USS YORKTOWN was the second ship in the TICONDEROGA - class of guided missile cruisers and the fifth ship in the Navy to bear this historic name. USS YORKTOWN was the Navy's test platform for the Smart Ship Project. The cruiser was last homeported in Pascagoula, Miss., and is now berthed at the Naval Inactive Ships Maintenance Facility, Philadelphia, Penn.
History of USS YORKTOWN:
USS YORKTOWN was built from keel up to utilize every capability of the awesome Aegis Combat System and was commissioned on 4 July 1984 at Yorktown, VA. It proceeded immediately to work up for a major series of shock trials.
As of late 2001, and since commissioning, USS YORKTOWN had completed five, highly successful Mediterranean deployments. The first, from August 1985 to April 1986, involves most notably the dramatic Achille Lauro hijacker intercept, two Black Sea excursions, and three operations off the Libyan coast.
USS YORKTOWN received the Atlantic Fleet's "Top Gun" award for outstanding Naval Gun Fire Support (NGFS) in 1987. During the second deployment from September 1987 to March 1988, YORKTOWN participated in numerous U.S. and NATO exercises, as well as multi- national exercises with Morocco, France, West Germany, Tunisia, and Turkey. It was on this Mediterranean deployment that YORKTOWN gained worldwide publicity from operations conducted in the Black Sea. While exercising the "right of innocent passage" through Soviet-claimed territorial waters, a Soviet warship intentionally collided with YORKTOWN, in what some observers have called "the last incident of the Cold War."
In 1991, YORKTOWN was awarded the coveted "Old Crow's" award for Electronic Warfare excellence. In 1992, YORKTOWN was honored with the Marjorie Sterrett Battleship Fund Award for superb, sustained combat readiness.
USS YORKTOWN served as a stabilizing force during her third and fourth Mediterranean deployments, while the world watched in wonder at the end of the Cold War and the tremendous coalition victory in DESERT STORM. During the latter of these two deployments, YORKTOWN participated in the first U.S. military exercises with the Romanian and Bulgarian navies, and played a key role in Operation PROVIDE COMFORT, which provided humanitarian relief and security for the Kurdish refugees in northern Iraq. In the summer of 1992, YORKTOWN participated in BALTOPS '92. During this cruise, YORKTOWN made a highly acclaimed port visit to Severmorsk, Russia, becoming the first U.S. ship to visit that port since the end of World War II.
In 1993, YORKTOWN was awarded the Commander, Naval Surface Forces, Atlantic Ship Safety Award for a superior safety record. YORKTOWN has also been awarded two Navy Unit Commendations and a Meritorious Unit Commendation, and is a four-time winner of the coveted Battle Efficiency "E."
YORKTOWN served as Flagship for Commander, Task Group 4.1, during Counter-Drug Operations in the Caribbean in May - July 1993. In August 1993, YORKTOWN participated in the joint military Exercise SOLID STANCE in the North Atlantic. YORKTOWN's operations through the end of 1993 included an October - November excursion to the Caribbean to support the United Nations embargo of Haiti. In April - May 1994, YORKTOWN returned to the Caribbean Sea as Force Air Warfare Commander during joint exercise AGILE PROVIDER. While in the Caribbean, YORKTOWN served as Flagship for Commander, Destroyer Squadron Six, coordinating a six ship, twenty-six missile exercise. In the Summer of 1994, YORKTOWN achieved a resounding score of 101 during Naval Gun Fire Support (NGFS) qualification.
In August of 1994, YORKTOWN set sail for the Adriatic Sea as Flagship for Commander, Standing Naval Forces Atlantic in support of United Nations embargo of the former Republic of Yugoslavia. During this six month deployment, YORKTOWN served as the Air Warfare Commander for the Adriatic Sea, participating in a joint task force of ships from the United States and eight European nations. In May - June 1995, YORKTOWN proceeded south to serve as Air Warfare Commander for the Caribbean Sea in support of Counter-Drug Operations.
In December 1995, the Smart Ship Project Office was created and USS YORKTOWN was chosen as the prototype Smart Ship. The Smart Ship Program aims at reducing manning while maintaining readiness through technological installations and philosophy changes. The core technologies installed in YORKTOWN are a 16 workstation fiber optic Local Area Network (LAN), Integrated Bridge System (IBS), Voyage Management System (VMS), Damage Control System(DCS), Integrated Conditioning and Assessment System (ICAS), HYDRA wireless communication system, and Standard Machinery Control System (SMCS).
In September 1996, YORKTOWN changed homeports from Norfolk, VA, to Pascagoula, MS, after being tasked primarily with supporting operations in the Caribbean and South America.
In May 1997, YORKTOWN (with a reduced crew aboard) completed a five month Counter Narcotic deployment in the Caribbean followed by test operations with the USS GEORGE WASHINGTON (CVN 73) carrier battle group. During these periods Navy Manpower and Analysis Center (NAVMAC) conducted a detailed review of manpower requirements, and Operational Test and Evaluation Force (OPTEVFOR) verified the ships ability to meet all Required Operational Capabilities in the Projected Operating Environment (ROC/POE) doctrine for TICONDEROGA-class cruisers.
On September 25, 1997, USS YORKTOWN departed Pascagoula for a four month Counter Narcotics Deployment in the Caribbean. Before beginning patrolling efforts, YORKTOWN embarked staff members from COMSECONDFLT. Supported by the helicopter detachment, the Second Fleet staff surveyed and photographed another island slated as a potential replacement for training exercises if the Navy is unable to continue at Vieques Island in Puerto Rico. The ship made port calls in Jamaica; Aruba; Cartagena, Colombia; Rodman, Panama; Manta, Ecuador; and Cozumel, Mexico.
In 2000, the ship underwent a Dry Dock maintenance overhaul in Mobile, AL.
In 2004, the USS YORKTOWN completed a six-month deployment with the USS WASP (LHD 1) Expeditionary Strike Group (ESG 2), making key contributions to Operations Iraqi Freedom, Enduring Freedom and Market Time II in support of the global war on terrorism. The USS YORKTOWN was decommissioned on December 3, 2004, at her homeport of Pascagoula, Miss.
About the Ship's Name, about the Battle of Yorktown:
The siege of Yorktown is the term for two different military actions. The first had been situated at the end of the war of Independence and the second during the Civil war. The city of Yorktown, VA, had been the location for both battles.
The first siege ended as the last big conflict in the War of Independence on October 19, 1781, with the capitulation of the British troops. At the same time the US and French ground troops under G. Washington after merging with the French fleet under Francois Joseph Paul, Comte de Grasse, looked up the British under Lieutenant General Charles Cornwallis. The siege lasted 20 days. The capitulation was the reason for the resignation of the British Prime Minister Lord Frederick North. He gave the power to politicians ready for reconciliation. On September 3, 1783, the British accepted the conditions of the Peace of Paris. This was the end of the War of Independence.
In 1862, during the Civil War, the second siege of Yorktown took place. On April 5, 1862, the bigger union troops under General George B. McClellan locked up the town. It was kept by 13,000 soldiers from the Confederate troops under General Major John B. Magruder. The siege nearly lasted one month. On May 3, the leader of the Confederates, General Joseph E. Johnston, withdrew the federation to Richmond.
The photos below were taken by Brian Barton on October 13, 2008, and show the YORKTOWN laid up at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard.
The photos below were taken by me on November 7, 2008, and show the YORKTOWN laid up at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard.
The photos below were taken by me on October 26, 2010, and show the YORKTOWN still laid up at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard.
The photos below were taken by me on May 4, 2012, and show the YORKTOWN still laid up at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. However, she has been moved out of the shipyard's basin.
The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the YORKTOWN laid up at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard on October 7, 2018.
