Ticonderoga-class cruiser – Seem Outdated To The US Navy, But Still Much More Powerful Compared To Other Warships

Ticonderoga-class cruiser – a missile armed cruiser, part of the U.S. Navy. The first class of warships was equipped with the Aegis Combat system and the AN/SPY-1 radar.

The first Ticonderoga-class ship was ordered and financially approved in 1978 on demand as a guided missile destroyer (DDG-47). On January 1, 1980, in the process of framing and hulling, she was re-converted into a class of cruisers named Ticonderoga (CG-47) and Yorktown (CG-48) due to the introduction of new radars, which has significantly enhanced the combat ability. The design of the Ticonderoga class was based on the Spryuens-class destroyer.

The Ticonderoga has a characteristic semi-cylindrical elongated shape that reaches the bow, extending up to 85% of its length. On the bow of the ship is placed a special handrail with a length of about 40m and a height of about 1.4m to reduce the impact of ocean waves in bad weather on the 127mm cannon and the MK-41 vertical launch systems. To avoid the vibration and strong impact with ocean waves, the hull cruiser is equipped with a stabilization system. The steel lines along the hull are also designed to reduce the impact of the waves on the sides and hull.

According to the specifications, the Ticonderoga-class cruiser can maintain a cruising speed up to 20 knots for a long time while the sea is at level 7. Behind the bridge and in the middle of the architecture of the deck is the radars.

In the structure of the ship used super durable materials: (aluminum alloy, synthetic resin, wear-resistant coatings). The ship’s magazines were protected from steel plates with a thickness of 25 mm. The most important part of the superstructure deck is protected by honeycomb steel plates. The top floor is covered with a layer of anti-rust, rust-proof vinyl.

Compared with other US warships, the Ticonderoga-class cruiser has increased the crew’s living area, the compartments are positioned between the hull and the upper deck. The small bunk beds are assembled into blocks of 6 beds, the blocks are separated by thin partitions. The designers also installed small compartments for rest and study.

The Ticonderoga cruisers are capable of operating in enemy areas that using destructive weapons on a large scale, there are no windows on the deck and hull, work and living compartments are equipped with air filtration equipment.

Ticonderoga is armed to the teeth with two 127mm guns, one at the bow and the other at the stern, which capable of firing 32kg shells to a target range of 22km at a maximum firing rate of 20 rounds a minute. The point-defense weapon system is two 20mm Phalanx Block 1B, capable of firing 3,000 to 4000 rounds a minute to a target range of 1.5km. This system is used to deal with short-range incoming missiles and enemy aircraft which have penetrated the outer defenses. In addition, the ship is also equipped with two 25mm Mk 38 gun, 2 to 4 12.7mm machine gun.

Five first Ticonderoga-class warships were installed with two Mk 26 missile launchers that supported RIM-66 Standard and RUR-5 ASROC missiles. The remaining ships were later replaced by two mk 41 Vertical Launch Systems, allow the ship to have 122 missile storage and launching tubes that can carry a wide variety of missiles, including the Tomahawk cruise missile, Standard surface-to-air missile, Evolved Sea Sparrow surface-to-air missile, and ASROC antisubmarine warfare guided rockets. More importantly, the VLS enables all missiles to be on full standby at any given time, shortening the warship’s response time before firing. For anti-surface ships, two four-cell launchers for RGM-84 Harpoon surface-to-surface missile system are installed on the gun deck at the stern of the ship, this missile has a range up to 125km. For anti-submarine warfare, the ship was installed a triple 324mm-tube torpedo launcher is capable of launching the mk32 torpedo.

Ticonderoga-class cruiser General specifications:

Displacement: 9800 tons
Length: 172.8 m
Width: 16.7 m
Beam: 9.7 m
Propulsion: 4 General Electric LM2500 diesel turbine engines
Capacity: 80,000 horsepower (60 МW)
Maximum speed: 32 knots (59.3 km/h)
Range: 6000 nautical miles at a speed of 20 knots, or 3300 nautical miles at 30 knots
Crew: 387 sailors (33 officers)