processing systems |
|
| Armament |
|
| Aircraft carried | 2 ×MH-60R SeahawkLAMPS Mk III helicopters. |
USSPort Royal (CG-73) was aTiconderoga-classguided missile cruiser that served in theUnited States Navy. She wascommissioned on 9 July 1994, as the 27th and final ship of the class.Port Royal was named in honor of the two naval battles ofPort Royal Sound,South Carolina, one during theAmerican Revolutionary War, the other during theAmerican Civil War. She wasdecommissioned on 29 September 2022. The ship is the second to bear the name, withthe first being a steam-powered, side-wheel gunboat, from New York City, in commission from 1862 to 1866.[1]
The secondPort Royal (CG-73) was assigned hull numberCG-69 on 9 May 1989, but that number was reassigned to guided missile cruiserUSS Vicksburg and CG-73 toPort Royal on 8 December 1989; was laid down on 18 October 1991,[2] atPascagoula, Mississippi, byIngalls Shipbuilding, Litton Industries; launched on 20 November 1992; sponsored by Susan G. Baker (wife ofJames A. Baker III,Chief of Staff to PresidentGeorge H. W. Bush and formerSecretary of State); and commissioned atSavannah, Georgia, on 9 July 1994.[3]
_departed_on_deployment.jpg)
Port Royal andLake Erie are the original cruisers for the navy's Linebacker Program (Milestone Phase I, II and III), which provided theater ballistic missile defense capability, as test platforms to detect, track, cue, intercept, and interact with other national assets to shoot downICBMs.[4] The vessel's Aegis and Standard Missile Tracking systems have been upgraded with "long range surveillance and track (LRS&T)", and the ships were outfitted to carry the modified SM-2 Block IVA TMD.[5] As of 2009,Port Royal along withLake Erie andShiloh were the only threeTiconderoga-class cruisers to be equipped for theAegis Ballistic Missile Defense Program.Port Royal participated as a tracking ship during operation "Stellar Athena" FTM 12 on 22 June 2007 off Hawaii.Port Royal's role has been taken byHopper.[6]
Originally,Port Royal was to be outfitted with the experimental shipboard mounted High Energy Laser Weapon System (HELWEPS). Based on a megawatt-class deuterium/fluorine chemical laser, HELWEPS would have replaced the standard 5-inch forward gun. HELWEPS was to have been used to destroy missiles up to about 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) away, or to burn out electro-optical sensors about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) away. The outfitting, scheduled to occur inNaval Base Ventura County,Port Hueneme, California in 1994 was cancelled, along with all plans to install HELWEPS onTiconderoga-class cruisers.
Four (LM2500) gas turbine engines propelPort Royal with 80,000 shaft horsepower (60,000 kW) at speeds greater than 30knots (56 km/h; 35 mph). Two five-bladed controllable reversible pitch propellers (17-foot (5.2 m) diameter) and two rudders assist in acceleration and deceleration.
Sensors include:
Port Royal deployed from December 1995 until June 1996, as part of theNimitzbattle group Carrier Group Seven. The CVBG was participating inOperation Southern Watch, but was deployed to theSouth China Sea in March 1996, to act as a stabilizing force theThird Taiwan Strait Crisis. During this deployment, Captain Richards transferred command to CaptainGary Roughead on 21 January 1996. Following her first deployment,Port Royal became the first U.S. cruiser to integrate women into the crew.
Port Royal deployed with theNimitz battle group for participation inOperation Southern Watch from September 1997 until March 1998.
Port Royal deployed with theJohn C. Stennis battle group, participating in Operation Southern Watch. Leaving in January 2000, she returned to Hawaii early after sustaining damage to her port shaft and Hub during pursuit of a vessel suspected of smuggling Iraqi oil in violation of U.N. sanctions. She returned in June and then in August went intodrydock for repairs and upgrades.
Port Royal deployed earlyPearl Harbor on 17 November 2001, to join theJohn C. Stennis battle group on deployment in support ofOperation Enduring Freedom.
In March 2003, she was assigned toCarrier Group Seven.[7]
Port Royal deployed withPeleliu Expeditionary Strike Group-One (ESG-1) in support of the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT) from 3 September 2003 until 11 March 2004. This was the very first deployment of an Expeditionary Strike Group.
Port Royal deployed withPeleliu Expeditionary Strike Group-Three (ESG-3) in support of the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT) from 27 February 2006 until 5 August 2006.
On 6 January 2008, the destroyerHopper,Port Royal and the frigateIngraham were entering the Persian Gulf through theStrait of Hormuz when five Iranian boats approached them at high speed and in a threatening manner. The U.S. ships had been in theArabian Sea searching for a sailor who had been missing fromHopper for one day. The U.S. Navy says the Iranian boats made "threatening" moves toward the U.S. vessels, coming as close as 200 yards (180 m). The U.S. Navy allegedly received a radio transmission saying, "I am coming at you. You will explode in a couple of minutes." As the U.S. ships prepared to fire, the Iranians abruptly turned away, the U.S. officials said. Before leaving, the Iranians dropped white boxes into the water in front of the U.S. ships. The U.S. ships did not investigate the boxes.[8] Officials from the two nations differed on the severity of the incident. The Iranians claimed they were conducting normal maneuvers while American officials claimed that an imminent danger to American naval vessels existed.[8]
_takes_a_starboard_list_as_the_USNS_Salvor_(T-ARS_52)_tries_to_free_the_ship_after_it_ran_aground_Feb._5_about_a_half-mile_south_of.jpg)
On 5 February 2009, at 21:00,Port Royal ran aground about a half-mile south of theHonolulu International Airport's Reef Runway. The ship had just come out of a dry dock after undergoing maintenance and was undergoing her first sea trials. No one was injured in the incident and no fuel was spilled. On 9 February 2009,Port Royal was pulled off the coral reef at around 2:00. No one was injured during the recovery effort, though damage to the reef was extensive, both from the ship's hull and the cables used to drag the ship off the reef. Captain John Carroll was relieved of his duties and, along with the ship's executive officer, commander Steven Okun and three other sailors, subsequently disciplined for dereliction of duty and improperly hazarding a vessel. Carroll had been the commanding officer ofPort Royal since 23 October 2008.[9] Rear Admiral Dixon R. Smith, who was aboard the ship, assumed temporary command on that day, and on 9 February, Captain John Lauer III, an official in Smith's Naval Surface Group Middle Pacific, assumed command.[10][11]
The warship suffered heavy damage to the underwater bow sonar dome and to her propellers and propeller shafts and was dry-docked for repairs. Captain Neil Parrott was assigned to preside over the investigation into the grounding.[12][13] On 18 February, the ship entered Dry Dock Number 4 at Pearl Harbor. The navy estimated that repairs would cost between $25 and $40 million.[14] The ship left dry dock on 24 September 2009 but needed several more weeks of repair and assessment before returning to duty.[15]
_forward_section_after_grounding_in_drydock.jpg)
_aft_elevated_drydock_view.jpg)
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In May 2013, to answer queries made by Congress,Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) reported that the condition of the ship was comparable to certain other cruisers in the same class and that the effects of the grounding might not have been as severe as had been previously thought.[16] A full report on the ship and her condition was anticipated in early August 2013.[17] An April 2014 report by the GAO found thatPort Royal was no more expensive to repair than other cruisers slated for retention.[18]
In 2020, a U.S. Navy budget plan proposed puttingPort Royal, as well as her sistersUSS Monterey,USS Shiloh, andUSS Vella Gulf, on a path to early decommissioning, as they had not been modernized.[26]
In December 2020 the U.S. Navy's Report to Congress on the Annual Long-Range Plan for Construction of Naval Vessels stated that the ship was planned to be placed Out of Commission in Reserve in 2022.[27]
The ship was officially decommissioned atJoint Base Pearl Harbor–Hickam, Hawaii on 29 September 2022[1] She was stricken from the Naval Vessel Registry on 30 September 2022.[28] As of October 2022[update], her final disposition remains pending.[28]
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This article includes information collected from theNaval Vessel Register, which, as a U.S. government publication, is in thepublic domain. This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.
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