Leahy class cruiser

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

Description

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. [Jane's American fighting ships of the 20th century / compiled and edited by John Moore; preface by M. Staser Holcomb. New York, N.Y. Mallard Press, 1991. ISBN 0792456262]

All Leahy class ships were modernized again in the late 1980's 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. [ [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ship/cg-16.htm CG-16 Leahy class ] ] 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 modified 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 1990's, stricken from the naval register, and transferred to the maritime administration for disposal.

Two of the 9 ships of this class are moored in Suisun Bay, California as part of the National Defense Reserve Fleet. They can be viewed [http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=38.081229,-122.08846&z=18&t=h&hl=en here] on Google Maps. When viewed from the upper left hand side, the Leahy class ships are the fifth and seventh in line.

The "Bainbridge" class cruiser, which consisted of the USS "Bainbridge" (CGN-25), was largely identical to the "Leahy" class, except it was nuclear powered.

Units

References

ee also

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

External links

* [http://www.destroyerhistory.org/coldwar/leahyclass.html "Leahy"-class frigates] at [http://www.destroyerhistory.org/index.html Destroyer History Foundation]