USS Texas (CGN-39)

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Career	Image:US Naval Jack.svg

Ordered:	21 December 1971
Laid down:	18 August 1973
Launched:	9 August 1975
Commissioned:	10 September 1977
Decommissioned:	16 July 1993
Struck:	16 July 1993
Fate:	Nuclear Recycling
General characteristics
Displacement:	11,000 tons full
Length:	585 ft (178 m)
Beam:	63 ft (19.2 m)
Draught:	31 ft (9.4 m)
Propulsion:	2 General Electric D2G reactors, geared turbines, 2 screws, 60,000 horsepower (45 MW)
Speed:	30+ knots (56 km/h)
Range: Unlimited
Complement:	39 officers, 539 men
Armament:	Two Mk-26 missile launcher for "Standard" SAMs and ASROC (68 Missiles), two Mk-141 Harpoon missile launchers, two armored box launchers for Tomahawk missile ASM/LAM, Mk-46 torpedoes from two triple mounts, two 5 inch/54 caliber Mk-45 lightweight guns, two 20 mm Phalanx CIWS, four machine guns
Aircraft:	None
Motto:	Proud Heritage, Proud Purpose

For other ships going by the same name, see USS Texas.

USS Texas (DLGN/CGN-39) was the second Virginia-class nuclear guided missile cruiser. She was the third ship of the United States Navy to be named in honor of Texas.

1 History
2 Ship's Crest
3 See also
4 Sources
5 External links

[edit] History

Texas' keel was laid down on 18 August 1973, at Newport News, Virginia, by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company. She was initially designated a guided missile destroyer leader, but was reclassified as a guided missile cruiser and given the hull classification symbol CGN-39 on 30 June 1975. She was launched on 9 August 1975, sponsored by Mrs. Dolph Briscoe, wife of the Governor of Texas, and commissioned on 10 September 1977, with Captain Peter B. Fiedler in command.

Following a nine-week test of the ship's combat systems, Texas loaded weapons at the Yorktown Naval Weapons station in October and underwent refresher training out of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in November. Texas spent the first three months of 1978 conducting at-sea evaluation of her propulsion and weapons systems off the Virginia Capes and in the Caribbean Sea. On 28 March, she transited to her building yard at Newport News to commence a Post Shakedown Availability (PSA) which was completed on 31 July. The remainder of 1978 was spent in individual ship exercises off the east coast and Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico, interspersed with periods in Texas' home port of Norfolk, Virginia.

The maiden deployment of the Texas was with the USS Nimitz Battle Group in the Mediterranean Sea and North Arabian Sea during the Iranian hostage crisis. She also served as Flagship for Commander, Cruiser-Destroyer Group One. The second deployment of the ship was once again with the Nimitz Battle Group operating in the Mediterranean Sea. During this period, Texas saw combat for the first time, as she responded to Libyan aggression in the Gulf of Sidra.

Texas' third deployment was with the USS Carl Vinson Battle Group, and included an around-the-world cruise which allowed her to visit every inhabited continent except South America and to sail all the oceans except the Arctic. The world cruise also included a change of homeport to San Diego, California, from Norfolk, Virginia. Texas spent the first part of the following year operating in the Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea before returning to San Diego. She then began to make preparations for a homeport change to Bremerton, Washington, for a Complex Overhaul. She entered dry-dock at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in September, and remained there until April 1986. The overhaul lasted until April 1987, and included the installation of the Tomahawk missile system.

Following a homeport change to Alameda, California, Texas deployed with the Carl Vinson Battle Group for Westpac 1988 as the Anti-Air Warfare Commander. This fourth major deployment included port visits to Japan, Subic Bay, Oman, and Kenya. In 1989, the Texas conducted local operations and a short overhaul at Hunter's Point Shipyard in San Francisco. By the end of the year, she was back at sea on counter-narcotics operations off the coast of South America.

In February 1991, Texas began her sixth deployment, en route to the Arabian Sea. She served valiantly during Operation Desert Storm as the ship for the anti-air warfare commander of the Nimitz Battle Group, and she returned to San Francisco in August of that year. In April 1992, Texas returned to sea and conducted a second counter-narcotics mission that included visits to Ecuador and Panama.

Texas was placed in reserve commission on 31 May 1993, then decommissioned and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 16 July 1993. Texas entered the nuclear Ship-Submarine recycling program at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard on 1 October 1999.

[edit] Ship's Crest

Image:USS TEXAS (CGN-39) and USS PRINCETON (CG-59).jpg The official crest of the USS Texas CGN 39 was designed by Martha Bell, a freelance graphic designer and a Texan. The colors—red, white, and blue—represent the state flag of Texas. The anchor and the fouled line symbolize the Navy, while the Lone Star signifies the state of Texas. The atoms and orbits within the Lone Star represent the nuclear power characteristics of the ship. The three stars at the bottom represent the past United States ships named "Texas". The motto, "Proud Heritage, Proud Purpose", refers to the history and legacy of those ships, and their purpose: defense of the United States.