- USS Mississippi (CGN-40)
USS "Mississippi" (CGN-40), a "Virginia" class,
nuclear fuel powered,U.S. Navy guided-missilecruiser , was the fourth ship of theUnited States Navy named in honor of the 20th state.Her keel was laid down by the
Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company atNewport News ,Virginia , on 22 February 1975. She was launched on31 July 1976 . The ship was commissioned on 5 August 1978 by PresidentJimmy Carter , then serving as the 39thPresident of the United States .Her armament capability included Harpoon and Tomahawk missiles and Mk46 torpedoes. She carried a crew of 39 officers and 539 enlisted sailors.
She first saw real action while escorting the carrier
USS Nimitz when F-14 fighters from that carrier shot down two Libyan fighter jets. She was called upon during that deployment to patrol off the shore of Egypt after President Anwar Sadat was assassinated. She also deployed in response to the killing of Marine Corps Colonel Higgins by terrorists in 1989. For Operation Desert Shield in 1990 andOperation Desert Storm in 1991, she deployed with the U.S.S. John F. Kennedy Battle Group with only five days notice to prepare. She launched Tomahawk cruise missiles deep inside Iraq in early 1991.Over the years, the ship received awards for battle efficiency, personnel retention and other standards of excellence.
The USS "Mississippi" (CGN-40) was decommissioned and stricken from the
Naval Vessel Register on 28 July 1997, and she entered theNuclear Powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program around October 2004.Her bell is securely installed in the gardens at Rosalie Mansion, on the site of
Fort Rosalie overlooking theMississippi River [ [http://www.historictravelsfortwo.com/ussmississippi.html Winona Times Newspaper via historictravelsfortwo.com] ] .References
External links
* [http://www.nvr.navy.mil/nvrships/details/CGN40.htm Naval Vessel Register - CGN-40]
* [http://www.navsource.org/archives/04/1140/040140.htm navsource.org: USS "Mississippi"]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.