USS Antietam (CG-54) is a guided missile cruiser of the United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

. Antietam was named for the site of the 1862 Battle of Antietam

Battle of Antietam

The Battle of Antietam , fought on September 17, 1862, near Sharpsburg, Maryland, and Antietam Creek, as part of the Maryland Campaign, was the first major battle in the American Civil War to take place on Northern soil. It was the bloodiest single-day battle in American history, with about 23,000...

, Maryland

Maryland

Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...

, between Confederate

Confederate States of America

The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...

 forces under General Robert E. Lee

Robert E. Lee

Robert Edward Lee was a career military officer who is best known for having commanded the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in the American Civil War....

 and Union forces under Major General George McClellan

George B. McClellan

George Brinton McClellan was a major general during the American Civil War. He organized the famous Army of the Potomac and served briefly as the general-in-chief of the Union Army. Early in the war, McClellan played an important role in raising a well-trained and organized army for the Union...

, during the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

. She was built by the Litton-Ingalls Shipbuilding Corporation at Pascagoula, Mississippi and commissioned on 6 June 1987. She is currently led by the Commanding Officer, Captain Robert P. Tortora, and the Executive Officer, Commander Patrick K. McNamara. USS Antietam earned the 2007 and 2008 Battle Efficiency awards, also known as the Battle E award, for the USS John C. Stennis Strike Group.

Construction

The USS Antietam was laid down by the Litton-Ingalls Shipbuilding Corporation at Pascagoula, Mississippi

Pascagoula, Mississippi

Pascagoula is a city in Jackson County, Mississippi, United States. It is the principal city of the Pascagoula, Mississippi Metropolitan Statistical Area, as a part of the Gulfport–Biloxi–Pascagoula, Mississippi Combined Statistical Area. The population was 26,200 at the 2000 census...

 on 15 November 1984, launched on 14 February 1986, and commissioned on 6 June 1987 in Baltimore, Maryland.

Capability

With her guided missiles and rapid-fire guns, she is capable of facing and defeating threats in the air, on the sea, on the shore, and beneath the sea. She also carries two Sikorsky SH-60 Seahawk LAMPS

Light airborne multi-purpose system

Light Airborne Multi-Purpose System is the United States Navy's program that developed manned helicopters that assist the surface fleet in anti-submarine warfare.*SH-2 Seasprite *SH-60 Seahawk...

 helicopters, capable of multiple missions, but primarily equipped for anti-submarine warfare [ASW].

Tours

The USS Antietam operates out of her home port of San Diego, Calif. She recently completed a six month deployment, leaving San Diego in January 2009, and returning home in July 2009. Stops along the way included Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand, Guam, and Hawaii.

From January to August of 2007 the USS Antietam deployed to the Persian Gulf. During that seven month deployment she visited Dubai, Singapore, Hong Kong and Pearl Harbor before returning to home port.

From February to August 2005 USS Antietam completed a circumnavigation of the Earth, leaving San Diego to the west and returning home by way of the east. During the deployment she had an extended stay in the Persian Gulf as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom. On the return to home port she disembarked nearly a third of her active personnel in Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

 to make room for family and friends of the remaining crew who embarked in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico to take part in a Tiger Cruise back to San Diego.

External links

• Official website
• Naval Vessel Register entry for USS Antietam
• united-states-navy.com: USS Antietam
• USS Antietam escorting USS Kitty Hawk in 1997
• USS Antietam (CG-54) command histories – Naval History & Heritage Command