USS Mississippi (CGN-40)

USS Mississippi on 21 January 1991
History
United States
Name	Mississippi
Namesake	State of Mississippi
Ordered	21 January 1972
Builder	Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company
Laid down	22 February 1975
Launched	31 July 1976
Sponsored by	Janet Finch
Acquired	14 July 1978
Commissioned	5 August 1978
Decommissioned	28 July 1997
Stricken	28 July 1997
Identification	Callsign: NGGD Hull number: CGN-40
Motto	Virtute et armis (By valor and arms)
Fate	Recycling completed
Badge
General characteristics
Class and type	Virginia-class cruiser
Displacement	11,300 tons full load
Length	585 ft (178 m)
Beam	63 ft (19 m)
Draft	31.5 ft (9.6 m)
Propulsion	Twin D2G General Electric nuclear reactors
Speed	30+ knots
Range	Nuclear
Complement	39 Officers, 539 Enlisted
Sensors and processing systems	AN/SPS-48 3-D Air search radar AN/SPS-49 2-D Air search radar AN/SPS-55 surface search radar AN/SPQ-9 gun fire control radar AN/SPG-51 Missile fire control radar
Electronic warfare & decoys	AN/SLQ-32 Mark 36 SRBOC
Armament	-Two Mk-26 dual-arm missile launchers for Standard missile (SAMs) and/or "matchbox" ASROC anti-submarine rockets (68 missiles) -Two Mk-141 Harpoon missile launchers -Two armored ASM/LAM launchers for Tomahawk missile -Two triple-tube Mk 46 torpedo launchers -Two Mk-45 (5 inch/54 caliber) lightweight guns -Two Phalanx CIWS (20 mm) anti-missile systems -Four machine guns
Aircraft carried	As built: Helicopter pad (Afterdeck) with hangar / elevator – until later retrofit to Tomahawk launchers.

USS Mississippi (CGN-40), a Virginia-class nuclear-powered guided-missile cruiser, was the fourth ship of the United States Navy named in honor of the 20th state admitted to the Union. Her keel was laid down by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company at Newport News, Virginia, on 22 February 1975. She was launched on 31 July 1976. The ship was commissioned on 5 August 1978 by Jimmy Carter, then serving as the 39th president of the United States. Early deployment included escorting the carrier USS Nimitz (CVN-68). She also was deployed in 1989 as a response to the capture and subsequent murder of U.S. Marine Corps Colonel William R. Higgins by terrorists.^[1]