- USS Cowpens (CG-63)
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For other ships of the same name, see USS Cowpens.
USS Cowpens (CG-63) pulls alongside USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63)Career (USA) 
Name: USS Cowpens Namesake: The Battle of Cowpens Operator: 
United States NavyOrdered: 8 January 1986 Builder: Bath Iron Works Laid down: 23 December 1987 Launched: 11 March 1989 Commissioned: 9 March 1991 Homeport: Yokosuka, Japan Motto: Victoria Libertatis Vindex
(Victory Vindicates Liberty)Status: in active service, as of 2011[update] Badge: 
General characteristics Class and type: Ticonderoga-class cruiser 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: 4 × General Electric LM2500 gas turbine engines, 80,000 shaft horsepower (60,000 kW)
2 × rudders
2 × controllable-reversible pitch propellersSpeed: 32.5 knots (60 km/h) Complement: 33 officers, 27 Chief Petty Officers, and approx. 340 enlisted Sensors and
processing systems:AN/SPY-1A/B multi-function radar
AN/SPS-49 air search radar
AN/SPG-62 fire control radar
AN/SPS-73 surface search radar
AN/SPQ-9 gun fire control radar
AN/SQQ-89(V)3 Sonar suite, consisting of- AN/SQS-53B/C/D active sonar
- AN/SQR-19 TACTAS passive sonar
- AN/SQQ-28 light airborne multi-purpose system
Armament: 2 × 61 cell Mk 41 vertical launch systems
122 × Mix of RIM-66M-5 Standard SM-2MR Block IIIB, RIM-156A SM-2ER Block IV, RIM-161 SM-3, RIM-162A ESSM, RIM-174A Standard ERAM, BGM-109 Tomahawk, or RUM-139A VL-ASROC
8 × RGM-84 Harpoon missiles
2 × Mk 45 Mod 2 5 in / 54 cal lightweight gun
2 × 25 mm Mk 38 gun
2–4 × .50 cal (12.7 mm) gun
2 × Phalanx CIWS Block 1B
2 × Mk 32 12.75 in (324 mm) triple torpedo tubes for lightweight torpedoesAircraft carried: 2 × Sikorsky SH-60B or MH-60R Seahawk LAMPS III helicopters. USS Cowpens (CG-63) is a Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser currently in service with the United States Navy.
Contents
Overview
The USS Cowpens is currently forward-deployed and is homeported at United States Fleet Activities Yokosuka in Yokosuka, Japan. The USS Cowpens also maintains an on-board active VBSS team to conduct anti-piracy, anti-smuggling, and anti-terrorist operations.
Cowpens in drydock in Yokosuka, 2004
History
In 2003, the USS Cowpens became the first United States Navy ship to launch ordnance in the opening stages of the Iraq War, in which she fired 37 Tomahawk cruise missiles.
Namesake
The USS Cowpens is named after the Battle of Cowpens, an American victory near Cowpens, South Carolina, in the American Revolution. She was built at the Bath Iron Works in Maine.
Graf controversy
On 13 January 2010, the ship's commanding officer, Captain Holly Graf, was relieved of command by Rear Admiral Kevin Donegan, Carrier Strike Group Five Commander following the imposition of non-judicial punishment. The punishment followed an investigation which verified allegations of cruelty and maltreatment toward her crew, and conduct unbecoming an officer — violations of articles 93 and 133 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, by Graf during her tenure as captain of the USS Cowpens. The investigation was initiated after multiple allegations and complaints of physical and verbal abuse were made to Naval Criminal Investigative Service and the Navy Inspector General by several members of the crew. Captain Graf was subsequently replaced as the commanding officer by Captain Robert Marin.[1][2][3][4][5] A subsequent Time article revealed that Graf had a history of abusive treatment of subordinates in earlier assignments and that Navy leaders had not acted on previous complaints about her behavior.[6]
Service
This ship was one of several participating in disaster relief after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.[7]
References
- ^ Carter, David, J., "Admiral relieves Cowpens captain", Stars and Stripes, January 16, 2010.
- ^ Ewing, Philip, "Cruiser CO relieved for ‘cruelty’", Navy Times, January 16, 2010.
- ^ http://www.susankatzkeating.com/2010/01/captain-holly-graf-plows-down-whale.html
- ^ http://navycaptain-therealnavy.blogspot.com/2010/01/number-two-in-our-countdown-is-captain.html
- ^ http://www.navytimes.com/news/2010/01/ap_cowpens_cofired_011310/
- ^ Thompson, Mark, "The Rise and Fall of a Female Captain Bligh", Time, March 3, 2010.
- ^ Rabiroff, John. "U.S. military delivers 40 tons of supplies to hardest-hit areas," Stars and Stripes (US). March 17, 2011.
This article includes information collected from the Naval Vessel Register, which, as a U.S. government publication, is in the public domain.
External links
- USS Cowpens official web site
- navysite.de: USS Cowpens
- Yokosuka Naval Base Community Website
- USS Cowpens News
- USS Cowpens Veterans site
Mark-26 twin-arm missile launcher ships: Mark-41 vertical launching system ships: Bunker Hill · Mobile Bay · Antietam · Leyte Gulf · San Jacinto · Lake Champlain · Philippine Sea · Princeton · Normandy · Monterey · Chancellorsville · Cowpens · Gettysburg · Chosin · Hué City · Shiloh · Anzio · Vicksburg · Lake Erie · Cape St. George · Vella Gulf · Port Royal
List of cruisers of the United States NavyCategories:- Ticonderoga class cruisers
- Ships built in Maine
- 1989 ships
- Active cruisers of the United States
- United States Navy South Carolina-related ships
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