USS Texas (CGN-39)
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- This article describes the U.S. Navy ship USS Texas CGN-39. For other ships of the United States Navy with that name, see USS Texas.
| Image:USS Texas (CGN-39).JPG | |
| Career | Image:Naval Jack of the United States.svg |
|---|---|
| Ordered: | 21 December 1971 |
| Laid down: | 18 August 1973 |
| Launched: | 9 August 1975 |
| Commissioned: | 10 September 1977 |
| Decommissioned: | 16 July 1993 |
| Fate: | Nuclear Recycling |
| Struck: | 16 July 1993 |
| General Characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 11,000 tons full |
| Length: | 585 ft (178 m) |
| Beam: | 63 ft (19.2 m) |
| Draught: | 31 ft (9.4 m) |
| Propulsion: | 2 General Electric D2G reactors, geared turbines, 2 screws, 60,000 horsepower (45 MW) |
| Speed: | 30 knots (56 km/h) |
| Range: | |
| Complement: | 39 officers, 539 men |
| Armament: | 2 x 5 in (127 mm) 54 caliber Mk-45 lightweight guns, 2 MK-26 SAM/ASW (68 Missiles), 6 x 12.75 in (324 mm) torpedo tubes (two triple mounts), two Mk-26 missile launchers for Standard missiles and ASROC, two Mk-141 AGM-84 Harpoon missile launchers, two armored box launchers for Tomahawk ASM/LAM, two 20 mm Phalanx CIWS, four machine guns |
| Aircraft: | None |
| Motto: | Proud Heritage, Proud Purpose |
USS Texas (DLGN/CGN-39) was the second Virginia-class nuclear guided missile cruiser. She was the third ship to be named in honor of Texas.
Texas' keel was laid down on 18 August 1973, at Newport News, Virginia, by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company. She was initially designated a guided missile destroyer leader, but was reclassified as a guided missile cruiser and given the hull classification symbol CGN-39 on 30 June 1975. She was launched on 9 August 1975, sponsored by Mrs. Dolph Briscoe, wife of the Governor of Texas, and commissioned on 10 September 1977, with Captain Peter B. Fiedler in command.
Following a nine-week test of the ship's combat systems, Texas loaded weapons at the Yorktown Naval Weapons station in October and underwent refresher training out of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in November. Texas spent the first three months of 1978 conducting at-sea evaluation of her propulsion and weapons systems off the Virginia Capes and in the Caribbean Sea. On 28 March, she transited to her building yard at Newport News to commence a Post Shakedown Availability (PSA) which was completed on 31 July. The remainder of 1978 was spent in individual ship exercises off the east coast and Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico, interspersed with periods in Texas' home port of Norfolk, Virginia.
Texas was placed in reserve commission on 31 May 1993, then decommissioned and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 16 July 1993. Texas entered the nuclear Ship-Submarine recycling program at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard on 1 October 1999.
Ship's Crest
The official crest of the USS Texas CGN 39 was designed by Martha Bell, a freelance graphic designer and a Texan. The colors—red, white, and blue—represent the state flag of Texas. The anchor and the fouled line symbolize the Navy, while the Lone Star signifies the state of Texas. The atoms and orbits within the Lone Star represent the nuclear power characteristics of the ship. The three stars at the bottom represent the past United States ships named "Texas". The motto, "Proud Heritage, Proud Purpose", refers to the history and legacy of those ships, and their purpose: defense of the United States.
| Virginia-class guided missile cruiser |
| Virginia | Texas | Mississippi | Arkansas |
| List of cruisers of the United States Navy |