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Navy News Service - NAVNEWS BY EMAIL - navnews@nctamslant.navy.mil
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NAVY NEWS SERVICE - 16 JUN 93 - NAVNEWS 042/93
                               -USN-
NNS466.  Navy Commissions Guided Missile Cruiser Cape St. George
WASHINGTON (NNS) -- The Department of the Navy commissioned the
guided missile cruiser Cape St. George (CG 71) June 12 at Naval
Base, Norfolk, Va. 
     Cape St. George, the first ship in the U.S. Navy to bear this
name, commemorates the historic naval battle fought in the South
Pacific in World War II.  In late 1943, U.S. and allied forces were
conducting an offensive "island hopping" campaign in the Solomon
Islands chain designed to recapture territories taken by the
Japanese in the early years of the war, and to provide bases for
future strikes against Japan.
     The U.S. had suspected the Japanese would attempt to resupply
or evacuate their forces on Bougainville and Buka Islands in the
Bismarck Archipelago.  Anticipating their move, Admiral William
Halsey gave Captain (later Admiral) Arleigh Burke, the commander of
Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 23, the following orders:  "Thirty-one
knot Burke, get athwart the Buka-Rabaul evacuation line...If enemy
contact you, you know what to do."
     On November 25, Burke strategically placed his ships in the
Cape St. George channel between Buka and New Ireland islands, where
he surprised five Japanese destroyers, sinking three of five,
without sustaining a single casualty.  Admiral Halsey later
referred to this battle as the "Trafalgar of the Pacific."
     Cape St. George is the 25th of 27 Ticonderoga-class Aegis
guided missile cruisers scheduled to be built.  These cruisers are
designed to provide the primary anti-air warfare protection for the
Navy's battle forces.  The ship's Aegis combat system, made up of
radars, computers and weapons, is designed to function effectively
in all weather and in any hostile electronic environment. 
     The ship is equipped with Standard surface-to-air missiles,
Harpoon anti-ship missiles, antisubmarine rockets, torpedoes, and
Tomahawk cruise missiles in forward and aft vertical launching
systems; two fully automated, radar controlled Phalanx close-in
weapons systems; two five-inch guns and electronic warfare systems. 
The ship is also equipped with the LAMPS (Light Airborne
MultiPurpose System) MK III combat suite, which encompasses the
launch, recovery, stowage, and electronic support for the SH-60B
Seahawk helicopter. 
     Cape St. George is 567 feet in length, has a beam of 55 feet
and displaces approximately 9,500 tons fully loaded.  The ship will
sail with a crew of 27 officers and 342 enlisted personnel.
                               -USN-
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