USS Belknap (CG-26)

2025-08-18T03:36:59Z

208.58.204.62:

{{short description|Guided missile cruiser (1964–1995)}}
{{For|other ships of the same name|USS Belknap}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2021}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=[[File:USS Belknap (CG-26) underway in the Mediterranean Sea on 21 July 1992 (6480605).jpg|300px|USS Belknap (official photo)]]
|Ship caption=USS ''Belknap'' (CG-26)
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag={{USN flag|1995}}
|Ship name=''Belknap''
|Ship namesake=
*[[George E. Belknap]] (1832–1903)
*[[Reginald R. Belknap]] (1871–1959)
|Ship ordered=16 May 1961
|Ship builder=[[Bath Iron Works]]
|Ship laid down=5 February 1962
|Ship launched=20 July 1963
|Ship sponsor= Mrs. Leonard B. Cresswell, the grand-daughter and daughter of the RADMs Belknap
|Ship acquired=4 November 1964
|Ship commissioned=7 November 1964
|Ship decommissioned=20 December 1975
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=yes
|Ship recommissioned=10 May 1980
|Ship decommissioned=15 February 1995
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship reclassified=CG-26 on 30 June 1975
|Ship struck=15 December 1995
|Ship reinstated=
|Ship homeport=
|Ship motto=
|Ship nickname=
|Ship captured=
|Ship fate=Sunk as target on 24 SEP 1998
036° 31' 00.3" North
071° 58' 00.5" West
2050 fathoms
|Ship badge=[[File:USS Belknap (DLG-26) inisgnia, circa in 1971.png|80px]]
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
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|Header caption=
|Ship class={{sclass|Belknap|cruiser}}
|Ship displacement=8957 tons
|Ship length={{convert|547|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{convert|55|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship draft={{convert|31|ft|m|abbr=on}} (maximum navigational)
|Ship propulsion=Two sets GE or De laval steam turbines. total {{convert|85000|shp|MW|lk=in|abbr=on}}
|Ship speed=maximum speed {{convert|34|kn|km/h|0}}
|Ship range=
|Ship endurance=
|Ship test depth=
|Ship capacity=
|Ship complement=64 officers and 546 enlisted
|Ship time to activate=
|Ship sensors={{Belknap class cruiser sensors}}
|Ship EW=[[AN/SLQ-32]]
|Ship armament=*1 × [[5"/54 caliber Mark 42 gun|{{convert|5|in|mm|abbr=on|0}}/54 caliber gun]]
*1 × Mark 10 Mod 7 Missile System [[Terrier missile]] / [[RIM-67 Standard|SM-2ER]]
*6 × {{convert|12.76|in|mm|0|adj=on}} [[torpedo tube]]s (removed in 1991)
*[[Harpoon missiles]]
*[[Phalanx CIWS]]

|Ship armor=
|Ship aircraft=
}}
|}
'''USS ''Belknap'' (DLG-26/CG-26)''', named for Rear Admirals [[George E. Belknap]] (1832–1903) and his son [[Reginald R. Belknap|Reginald Rowan Belknap]] (1871–1959), was the [[lead ship]] of [[Belknap-class cruiser|her class]] of guided missile [[cruiser]]s in the [[United States Navy]]. She was launched in 1963 as '''DLG-26''', a [[guided missile frigate]] under the then-current designation system, and reclassified as '''CG-26''' on 30 June 1975.

On 22 November 1975, ''Belknap'' and the [[aircraft carrier]] {{USS|John F. Kennedy|CV-67|2}} collided, killing seven sailors on the cruiser and one on the aircraft carrier.

== Construction ==
''Belknap'', the first of a new class of guided missile frigates, was laid down by the [[Bath Iron Works]] Corporation at [[Bath, Maine|Bath]] in [[Maine]] on 5 February 1962. She was christened by Mrs. Leonard B. Cresswell, the granddaughter and daughter of the RADMs Belknap and was launched by the Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine on 20 July 1963 and commissioned on 7 November 1964.

== Collision, fire, and reconstruction ==
[[File:USS Belknap collision damage.jpg|thumb|left|''Belknap'' after her collision with the aircraft carrier ''John F. Kennedy'']]
''Belknap'' was severely damaged in a collision with the [[aircraft carrier]] {{USS|John F. Kennedy|CV-67|2}} on 22 November 1975 off the coast of [[Sicily]]. A fire broke out on ''Belknap'' following the collision, during which her [[aluminum]] [[superstructure]] collapsed after it was weakened by the heat. Seven sailors were killed on ''Belknap'' and one on ''John F. Kennedy''.

Shortly after the fire began, boats from other vessels operating with ''John F. Kennedy'' and ''Belknap'' began to pull alongside the burning ship, often with complete disregard for their own safety. The [[guided missile destroyer]] {{USS|Claude V. Ricketts|DDG-5|2}} and [[destroyer]] {{USS|Bordelon|DD-881|2}} moved in on both sides of ''Belknap'', their men directing fire hoses into the amidships area that the stricken ship's crew could not reach. ''Bordelon'' was also badly damaged in a collision with ''Kennedy'' the following year, forcing her removal from service. ''Claude V. Ricketts'' moved in, secured alongside ''Belknap''{{'s}} port side, and evacuated the injured while fragments from exploding ammunition showered down upon her weather decks. The [[frigate]] {{USS|Pharris|FF-1094|2}} closed in the carrier's starboard side to provide firefighting assistance.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/j/john-f-kennedy-cva-67.html |website= [[Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships]] |title= Kennedy }}</ref> Ammunition from ''Belknap''{{'s}} three-inch ready storage locker, located amidships, cooked off, hurling fiery fragments into the air and splashing around the rescue boats. Undaunted, the rescuers pulled out the seriously wounded and delivered fire-fighting supplies to the sailors, who refused to surrender their ship to the conflagration.

The [[ammunition ship]] {{USS|Mount Baker|AE-34|2}} was involved later in the rescue and salvage of ''Belknap'', escorting her to an ammunition depot and then providing electric and water services as ''Mount Baker''{{'s}} [[Explosive Ordnance Disposal]] team retrieved all of the remaining ammunition from ''Belknap''. ''Mount Baker'' also took aboard most of ''Belknap''{{'s}} crew until they could be transferred to a way station for reassignment.

The fire and the resultant damage and deaths, which would have been less had ''Belknap''{{'s}} superstructure been made of [[steel]], helped persuade the U.S. Navy to pursue all-steel construction in future classes of surface combatants.<ref name="dailypress21May 1990">{{Cite news |title=Navy Learns From Disasters |last=Plunkett |first=A.J. |date=21 May 1990 |work=Daily Press }}</ref> However, in 1987, the [[New York Times]] cited cracking in aluminum superstructures such as what occurred in the {{sclass|Oliver Hazard Perry|frigate|1}}s, rather than fire, as the reason the Navy returned to steel on some ships.<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.nytimes.com/1987/08/11/us/navy-reverting-to-steel-in-shipbuilding-after-cracks-in-aluminum.html |title= Navy Reverting to Steel in Shipbuilding after Cracks in Aluminum |newspaper= The New York Times |date=11 August 1987 |agency=Associated Press |access-date=23 May 2015}}</ref> The first USN combatant ships to revert to all steel superstructure were the {{sclass|Arleigh Burke|destroyer|4}}, which were commissioned beginning in the 1990s. ''Belknap'' was reconstructed by the [[Philadelphia Navy Yard]] from 30 January 1976 to 10 May 1980. Since the hull was still in good condition the Navy decided to use this as a test platform for the [[Aegis Combat System|Aegis]] class cruiser electronics and updated weapons systems. Until the Aegis class cruisers came along, ''Belknap'' was one of the most powerful warships in the world and saw service in Beirut as part of the multinational peacekeeping force, becoming the first American ship to fire on an enemy since the Vietnam War. It was the ship's Naval Tactical Data Systems' (NTDS) reliability during this time in Beirut that was named as the defining reason that the ''Belknap'' was chosen as the Sixth Fleet flagship.

== Later service and Malta ==
''Belknap'' was converted to a [[flagship]] by [[Norfolk Naval Shipyard]] from May 1985 to February 1986. This conversion work entailed building out the superstructure forward to just aft of the missile launcher and three decks up to add flag spaces (accommodation and office), and additional communications gear. In addition, the helicopter hangar aft was turned into accommodation spaces for flag staff and a small detachment of Marines. After this conversion she sailed to Italy [Gaeta naval base] and became [[United States Sixth Fleet|Sixth Fleet]] flagship, relieving {{USS|Coronado|AGF-11|2}}.{{citation needed|date=April 2015|reason=Need a citation for preceding sentences.}} On 27 May 1986, she participated in a naval parade with ships from 10 countries at [[Barcelona]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://hemeroteca.abc.es/nav/Navigate.exe/hemeroteca/madrid/abc/1989/05/27/024.html |work=ABC |date=27 May 1989 |title=Don Juan Carlos, pasará revista a buques de diez naciones |language=es |access-date=23 May 2015}}</ref>

''Belknap'' played a role in the [[Malta Summit]] between [[President of the United States|U.S. President]] [[George H. W. Bush]] and [[President of the Soviet Union|Soviet Leader]] [[Mikhail Gorbachev]] on 2 December and 3 December 1989. President Bush, along with his advisers, [[James Baker]], [[John H. Sununu|John Sununu]] and [[Brent Scowcroft]], had their sleeping quarters aboard ''Belknap'', whereas the Soviet delegation used the [[Russian cruiser Moskva|missile cruiser ''Slava'']].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/12/03/world/the-malta-summit-reporter-s-notebook-superpowers-cooperating-but-not-seas.html?pagewanted=all |title=THE MALTA SUMMIT: Reporter's Notebook; Superpowers Cooperating, But Not Seas |work=The New York Times |date=3 December 1989 |last=Dowd |first=Maureen |access-date=2 October 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-12-02-mn-206-story.html |title=The Malta Summit : Today's Schedule |work=Los Angeles Times |date=2 December 1989 |access-date=2 October 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1989/11/02/ships-off-malta-site-for-seaborne-summit/ |title=Ships Off Malta Site For Seaborne Summit |work=Chicago Tribune |date=2 November 1989 |last=Shanker |first=Thom |access-date=2 October 2015}}</ref> The ships were anchored in a [[roadstead]] off the coast of [[Marsaxlokk]]. Stormy weather and choppy seas resulted in some meetings being canceled or rescheduled, and gave rise to the moniker the "Seasick Summit" among international media. In the end, the meetings took place aboard [[TS Maxim Gorkiy|''Maksim Gorkiy'']], a Soviet [[cruise ship]] anchored in the harbor at [[La Valletta]]. Engineers from the [[Naval Sea Systems Command|Navy Ship Systems Engineering Station]] devised a mooring arrangement for this event, and, despite the worst-case 100-year storm event, ''Belknap'' held its ground using emergency operating procedures as outlined by the engineers.

== Decommissioning ==
''Belknap'' was decommissioned and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 15 February 1995 and sunk as a target on 24 September 1998.

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
*{{cite journal |last1=Bellars|first1=Robert A.|title=Question 41/88?: U.S. Naval Relics|journal=Warship International|date=2007|volume=XLIV|issue=2|pages=157–158 |issn=0043-0374}}
*{{DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/b/belknap-ii.html}}
*{{Naval Vessel Register|hull=CG-26}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|USS Belknap (CG-26)}}
* [https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/b/belknap-ii.html Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships – Belknap – II]
* {{Naval Vessel Register URL|id=CG26|title=NVR CG26}}
* {{navsource|04/1126/040126|USS Belknap}}

{{Belknap class cruiser}}
{{1975 shipwrecks}}
{{1998 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Belknap (DLG-26)}}
[[Category:Belknap-class cruisers]]
[[Category:Cold War cruisers of the United States]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 1975]]
[[Category:Ship fires]]
[[Category:Ships built in Bath, Maine]]
[[Category:1963 ships]]
[[Category:Ships sunk as targets]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 1998]]
[[Category: Non-combat naval accidents of the United States]]

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USS Belknap (CG-26)