USS Leyte Gulf

USS Leyte Gulf (CG-55) is a Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser in the United States Navy. She was named in memory of the World War II Battle of Leyte Gulf in the Pacific. She is powered by four large gas-turbine engines, and she has a large complement of guided missiles for air defense, attack of surface targets at sea and ashore, and anti-submarine warfare (ASW). In addition, she carries two "Seahawk" LAMPS multi-purpose helicopters, whose primary mission is ASW.

USS Leyte Gulf on 22 February 2004
History
United States
Name	Leyte Gulf
Namesake	Battle of Leyte Gulf
Ordered	20 June 1983
Builder	Ingalls Shipbuilding
Laid down	18 March 1985
Launched	20 June 1986
Commissioned	26 September 1987
Homeport	Norfolk
Identification	MMSI number: 368846000 Call sign: NLEG Hull number: CG-55
Motto	Arrayed For Victory
Status	in active service
Badge
General characteristics
Class and type	Ticonderoga-class cruiser
Displacement	Approx. 9,600 long tons (9,800 t) full load
Length	565 feet (172 meters) She lost 2 feet after colliding with USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71)
Beam	55 feet (16.8 meters)
Draft	34 feet (10.2 meters)
Propulsion	4 × General Electric LM2500 gas turbine engines 2 × controllable-reversible pitch propellers 2 × rudders
Speed	32.5 knots (60 km/h; 37.4 mph)
Complement	30 officers and 300 enlisted
Armament	2 × 61 cell Mk 41 vertical launch systems containing 122 × mix of: RIM-66M-5 Standard SM-2MR Block IIIB RIM-156A SM-2ER Block IV RIM-161 SM-3 RIM-162A ESSM RIM-174A Standard ERAM BGM-109 Tomahawk RUM-139A VL-ASROC 8 × RGM-84 Harpoon missiles 2 × 5 in (127 mm)/62 caliber Mark 45 Mod 4 lightweight gun 2 × Mk 38 25 mm Machine Gun Systems 2–4 × .50 in (12.7 mm) cal. machine gun 2 × Phalanx CIWS Block 1B 2 × Mk 32 12.75 in (324 mm) triple torpedo tubes
Aircraft carried	2 × Sikorsky SH-60B or MH-60R Seahawk LAMPS III helicopters.

On 14 October 1996, Leyte Gulf collided with the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, USS Theodore Roosevelt while conducting operations off the coast of North Carolina. The incident occurred as the carrier, without prior warning, reversed her engines while Leyte Gulf was behind her and slammed into the cruiser's bow. There were no personnel casualties or injuries reported,[1] and damage to the Leyte was only $2 million.[2]

In 2002, she won the Marjorie Sterrett Battleship Fund Award for the Atlantic Fleet.

In late 1992 Leyte Gulf was assigned to Carrier Group 2.[3] In March 2003 Leyte Gulf was assigned to Carrier Group Eight.[4]

USS Leyte Gulf steams under the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge during the parade of ships on the opening day of New York Fleet Week 2008.

On 15 September 2007, there was a fire aboard Leyte Gulf as she underwent an extensive modernization program in BAE Systems Shipyard in Norfolk, Virginia. Initially the fire received national attention due to the possibility that it was a terrorist incident, however, it was quickly revealed to be an industrial accident. Five shipyard workers were injured in the incident, one seriously, but no naval personnel were involved.[5]

In February 2011, Leyte Gulf was involved in an incident with Somali pirates after they captured the United States flagged yacht Quest.[6]

U.S. sailors from USS Leyte Gulf's Vessel Board Search and Seizure Team return to their ship

The cruiser returned to Norfolk on 15 July 2011. During her deployment, she had participated in operations which had captured 75 Somali pirates and had missile strikes by her carrier strike group against the Libyan government.[7]

In January 2015, Leyte Gulf returned from a six-month deployment to the Mediterranean Sea. The ship served as flagship of Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 for much of the deployment.[8]

In August 2022 Leyte Gulf was again deployed to the Mediterranean Sea.[9] She returned to Norfolk on 09 June 2023.