USS Leahy (DLG-16)

USS Leahy
History
United States
Name	Leahy
Namesake	William D. Leahy
Ordered	7 November 1958
Builder	Bath Iron Works Corp., Bath, Maine
Laid down	3 December 1959
Launched	1 July 1961
Sponsored by	Mrs. Michael J. Mansfield
Acquired	27 July 1962
Commissioned	4 August 1962
Decommissioned	18 February 1967
Recommissioned	4 May 1968
Decommissioned	1 October 1993
Reclassified	CG-16 on 1 July 1975
Stricken	1 October 1993
Homeport	Boston, MA (1962) Charleston, SC (1963) Norfolk, VA (1968) San Diego, CA (1976)
Motto	Prompta et Parata (Prompt and Ready)
Nickname(s)	"Sweet 16"
Fate	Dismantled/scrapped in Brownsville, Texas 2005 by International Shipbreaking Limited
Badge
General characteristics
Class and type	Leahy-class cruiser
Displacement	8281 tons fully loaded
Length	533 ft (162 m)
Beam	55 ft (17 m)
Draft	26 ft (7.9 m)
Propulsion	2 shaft; gear turbines; 4 boilers; 85,000 shp (63,000 kW)
Speed	32 knots (37 mph; 59 km/h)
Range	8,000 nmi (15,000 km) at 20 knots (23 mph; 37 km/h)
Complement	37 officers and 408 enlisted
Sensors and processing systems	AN/SPS-39 followed by AN/SPS-48 3D air search radar AN/SPS-43 followed by AN/SPS-49 2D air search radar AN/SPS-10 surface search radar AN/SPG-55 missile fire control radar AN/SQS-23 bow mounted sonar
Electronic warfare & decoys	AN/SLQ-32 Mark 36 SRBOC
Armament	2 × Mark 10 Terrier SAM 1 × RUR-5 ASROC ASW system 2 × 3-inch (76 mm)/50 cal. twin gun mounts (replaced with Harpoon ASMs and Phalanx CIWS in 1981) 2 × triple MK 32 ASW torpedo launchers with MK 46 torpedoes

USS Leahy (DLG/CG-16) was the lead ship of a new class of destroyer leaders in the United States Navy. Named for Fleet Admiral William D. Leahy, she was commissioned on 4 August 1962 as DLG-16, a guided missile frigate, and reclassified as CG-16, a guided missile cruiser, on 30 June 1975.

From 1962 to 1976, Leahy operated as a unit of the Atlantic Fleet and from 1976 to 1993 as a unit of the Pacific Fleet. She made six Mediterranean deployments (Sixth Fleet), two UNITAS Latin America cruises and eight Western Pacific deployments (Seventh Fleet), completed three Panama Canal transits,^[1] and crossed the equator over a dozen times. She traveled the seas from the easternmost end of the Mediterranean to the westernmost edge of the Indian Ocean. She steamed far north to Leningrad, Russia, and the Aleutian Islands; and far south for two passages through the Straits of Magellan. Over the course of her sixteen major deployments, Leahy made port calls on six continents—North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia.

Leahy served longer than any other ship of her class. After more than 31 years of active service all over the globe, the "Sweet 16" was decommissioned on 1 October 1993. After another 11 years in the reserve fleet, she was scrapped in Brownsville, Texas, in 2005.