USS Princeton (CG-59)

 

USS Princeton (CG-59) is a Ticonderoga-classguided missilecruiser serving in the United States Navy. Armed with naval guns and anti-air, anti-surface, and anti-submarine missiles, plus other weapons, she is equipped for surface-to-air, surface-to-surface, and anti-submarine warfare. She also is the home of two SeahawkLAMPS III helicopters. This warship is named for the Revolutionary War victories over the British by George Washington in and around the town of Princeton, New Jersey.

Princeton was the first Ticonderoga-class cruiser to carry the upgraded AN/SPY-1B radar system.

 

Operational history

The ship's first commander was Captain Ted Hontz, who took command at the commissioning ceremony on 11 February 1989 in the Ingalls shipyard in Pascagoula, Mississippi. After traveling through the Panama Canal, the Princeton was home-ported at the Long Beach Naval Shipyard, California.

 

Vladivostok port visit

In 1990, the Princeton served as the flagship for the first US Navy visit to the Soviet Union's Pacific port of Vladivostok since before World War II. She sailed with the USS Reuben James (FFG-57). Before the visit was completed, the crew received word that their Pacific cruise was canceled. They returned to Long Beach and joined the USS Ranger Battle Group preparing to deploy to the Persian Gulf.

 

Mine attack

 

A hull crack caused by the mine that detonated underneath Princeton.
 

On the morning of 18 February 1991, during Operation Desert Storm, Princeton was patrolling 28 nautical miles (52 km) off Failaka Island in the Persian Gulf, on the west side of the decoy U.S. Marine and naval invasion forces afloat. Two Italian-made MN103 Manta bottom-mounted influence mines detonated, one just under the port rudder and the other just forward of the starboard bow, most likely a sympathetic detonation caused by the first explosion. The blasts cracked the superstructure, buckled three lines in the hull, jammed the port rudder, flooded the #3 switchboard room through chilled water pipe cracks, and damaged the starboard propeller shaft. BM3 Ford was seriously injured, along with two other shipmates who sustained minor injuries. Despite the severe damage, the forward weapons and the AEGIS combat system were back online within 15 minutes.

 

At great peril, the Canadian warship HMCS Athabaskan moved north through the minefield to deliver damage-control supplies to the severely damaged Princeton, which remained on station for 30 hours until she was relieved. The crippled ship, with a locked starboard propeller shaft and a locked port rudder, was guided from the minefield by the minesweeper USS Adroit. Temporary repairs were conducted first in Bahrain, and then in the port of Jebel Ali near Dubai by the duty destroyer tender USS Acadia, and finally in a Dubai drydock. After eight weeks, the Princeton returned to the United States under the ship's own power for additional repairs. The ship and her crew were awarded the Combat Action Ribbon.

 

Princeton was greeted in Long Beach, California, by a throng of Navy family members, City of Long Beach officials, and the Los Angeles Lakers "Laker Girls" cheerleaders.

 

Captain Hontz turned over command to Captain J. Cutler Dawson before moving on to command the Aegis Training Command in Dahlgren, Virginia.

 

While stationed at Long Beach, Princeton was moored at Pier 7 alongside her sister ship USS Antietam (CG-54) and the battleship USS Missouri.

 

When the U.S. Naval Base in Long Beach was closed, the home port of the Princeton was moved to the San Diego Naval Base.

Princeton was overhauled from 1999-2000 in San Diego, California.

 

In 2003, the ship was assigned to Carrier Group Three.

 

Hamid rescue

On 21 July 2005, the guided-missile cruiser USS Princeton responded to a radio call from an Iranian dhow, named Hamid, that was dead in the water and in need of engineering assistance. A rescue and assistance team was dispatched to the Hamid where it was determined that the engine would not start due to corroded batteries that were low on power. The batteries were removed and brought back to Princeton for maintenance, cleaning and recharging. The Princeton rescue team was able to restore the power onboard Hamid, re-start the engines, and then provide minor medical assistance and fresh water to the dhow's crew.

 

Man overboard incident

In 2005, the warship was acting as an escort for Carrier Strike Group Eleven, led by Nimitz, and was featured in the documentary Carrier.While in the Persian Gulf on the night of 12 September 2005, or the early morning of September 13, during the filming of the documentary, Seaman Apprentice Robert D. Macrum, 22, of Sugar Land, Texas, fell overboard. Despite a search lasting over five days, and covering a 360-square-mile (930 km2) area, Seaman Macrum was not found.