The USS Robert Smalls, one of the Navy’s last five cruisers, has left forward deployment in Japan and is en route to San Diego, where it will be prepared for decommissioning.
The Navy has been removing Ticonderoga-class cruisers from the fleet because their role has been supplanted by Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, which are known as the “workhorses of the Navy.”
This is an emotional moment for many older, retired sailors, because the Cold War-era “Ticos,” as they’re called, were famous for their sleek design, huge firepower and air-defense equipment, which helped them shield aircraft carriers from attack. The Navy built 27 of the cruisers from 1980 to 1994.
Smalls will join the three other Ticos that operate out of San Diego. Two of those ships, the USS Princeton and USS Chosen, are on deployment. A third vessel, the USS Cape St. George, is in San Diego.
The fifth, USS Gettysburg, is based in Norfolk, Va.
The Robert Smalls’ current name is meant to honor a Civil War-era maritime pilot who commandeered a Confederate ship in 1862 and turned it over to the Union forces. The ship was previously known as the Chancellorsville, in honor of the Battle of Chancellorsville, a Confederate Civil War victory. A government commission made the name change.