Sun sets on more Ticonderoga-class cruisers
USS Hué City at Naval Station Norfolk on 22 September 2022. (Photo: USN)
Only two-thirds of the vessels in the Ticonderoga class remain in service with the USN after two more cruisers were decommissioned last week.
The USN on 22-23 September decommissioned two more Ticonderoga-class cruisers, leaving 18 in service out of an original total of 27.
USS Anzio and USS Hué City were taken out of service after 30 and 31 years respectively under USN plans to remove five cruisers in FY2022 (it originally wanted to divest seven).
USS Vella Gulf was the first to go on 4 August, followed by USS Monterey on 19 September.
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USS Port Royal is scheduled to be decommissioned on 29 September.
Testifying on 17 June 2021 before the House Armed Services Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee, VAdm Jim Kilby, then the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Warfighting Requirements and Capabilities, outlined the financial reasons for decommissioning the vessels.
‘The cost to modernise Hue City and Anzio alone is $1.5 billion approximately,’ he said.
Similarly, Chief of Naval Operations Adm Mike Gilday noted in July 2021 that the Ticonderoga class costs about $5 billion per cruiser to own and operate over five years.
The vessels are also showing their age, he said: ‘We are seeing cracks, and we are seeing challenges in the material conditions of these ships that are to a certain degree unpredictable.’
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