USS Anzio ( CG - 68 ) USS " Anzio " ( CG - 68 ) is a guided missile cruiser of the United States Navy , named for the site of a beachhead invasion of Italy by Allied troops from 22 January to 23 May 1944 . Her keel was laid down by the Litton - Ingalls Shipbuilding Corporation at Pascagoula , Mississippi on 21 August 1989 , she was launched on 2 November 1990 , and commissioned on 2 May 1992 . The " Anzio " operates out of Norfolk in Virginia . History . The ship is named for the battle of Anzio in Italy , the site of an Allied amphibious assault during Operation Shingle as part of the Italian Campaign of World War II . One other ship , an escort aircraft carrier , had been named USS " Anzio " . On 6 April 2000 , the " Anzio " , along with another cruiser and the aircraft carrier USS " Dwight D . Eisenhower , was participating in an exercise in the Eastern Mediterranean , about 250 miles off the coast of Israel . In an unannounced missile test , the Israel Defense Forces fired a Jericho - 1 medium - range ballistic missile from a test facility in Yavne , which landed 40 miles from the ship . The missile was detected by the ship ' s radar , and the crew briefly thought that they were under attack . " " On 9 January 2003 " Anzio " was pre - deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom . Ordered first to the eastern Mediterranean Sea for the initial phase of President George W . Bush ' s Shock and Awe strategy ( during which the U . S . Navy deployed to obliterate and defeat the Iraq military before ground forces were sent in ) . Once the " Anzio " completed her mission in the eastern Mediterranean , she forward - deployed to the Persian Gulf . Once the " Anzio " arrived in the Gulf , she had marked her 45th straight day at sea . In the Gulf , the " Anzio " continued carrier - flight support operations and coastal surveillance . After President Bush announced major combat had concluded in the Iraq War , on 1 May 2003 , the " Anzio " was relieved of her duties , returning home on 3 July 2003 after 175 days at sea . In March 2003 she was assigned to Cruiser - Destroyer Group Eight . In 2004 , " Anzio " participated at the annual Fleet Week in New York City . In January 2007 , the warship was sent to the coast of Somalia to conduct anti terrorist operations as part of the USS " Dwight D . Eisenhower " task force . On 16 February 2007 , " Anzio " was awarded the 2006 Battle " E " award . The " Anzio " was anchored and a participant for ' Windjammer Days ' in Boothbay Harbor , Maine , 25 – 26 June 2008 . " Anzio " has served as the flagship of the horn of Africa international anti - piracy Combined Task Force 151 . On 15 October 2009 a team from the cruiser working with U . S . Coast Guard personnel from Maritime Safety and Security Team 91104 seized a skiff carrying an estimated 4 tons of hashish worth an estimated $ 28 million about southwest of Salalah , Oman . The boarding team destroyed the drugs by dumping them into the ocean and released the skiff ' s crew . " Anzio " embarked Detachment 2 of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron 46 ( HSM - 46 ) for its 2012 operations . " Anzio " was tentatively scheduled to be decommissioned and designated for disposal on 31 March 2013 . However , the " Anzio " was retained under the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013 . External links . < br >