14th Aegis Guided Missile Cruiser Built At Ingalls Christened 'Hue City'

CG-66, the 14th Aegis guided missile cruiser to be built by Ingalls Shipbuilding division of Litton in Pascagoula, Miss., was recently christened Hue City. The vessel became the first U.S. Navy warship named in commemoration of the efforts of U.S. Marines, soldiers and sailors involved in the battle to retake the old imperial capital of Hue from invading North Vietnamese in 1968.

Principal speaker for the event was Congressman John P. Murtha of Pennsylvania's 12th Congressional District, a member of the House Appropriations Committee and chairman of the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee. Congressman Murtha was introduced by Mississippi's Fifth District Congressman, Gene Taylor of Bay St.

Louis.

Mrs. Jo Ann Cheatham, wife of retired Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Ernest C. Cheatham Jr., served as the Hue City's sponsor.

Other participants in the christening ceremony included General Cheatham; Rear Adm. Raynor A.K. Taylor, USN Deputy Assistant Chief of Naval Operations for Surface Warfare; Rear Adm. Walter H. Cantrell, USN, Vice Commander, Naval Sea Systems Command; Capt. R. Bruce Woodruff, USN, Supervisor of Shipbuilding, Pascagoula; and Jerry St. Pe, senior vice president of Litton and president of Ingalls Shipbuilding.

The U.S. Navy's Aegis program, of which Hue City is the newest ship, is among the most important shipbuilding programs in America today. Aegis ships are designed and built to provide primary protection for the Navy's battle forces. Aegis cruisers are 567 feet long, with a beam of 55 feet. Four GE LM2500 gas turbine engines power the 9,500- ton ships to speeds in excess of 30 knots.

The CG-66's Aegis Combat System, heart of the ship's capability, is a significant advance in fleet air defense. Four fixed array radar antennae, mounted on the four sides of the ship's superstructure, replace conventional rotating radars, enabling the ship and her crew to scan in all directions simultaneously.

The Hue City is equipped with the MK 41 Vertical Launching System (VLS), a multiwarfare missile launching system capable of firing missiles against air, surface and underwater threats. VLS is composed of modules symmetrically grouped to form launcher magazines, located both forward and aft on the ship's deck.

Ingalls Shipbuilding, lead shipbuilder for five of the latest classes of Navy surface combatants, has delivered 53 major warships into the Navy's fleets since 1975, a major portion of the surface combatants delivered during the period.

As lead shipbuilder for the Aegis cruiser program, Ingalls has been contracted to build 19 of the 27 Aegis cruisers authorized for construction since 1978. Twelve Ingallsbuilt Aegis cruisers are now in the fleet, with a 13th to be delivered this fall. Ingalls is also building DDG 51 Class Aegis guided missile destroyers, with six ships under contract.

In addition to its Aegis programs, Ingalls is producing the Navy's Wasp Class of multipurpose amphibious assault ships and overhauling the multimission destroyer USS John Hancock (DD 981).

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Maritime Reporter Magazine, page 48, Sep 1990

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