Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Virginia Class Cruiser

Virginia Class Cruiser
The Virginia-class nuclear guided-missile cruisers (CGN-38 class) were a series of four double-ended (with armament carried both fore and aft) guided-missile cruisers commissioned in the late 1970s, which served in the US Navy until the mid- to late-1990s. With their nuclear power plants and the resulting capability of steaming at high speeds for long periods of time, these were excellent escorts for the fast nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, such as the Nimitz class. Their main mission was as air-defense ships, though they did have capabilities as anti-submarine (ASW) ships, surface-to-surface warfare (SSW) ships, and in gun and missile bombardment of shore targets.

The ships were derived from the earlier California class nuclear cruiser (CGN-36 class). They were decommissioned as part of the early 1990s "peace dividend" after the Cold War ended. A fifth warship, the CGN-42, was canceled before being named or laid down. It was found that while it was possible to mass-produce nuclear-powered warships, the ships were less cost-efficient than conventionally-powered warships, and the new gas-turbine-powered ships then entering the fleet (the Spruance class destroyers) required much less manpower. Following the end of production of this class, the U.S. Navy continued conventional destroyer/cruiser production, and it redesignated the DDG-47 class of guided missile destroyers as the CG-47 Ticonderoga class cruisers. Three of the four Virginia-class ships were authorized as guided missile frigates (in the pre-1975 definition), and they were redesignated as cruisers either before commissioning or before their launching. The last warship, the USS Arkansas, was authorized, laid down, launched, and commissioned as a guided-missile cruiser.

Virginia Class Cruiser
Name: Virginia for Virginia
Builders: Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company
Operators: United States Navy
Preceded by: California-class cruiser
Succeeded by: Ticonderoga-class cruiser
Cost: $675 million (1990 dollars)
Built: 1972-1980
In commission: 1976-1998
Planned: 11
Completed: 4
Cancelled: 7
Retired: 4
General characteristics
Type: Guided missile cruiser
Displacement: Light Displacement: 10,663 tons
Full Displacement: 11,666 tons
Length: Overall Length: 586 ft (179 m)
Beam: Extreme Beam: 63 ft (19 m)
Draft: Maximum Navigational Draft: 32 ft (10 m)
Propulsion: 2 D2G General Electric nuclear reactors, two shafts, 60,000 shp
Speed: 30+ knots (55+ km/h)
Range: unlimited
Complement: 39 Officers, 540 Enlisted men
Sensors and
processing systems:
AN/SPS-48E 3-D Air search radar
AN/SPS-49 2-D Air search radar
AN/SPS-55 surface search radar
AN/SPQ-9A gun fire control radar
AN/SPG-60 fire control radar
AN/SPG-51 Missile fire control radar
AN/SQS-26 Bow mounted sonar
Electronic warfare
and decoys:
AN/SLQ-32
Mark 36 SRBOC
AN/SLQ-25 Nixie
Armament: 2 × Mk 26 missile launchers for 68 missiles
RIM-66 Standard Missiles (MR) / RUR-5 ASROC
8x Tomahawk missile (from 2 armored-box launchers after a refitting)
8x RGM-84 Harpoon (from two Mk-141 quad launchers)
4x Mk-46 torpedoes (from fixed single tubes)
2x Mk-45 5-inch/54 caliber rapid-fire gun
2x 20mm Phalanx CIWS (post-refit)
Aircraft carried: As built: below-deck hangar for one SH-2F Seasprite helicopter
Flight deck occupied by Tomahawk missile storage & launcher after refitting

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