Ingalls-Built USS Port Royal Commissioned

The U.S. Navy commissioned its 27 Ticonderoga (CG 47) class Aegis guided missile cruiser on July 9, when USS Port Royal (CG 73) joined the U.S. Pacific Fleet during commissioning ceremonies in Savannah, Ga. Captain Nick Richards, USN, accepted command of CG 73, with Lieutenant CommanderDerek Kemp, USN, as executive officer.

CG 73 is the 19 Aegis cruiser to be delivered to the Navy by Ingalls Shipbuilding division of Litton Industries in Pascagoula, Miss.

USS Port Royal is the second U.S. Navy ship named to commemorate battles of the American Revolution and the Civil War fought in the waters of Port Royal Sound and on the adjacent South Carolina sea islands. The first Port Royal was a wooden, sidewheel gunboat commissioned in 1862. The gunboat Port Royal was decommissioned in 1866.

Aegis cruisers are 567 ft. (173 m) long, with a beam of 55 ft. (17 m). Four gas turbine engines power the 9,500-ton ships to speeds in excess of 30 knots.

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