For the past five months, the Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group (IKECSG) has been in the Middle East under CENTCOM control where it has been neck deep in swatting away Houthi anti-ship missiles and drones and firing TLAMs ashore in retaliation. Its AAW boss is centered on the vintage Ticonderoga class guided-missile cruiser USS Philippine Sea (CG 58). Commissioned on 18 March 1989, she recently celebrated her 35th anniversary while underway and is the Navy’s 3rd-oldest active cruiser.
STRAIT OF HORMUZ (Nov. 26, 2023) USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) (IKE) and the guided-missile cruiser USS Philippine Sea (CG 58) transit the Strait of Hormuz as the Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group (IKECSG) makes an inbound transit to the Arabian Gulf, Nov. 26. The IKECSG is deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations to support maritime stability and security in the Middle East region. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Merissa Daley)
It is planned by the Navy to inactivate the Philippine Sea next year, a process that will begin likely this October, so this is her last hurrah.
Speaking of which, sisters USS Shiloh (CG-67), USS Normandy (CG-60), and USS Lake Erie (CG-70) are set to be decommissioned along the same timelines, at least according to the latest Navy budget request.
Meanwhile, in Fiji
In the Central Pacific, USS Antietam (CG 54), long part of the forward-deployed Reagan Strike Group based in Japan, is currently in Fiji where she is participating on detached service as part of the OMSI (Oceania Maritime Security Initiative), giving grief to stateless (and often interloping Chi-Com) trawlers. Sure, it is more of a job for the USCG– Antietam has Coast Guard law enforcement personnel aboard– but at least the crew gets a port call in Fiji!
In 2023, the cruiser’s last full year as part of America’s Forward Deployed Naval Forces-Japan (FDNF-J), Antietam sailed nearly 34,000 miles, participated in the largest-ever Exercise Talisman Sabre alongside the Royal Australian Navy, and visited ports in Vietnam, South Korea, the Philippines and Palau.
War Dragon is back (for now)
There is a bright spot to the Tico program, as USS Chosin (CG-65) has finally left Puget Sound after eight long years, having recently completed modernization at Vigor. The “War Dragon” arrived back at her long-absent homeport of San Diego– under her own power!– earlier this month.
USS Chosin (CG-65) will likely retire in 2027, at which point, she will probably be the last of her class in operation
Ex-USS Chancellorsville
One Tico that has been lost in the sauce for the past couple of months is the USS Robert Smalls (CG-62), recently renamed by the Pentagon to “erase the shame” of bearing the name USS Chancellorsville— which to be fair, Smalls should have seen his name given to a destroyer while ex-Chancellorsville picked up the name of another, more politically correct, battle.
While Chancellorsville/Smalls is set to be retired in 2026, troublesome relics from the ship have been transferred via the NHHC to the Spotsylvania County Museum, adjacent to the First Day of Chancellorsville Park, in Virginia.
The items have become historical in their own right, having ridden on the Pascagoula-built cruiser since 1989, service that included winning the Spokane Trophy twice, seeing combat in Desert Storm, participating in a 1993 TLAM strike against the Iraqi Intelligence Service, the Navy’s Fukushima response, the near-collision with the Russian destroyer Admiral Vinogradov, and tense transits through the Taiwan Strait.
Via the Museum:
Led by the Friends of the USS Chancellorsville (CG 62), an organization created to enhance the relationship between the ship’s commissioning committee the Fredericksburg Area Council of the Navy League, and the County of Spotsylvania, the following materials originally donated by the Friends of the USS Chancellorsville were transferred via Unconditional Deed of Gift from the United States Naval History and Heritage Command to the Spotsylvania County Museum following a decommissioning initiative to bring historic objects back to the USS Chancellorsville’s heritage community:
- McClellan Cavalry Saddle
- Framed case of excavated Chancellorsville battle artifacts, presented by Craig-Carroll
- Framed case of excavated Chancellorsville battle artifacts, presented by Conroy F. Parker (seen above)
- Ames Manufacturing Co. Model 1860 Light Cavalry Saber, presented to Captain Bill Keating on June 4, 1992, aboard the Chancellorsville by Dr. David Amstutz and acquired by the Fredericksburg Area Council of the Navy League (hung in Captain’s Cabin) (seen above)
- Framed map of Chancellorsville
- “Battle of Chancellorsville, Sunday, May 3, 1863” Print (original art from Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Famous Leaders and Battle Scenes of the Civil War, 1896)
- USS Chancellorsville at sea photo print (seen above)
- “The Campaign of Chancellorsville: A Strategic and Tactical Study” by John Bigelow Jr., 1910 Yale University Press
- Stellar Nioh 2022 – JFTM-07 plaque for Capt. Edward A. Angelinas, commanding officer of USS Chancellorsville (presented by Capt. Takeuchi Shusaku, commanding officer of J.S. Maya)
- October 18, 2015, Japan Self-Defense Force Fleet Review plaque
- DD-116 Teruzuki plaque presented to Capt. Curt Renshaw, commanding officer of USS Chancellorsville, 2015 (presented by Cmdr. Takayuki Miyaji, commanding officer of J.S. Teruzuki)