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USS Cowpens (CG-63)
Us Info | 2012-11-27 16:38
| Name: | USS Cowpens |
| Namesake: | The Battle of Cowpens |
| Operator: | United States Navy |
| Ordered: | 8 January 1986 |
| Builder: | Bath Iron Works |
| Laid down: | 23 December 1987 |
| Launched: | 11 March 1989 |
| Commissioned: | 9 March 1991 |
| Decommissioned: | March 31,2013(scheduled) |
| Homeport: | Yokosuka, Japan |
| Motto: |
Victoria Libertatis Vindex (Victory Vindicates Liberty) |
| Status: | in active service, as of 2012[update] |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type: | Ticonderoga-class cruiser |
| Displacement: | Approx. 9,600 long tons (9,800 t) full load |
| Length: | 567 feet (173 m) |
| Beam: | 55 feet (16.8 meters) |
| Draft: | 34 feet (10.2 meters) |
| Propulsion: |
4 × General Electric LM2500 gas turbine engines, 80,000 shaft horsepower (60,000 kW) 2 × controllable-reversible pitch propellers 2 × rudders |
| Speed: | 32.5 knots (60 km/h) |
| Complement: | 33 officers, 27 Chief Petty Officers, and approx. 340 enlisted |
|
Sensors and processing systems: |
AN/SPY-1A/B multi-function radar AN/SPS-49 air search radar AN/SPG-62 fire control radar AN/SPS-73 surface search radar AN/SPQ-9 gun fire control radar AN/SQQ-89(V)1/3 - A(V)15 Sonar suite, consisting of AN/SQS-53B/C/D active sonar AN/SQR-19 TACTAS, AN/SQR-19B ITASS, & MFTA passive sonar AN/SQQ-28 light airborne multi-purpose system AN/SLQ-32 Electronic Warfare Suite |
| Armament: |
2 × 61 cell Mk 41 vertical launch systems 122 × Mix of RIM-66M-5 Standard SM-2MR Block IIIB, RIM-156A SM-2ER Block IV, RIM-161 SM-3, RIM-162A ESSM, RIM-174A Standard ERAM, BGM-109 Tomahawk, or RUM-139A VL-ASROC 8 × RGM-84 Harpoon missiles 2 × Mk 45 Mod 2 5 in / 54 cal lightweight gun 2 × 25 mm Mk 38 gun 2–4 × .50 cal (12.7 mm) gun 2 × Phalanx CIWS Block 1B 2 × Mk 32 12.75 in (324 mm) triple torpedo tubes for lightweight torpedoes |
| Aircraft carried: | 2 × Sikorsky SH-60B or MH-60R Seahawk LAMPS III helicopters. |
USS Cowpens (CG-63) is a Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser currently in service with the United States Navy.
The USS Cowpens is named after the Battle of Cowpens, a major American victory near Cowpens, South Carolina, in the American Revolution. She was built at the Bath Iron Works in Maine.
The USS Cowpens is currently forward-deployed and is homeported at United States Fleet Activities Yokosuka in Yokosuka, Japan. The USS Cowpens also maintains an on-board active VBSS team to conduct anti-piracy, anti-smuggling, and anti-terrorist operations.
Cowpens in drydock in Yokosuka, 2004
History
In 2003, the USS Cowpens became the first United States Navy ship to launch ordnance in the opening stages of the Iraq War, in which she fired 37 Tomahawk cruise missiles. In March 2003 Cowpens was assigned to Carrier Group Five.[1]
On 13 January 2010, the ship's commanding officer, Captain Holly Graf, was relieved of command by Rear Admiral Kevin Donegan, Commander, Carrier Strike Group Five, following the imposition of non-judicial punishment. The punishment followed an investigation which verified allegations of cruelty and maltreatment toward her crew, and conduct unbecoming an officer — violations of articles 93 and 133 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, by Graf during her tenure as captain of the USS Cowpens. The investigation was initiated after multiple allegations and complaints of physical and verbal abuse were made to Naval Criminal Investigative Service and the Navy Inspector General by several members of the crew. Captain Graf was subsequently replaced as the commanding officer by Captain Robert Marin.A subsequent Time article revealed that Graf had a history of abusive treatment of subordinates in earlier assignments and that Navy leaders had not acted on previous complaints about her behavior.
The US Navy forced Graf into early retirement in 2012, but allowed her to do so at her current rank of Captain and under "honorable circumstances."
The US Navy forced Graf into early retirement in 2012, but allowed her to do so at her current rank of Captain and under "honorable circumstances."
On 10 February 2012, Robert Marin was relieved of command of the cruiser after admitting to an adulterous relationship with another captain's wife.
Service
This ship was one of several participating in disaster relief after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.
USS Cowpens is set to be decommissioned on March 31, 2013.
