page_title: USS Ticonderoga (CG-47)
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: USS Ticonderoga (CG-47) / History
caption_attribution_description: English: The US Navy (USN) Ticonderoga Class guided missile cruiser USS TICONDEROGA (CG 47), is towed out of Naval Station (NS) Pascagoula, by the ocean tug "Natalie Colle," immediately following the ship's decommissioning ceremony.
context_page_description: USS Ticonderoga is a decommissioned guided-missile cruiser of the United States Navy. Homeported in Pascagoula, Mississippi, the "Tico" is the lead ship of her class.
  Ticonderoga was the first combatant ship to feature the Aegis combat system. This allows the ship to track and engage multiple targets much more effectively than any ship previously.
context_section_description: The United States Navy built the first Aegis cruisers using the hull and machinery designs of Spruance-class destroyers. Ticonderoga was ordered as a guided missile destroyer, but redesignated as a cruiser before she was laid down.
  The contract to build DDG-47 Ticonderoga was awarded to Ingalls Shipbuilding on 22 September 1978. On 1 January 1980, she was redesignated as a guided missile cruiser, CG-47.  Her keel was laid down on 21 January 1980, the 35th anniversary of the devastating kamikaze attack on the Essex-class aircraft carrier Ticonderoga.  CG-47 was launched on 25 April 1981 and was delivered on 13 December 1982.  She was commissioned on 22 January 1983 with First Lady Nancy Reagan, the ship's main sponsor, having the honor of christening the ship on 16 May 1981.  The first Captain of the ship was Roland George Guilbault who later became an Admiral.
  In the late 1980s, she served in the Persian Gulf as part of Operation Earnest Will while under the command of Captain James M. Arrison III, USN.
  On 8 September 1984, a fire broke out in the aft main engine exhaust uptake at 0208, while operating approximately 180 nautical miles east of Mayport, Fl. The At-Sea and General Quarters fire parties eventually put the fire out, and Ticonderoga returned to Norfolk under her own power (4-6 October).
  For a time in the late 1990s, she was based at Pascagoula, Mississippi, as part of Commander, Naval Surface Forces Atlantic's Westerns Hemisphere Group.
  On 4 May 2004, she completed transit of the Panama Canal and then moved to cross the equator. Her ship crew engaged in the rites and rituals of the crossing, inducting the Captain of the ship as well as many of the crew in to 'Shell-Backs'. She completed her final deployment on 3 August 2004, Ticonderoga enjoyed liberty ports in Cozumel, Mexico (15-17 March); Colon (27-28 March); Mayport (1-9 April); Guantánamo Bay (12-13 April); Cartagena, Colombia (27-29 May); Vasco Núñez de Balboa, Panama (6-7 May); Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala (17-19 May). She conducted counter-narcotics operations in conjunction with Colombian military authorities from April-June. Ticonderoga successfully intercepted five of the cigarette-shaped “go-fast” smuggling boats, and one fishing vessel, netting over 14,000 pounds of cocaine, detaining 25 suspects in the process.
  She was decommissioned on 30 September of that year. After her decommissioning, she was towed to the Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility in Philadelphia. In 2010 she was offered for museum donation by the Navy. There was an effort to bring Ticonderoga to Pascagoula, Mississippi, where she was built, to serve as a museum ship. In May 2013, the vessel was formally stricken from the Naval Vessel Register, for disposal. In October of the same year, The Ticonderoga Historical Society reported that the US Navy was going to scrap the ship after a number of potential museum sites were unable to add her to their collections. In June 2014, NAVSEA released a disposal reporting letter declaring the ex-Ticonderoga to be available for inspection by bidders and ready for disposal by scrapping or sinking. As of September 2019, the ship remained in Philadelphia.
caption: Ticonderoga is towed from Naval Station Pascagoula immediately following her decommissioning on 30 September 2004.
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "The US Navy (USN) Ticonderoga Class guided missile cruiser USS TICONDEROGA (CG 47), is towed out of Naval Station (NS) Pascagoula, by the ocean tug \"Natalie Colle,\" immediately following the ship's decommissioning ceremony.", "Image Make": "NIKON", "Image Model": "E5700", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "256", "Image YResolution": "256", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop 7.0", "Image DateTime": "2005:03:17 10:37:32", "Image Artist": "CIV STACEY BYINGTON, USN", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image Copyright": "U.S. Navy Photo", "Image ExifOffset": "504", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "1222", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "3957", "EXIF ExposureTime": "2/843", "EXIF FNumber": "36/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "100", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2004:09:30 13:11:10", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2004:09:30 13:11:10", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "4", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "3", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "157/10", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2560", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1704", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "0", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "62", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "None", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "0"}