More History USS Ticonderoga

The United States Navy built the first Aegis cruisers using the hull and machinery designs of Spruance-class destroyers. Ticonderoga was ordered as a guided missile destroyer, but redesignated as a cruiser before she was laid down.

The contract to build DDG-47 Ticonderoga was awarded to Ingalls Shipbuilding on 22 September 1978. On 1 January 1980, she was redesignated as a guided missile cruiser, CG-47. Her keel was laid down on 21 January 1980, and launched 25 April 1981. She was delivered on 13 December 1982, and commissioned on 22 January 1983, with First Lady Nancy Reagan, the ship's main sponsor, having the honor of christening the ship on 16 May 1981. She completed her final deployment on August 3, 2004, and was decommissioned on September 30 of that year. After her decommissioning, she was towed to the Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility in Philadelphia. Recently, however, she was put up for museum donation by the Navy and there is a strong effort to bring Ticonderoga to Pascagoula, Mississippi, where she was built, to serve as a museum ship.