--- title: "The Navy’s First Aegis Warship USS Ticonderoga Is Being Scrapped" description: "This historic ship has been awaiting its final fate since it was decommissioned in 2004 after just over two decades of service." date: "2020-10-08" modified: "2020-11-27" authors: - name: "Joseph Trevithick" job_title: "Deputy Editor" link: "https://www.twz.com/authors/joseph-trevithick" url: "https://www.twz.com/36971/the-navys-first-aegis-warship-uss-ticonderoga-is-being-scrapped" categories: - "AEGIS Combat System" - "Americas" - "Around The Globe" - "Cruisers" - "Naval Radars" - "Naval Sensor Systems" - "Navies" - "News & Features" - "Sea" - "SPY-1" - "Ticonderoga Class" - "U.S. Homeland" - "U.S. Navy" tags: - "Aegis combat system" - "AN/SPY-1" - "Cruisers" - "destroyers" - "EMR Group" - "International Shipbreaking Limited" - "Must Read Features" - "Port of Brownsville" - "Radars" - "scrap" - "Spruance class" - "Ticonderoga Class" - "USS Ticonderoga" --- # The Navy’s First Aegis Warship USS Ticonderoga Is Being Scrapped ![]() *www.twz.com* The first-in-class guided-missile cruiser [USS *Ticonderoga*]() recently arrived in the Port of Brownsville in Texas where it will be scrapped. The U.S. Navy decommissioned this ship, the first of the service's operational warships to be equipped with the [Aegis combat system](), in 2004 after just over two decades in service. The ex-*Ticonderoga* arrived at International Shipbreaking Limited's yard in Brownsville in September, according to a report from the [*Valley Morning Star*]() newspaper in Texas. International Shipbreaking is a subsidiary of the EMR Group, which describes its work as "[marine recycling]()," rather than scrapping. The retired Navy cruiser will be broken down in a "safe, respectful and responsible manner," International Shipbreaking Senior Manager Chris Green told the *Valley Morning Star.* The "recycling" process will certainly bring a final end to *Ticonderoga*'s significant and distinguished history. *Ticonderoga* was laid down in 1980 in Ingalls Shipbuilding's yard in Pascagoula, Mississippi. The development of this class of ships had begun in the 1970s [using a derivative of the hullform]() from the existing *Spruance* class guided-missile destroyer. The Navy determined that leveraging the existing design would be cheaper than acquiring an all-new ship design to accommodate the then-new Aegis combat system and the associated AN/SPY-1 radar. These ships were also the first for the Navy to be built in distinct vertical modules that were then linked together, rather than entirely from the hull up, a process also meant to save time and money. ![message-editor%2F1602195288483-sprue.jpg]() *The USS *Ticonderoga*, at right, alongside the USS *Spruance*, the lead ships in their respective classes, both of which are based on the same core hull design., *USN** It is worth noting that the decision to use the *Spruance* class hullform as a starting place also resulted in [notably overloaded ships]() that suffer to this day from persistent cracking in their aluminum superstructures, which is both time-consuming and costly to repair. With their *Spruance* DNA, these ships were originally categorized as guided-missile destroyers, rather than cruisers. However, the powerful combination of Aegis and the AN/SPY-1 radars, as well as the addition of other then-state-of-the-art systems into the ship's design, led the Navy to determine it could serve as a flagship for surface action groups and it would become a key air warfare battle management nerve center for Carrier Strike Groups, roles you can read about in more detail in this [past *War Zone* piece](). In turn, the service then decided to re-categorize them as cruisers to reflect their broader capabilities. The first five *Ticonderoga* class ships, one of which, the USS *Thomas S. Gates*, was built at Bath Iron Works in Maine, were commissioned between 1983 and 1987. The other three ships in this initial group were the USS *Yorktown*, USS *Vincennes*, and USS *Valley Forge*. ![message-editor%2F1602199647008-tico-83.jpg]() *USS *Ticonderoga* in 1983, the year it entered service., *USN** The main armament of these ships consisted of a pair of twin-rail Mk 26 missile launchers and two five-inch guns, one of each at the bow and at the stern, as well as two four-round launchers for [Harpoon anti-ship cruise missiles]() on the fantail. The Mk 26s were capable of firing the [Standard Missile-2]() (SM-2) surface to air missile and the [RUR-5 Anti-Submarine Rocket]() (ASROC). These cruisers also had deck-mounted torpedo tubes and a pair of [Phalanx Close-in Weapon Systems]() (CIWS). Starting in 1984, Ingalls and Bath Iron Works began building subvariants of the *Ticonderoga* class that replaced each of the Mk 26s with a 61-cell [Mk 41 Vertical Launch System]() array, allowing them to employ a much wider array of weapons more reliably and rapidly, including the [Tomahawk land-attack cruise missile](). These two yards ultimately built 22 more of the cruisers in this much more capable, multi-mission configuration. ![message-editor%2F1602195869714-bunker.jpg]() *The *Ticonderoga* class cruiser USS *Bunker Hill*, the first of the subclass of ships with the Mk 41 VLS arrays, one of which can be seen between the forward gun and the forecastle., *USN** Still, the Navy made good use of the *Ticonderoga* and the other four initial cruisers in the class. The USS *Ticonderoga*, as well as her sister ship USS *Vincennes*, took part in the [Tanker War]() sideshow to the Iran-Iraq War in the Persian Gulf in the late 1980s. It was during those operations that *Vincennes* became infamously responsible for the tragic shootdown [of Iran Air Flight 655]() in 1985. *Ticonderoga* also supported the Persian Gulf War between 1991 and 1992. After more than a decade of additional continued service, the Navy decommissioned *Ticonderoga* in 2004. The service also decommissioned *Yorktown* and *Valley Forge* that year. *Vincennes* and *Thomas S. Gates* followed them into mothballs the next year. Retired ships destined for the scrap yard will first go [through a process]() to remove any sensitive equipment, as well as [salvage any items]() that could be reused on other Navy ships. ![message-editor%2F1602196094322-hulls.jpg]() *The ex-USS *Ticonderoga*, a center with gray paint still on most of the forecastle, sandwiched between the former USS *Yorktown* and USS *Thomas S. Gates*, to its right and left, respectively, at the Philadelphia Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility in 2016., *Bestbudbrian via Wikimedia** Of the original five *Ticonderoga* class cruisers, only the lead ship and the ex-*Yorktown* are still with us, for now. The former *Vincennes* and *Thomas S. Gates* have already been scrapped. The Navy [sunk]() the former *Valley Forge* off the coast of Hawai as part of a SINKEX in 2006. The beginning of the end of the ex-*Ticonderoga* comes as the Navy is again pushing to retire more of its older warships, potentially including some of the remaining cruisers in this class, as part of a new push [to modernize and expand]() the service's fleets. [Past attempts]() to retire *Ticonderoga* class ships have been [met with pushback]() from members of Congress and it remains to be seen what parts, if any, of this new naval force structure plan will become a reality. No matter what, the first ship of this class, which ushered in numerous firsts in the U.S. Navy, is now finally at the hands of the scrapper's torch. *Contact the author: joe@thedrive.com* ## Author Joseph is *TWZ’s* Deputy Editor, helping to oversee the site’s highly experienced and dedicated team, while also writing informative and impactful defense and national security content. He lives right in the thick of it in the Washington, D.C. area. ### Author social links [Twitter]() [Bluesky]()