The first USS Halsey (DLG/CG-23), a Leahy-class

Leahy class cruiser

Leahy class cruisers were a class of guided missile cruisers built for the United States Navy. They were originally designated as DLG destroyers, but in the 1975 cruiser realignment, they were reclassified as guided missile cruisers .-Description:...

 guided missile

Guided Missile

Guided Missile is a London based independent record label set up by Paul Kearney in 1994.Guided Missile has always focused on 'the underground', preferring to put out a steady flow of releases and developing the numerous GM events around London and beyond....

 cruiser

Cruiser

A cruiser is a type of warship. The term has been in use for several hundreds of years, and has had different meanings throughout this period...

, was a ship 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...

 named in honor of Fleet Admiral William Halsey. Originally called a "destroyer leader" or frigate

Frigate

A frigate is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...

, in 1975 she was redesignated a cruiser in the Navy's ship reclassification

United States Navy 1975 ship reclassification

The United States Navy reclassified many of its surface vessels in 1975, changing terminology and hull classification symbols for cruisers, frigates, and ocean escorts.- Classification prior to 1975 :...

.

Construction

Halsey launched 15 January 1962 at San Francisco Naval Shipyard

San Francisco Naval Shipyard

The San Francisco Naval Shipyard was a United States Navy shipyard in San Francisco, California, located on of waterfront at Hunters Point in the southeast corner of the city...

; sponsored by Mrs. Margaret Denham and Miss Jane Halsey, granddaughters of the late Fleet Admiral; commissioned 20 July 1963, Captain H. H. Anderson, USN, in command. The ceremonies included a eulogy by Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, USN, on Fleet Admiral Halsey's illustrious career.

History

Halsey departed San Francisco on 25 November 1963 for Dabob Bay and Carr Island to conduct ASW system alignment tests and acoustical surveys until 7 December. She arrived at her home port of San Diego, California

San Diego, California

San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...

 on 11 December 1963.

Halsey was assigned to Destroyer Squadron 7, Destroyer Division 71 on 13 December, and participated in a special sea power demonstration for the Secretary of the Navy

United States Secretary of the Navy

The Secretary of the Navy of the United States of America is the head of the Department of the Navy, a component organization of the Department of Defense...

, acting as screen commander from 15-18 December. She conducted her weapons qualification trials from 15 January 1964 to 14 February, and fired her first missiles on the Pacific Missile Range

Pacific Missile Range

Pacific Missile Range may refer to:* The Western Range, a currently active missile range supporting launches from Vandenberg Air Force Base and elsewhere.* Western Launch and Test Range, a missile range active in the 1960s for tracking ballistic missiles....

 on 10 February 1964.

After a shakedown cruise from 16 March to 1 May, she returned to the San Francisco Naval Shipyard on 15 May 1964; and concluded her post-shakedown on 17 July 1964.

During her first years of active service, Halsey experimented with a unique system of internal organization combining all the aspects of the weapons systems and CIC under a combat officer; and separate hull and communications administration departments.

In 1966 Halsey was assigned to Destroyer Squadron 7, Destroyer Division 71, in the Pacific Fleet

United States Pacific Fleet

The United States Pacific Fleet is a Pacific Ocean theater-level component command of the United States Navy that provides naval resources under the operational control of the United States Pacific Command. Its home port is at Pearl Harbor Naval Base, Hawaii. It is commanded by Admiral Patrick M...

. On 2 July she left San Diego for Subic Bay

Subic Bay

Subic Bay is a bay forming part of Luzon Sea on the west coast of the island of Luzon in Zambales, Philippines, about 100 kilometers northwest of Manila Bay. Its shores were formerly the site of a major United States Navy facility named U.S...

, Philippines

Philippines

The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

. By August she was conducting air-sea rescue and ASW operations in the South China Sea

South China Sea

The South China Sea is a marginal sea that is part of the Pacific Ocean, encompassing an area from the Singapore and Malacca Straits to the Strait of Taiwan of around...

. During this period Halsey rescued some 16 airmen in two cruises in the Gulf of Tonkin

Gulf of Tonkin

The Gulf of Tonkin is an arm of the South China Sea, lying off the coast of northeastern Vietnam.-Etymology:The name Tonkin, written "東京" in Hán tự and Đông Kinh in romanised Vietnamese, means "Eastern Capital", and is the former toponym for Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam...

. On 5 December the frigate departed Yokosuka, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

, for the West Coast, arriving San Diego 21 December.

The first quarter of 1967 was spent in training cruises off the West Coast. On 10 April Halsey left San Diego for an overhaul period at San Francisco Bay Naval Shipyard that continued into August. By September Halsey was again involved in further exercises testing her capabilities.

Fate

Halsey was decommissioned and struck from the Naval Vessel Register

Naval Vessel Register

The Naval Vessel Register is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from the time a vessel is authorized through its life cycle and...

on 1 January 1994. She was scrapped in 2003.