The United States Navy reclassified many of its surface vessels in 1975, changing terminology and hull classification symbols for cruisers, frigates, and ocean escorts.
The United States Navy reclassified many of its surface vessels in 1975, changing terminology and hull classification symbols for cruisers, frigates, and ocean escorts.
From the 1950s to 1975, the US Navy had three types of fast task force escorts and one type of convoy escort. The task force escorts were cruisers (hull classification symbols CAG/CLG/CG), frigates or destroyer-leaders (DL/DLG), and destroyers (DD/DDG); the convoy escorts were ocean escorts (DE/DEG), often called destroyer escorts as they retained the designation and number series of the World War II vessels. Added in the early 1970s was a new ocean escort called the patrol frigate (PF), another designation previously used in World War II, which was the initial designation of the Oliver Hazard Perry class. [1] In 1975, these classifications were simplified to cruiser (CG), destroyer (DD/DDG), and frigate (FF/FFG).
Under the pre-1975 classification, cruisers were large vessels, the size of World War II gun cruisers, intended as the primary surface combatants. All but one (USS Long Beach (CGN-9)) were converted World War II gun cruisers (CL/CLG or CA/CAG), carrying either Talos or Terrier surface-to-air missiles (SAMs), and in some cases also Tartar missiles. The primary mission of these ships and the guided missile frigates was to intercept Soviet anti-ship cruise missiles. One cruiser was to be assigned to each carrier group. Most of the cruiser conversions were performed to rapidly deploy the new naval SAMs while the guided missile frigates were being designed and built. There were relatively few cruiser conversions, due to their cost and because the frigates could carry almost as many weapons as a cruiser. [2]
From 1950 to 1975, frigates were a new type, midway between cruiser and destroyer sizes, intended as major task force escorts. The first ship of the type was a redesignated ASW cruiser; the next four were very large AAW (gun) destroyers (DL), and the remainder were essentially oversize guided missile destroyers classified as DLGs. They carried the mid-range Terrier missile, but no offensive (strategic) weapons.
Destroyers were developed from the World War II designs as the smallest fast task force escorts. DDs were fast ASW ships; DDGs were AAW ships carrying the short-range Tartar missile.
Ocean escorts were an evolution of the World War II destroyer escort types. They were intended as convoy escorts and were designed for mobilization production in wartime or low-cost mass production in peacetime. DEs were ASW vessels; DEGs were AAW vessels with Tartar missiles.
The U.S. frigate classification was not used by any other navy; similar vessels were either cruisers or destroyers in foreign service. [3] The ocean escort type corresponded to foreign frigates (convoy escorts).
The Soviets defined "guided missile cruisers" as large warships armed with long range anti-ship missiles. The term "cruiser" included also two large helicopter carriers (Moskva class). The ships equivalent to U.S. frigates were classified as "large anti-submarine ships", but the larger of them were designated as "cruisers" by Western navies. [4] This led to a conclusion, that by 1974, there were only six ships in U.S. service classified as cruisers, but the Soviets had 19 cruisers in service with seven more being built. (All totals exclude gun-only cruisers). All but two of the Soviet ships were relatively small vessels, roughly equivalent to U.S. frigates and far smaller than U.S. cruisers. However, most included a heavy anti-ship cruise missile battery that US surface combatants lacked until the introduction of the Harpoon missile circa 1980.
The differing U.S. and Soviet definitions of "cruiser" caused political problems when comparisons were made between U.S. and Soviet naval forces. A table comparing U.S. and Soviet cruiser forces showed six U.S. ships vs. 19 Soviet ships, despite the existence of 21 U.S. "frigates" equal or superior in size to the Soviet "cruisers". This led to the perception of a non-existent "cruiser gap".
To close this "gap," the U.S. frigate (DL/DLG) classification was eliminated on 30 June 1975. All the gun frigates (DL) had already been stricken or converted to DDGs. Most of the DLGs became cruisers (CG), but the smaller Farraguts became destroyers (DDG). All of the nuclear-powered DLGNs, existing or in construction, were redesignated as CGNs. The change from DLG to CG redefined "cruiser" as smaller ships, more like large destroyers. Cruiser classifications were also simplified, with the guided missile light cruisers (CLG) simply becoming CGs. Gun cruisers retained the "CA" designation although the last remaining gun cruiser, Newport News, was decommissioned three days earlier on 27 June 1975.
The ocean escorts (DE/DEG) and patrol frigates (PF) became frigates (FF) or guided missile frigates (FFG). [1]
These changes brought U.S. Navy classifications into line with foreign classifications, and eliminated the perceived "cruiser gap."
| Pre-30 June 1975 | Post-30 June 1975 |
| Cruiser (CA/CLG/CGN) | Guided Missile Cruiser (CG/CGN) |
| Frigate (DL/DLG/DLGN) | Guided Missile Cruiser (CG/CGN), Destroyer (DD), or Guided Missile Destroyer (DDG) |
| Destroyer (DD/DDG) | Destroyer (DD) or Guided Missile Destroyer (DDG) |
| Ocean Escort (DE/DEG) | Frigate (FF) or Guided Missile Frigate (FFG) |
| Patrol Frigate (PF) | Guided Missile Frigate (FFG) |
A final change came on 1 January 1980, when the Ticonderoga class guided missile destroyers (DDG) became guided missile cruisers (CG).
A cruiser is a type of warship. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and can usually perform several operational roles from search-and-destroy to ocean escort to sea denial.
A frigate is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied.
The United States Navy, United States Coast Guard, and United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) use a hull classification symbol to identify their ships by type and by individual ship within a type. The system is analogous to the pennant number system that the Royal Navy and other European and Commonwealth navies use.
USS Reeves (DLG/CG-24), a United States Navy ship named after Admiral Joseph Mason Reeves, was a Leahy-class cruiser built by the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, in Bremerton, Washington.
USS Parsons (DD-949/DDG-33) began her career as a Forrest Sherman-class destroyer of the United States Navy. She was named in honor of Rear Admiral William S. Parsons (1901–1953), who worked on the Manhattan Project during World War II.
The Spruance-class destroyer was developed by the United States to replace the many World War II–built Allen M. Sumner- and Gearing-class destroyers, and was the primary destroyer built for the United States Navy during the 1970s and 1980s. It was named in honor of U.S. Navy Admiral Raymond A. Spruance, who successfully led major naval battles in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater during World War II such as the Battle of Midway and the Battle of the Philippine Sea.
The Virginia class were four nuclear-powered, guided-missile cruisers that served in the United States Navy until the mid-to-late 1990s. The double-ended cruisers were commissioned between 1976 and 1980. They were the final class of nuclear-powered cruisers completed and the last ships ordered as Destroyer Leaders under the pre-1975 classification system.
Garcia-class frigates were United States Navy warships. These frigates were originally ocean escorts bearing the hull classification DE until 1975. The ships were commissioned between 1964 and 1968 and decommissioned between 1988 and 1990.
Ocean escort was a type of United States Navy warship. They were an evolution of the World War II destroyer escort types. The ocean escorts were intended as convoy escorts and were designed for mobilization production in wartime or low-cost mass production in peacetime. They were commissioned from 1954 through 1974, serving in the Cold War and the Vietnam War.
USS Fox (DLG-33/CG-33) was a Belknap class cruiser of the United States Navy, named after Gustavus V. Fox, President Abraham Lincoln's Assistant Secretary of the Navy. The keel for DLG-33 was authenticated and laid in ceremonies at Todd Shipyards, Los Angeles Division, San Pedro, California on 15 January 1963.
The Farragut-class destroyer was a group of 10 guided-missile destroyers built for the United States Navy (USN) during the 1950s. They were the second destroyer class to be named for Admiral David Farragut. The class is sometimes referred to as the Coontz class, since Coontz was first to be designed and built as a guided-missile ship, whereas the previous three ships were designed as all-gun units and converted later. The class was originally envisioned as a Destroyer Leader class, but was reclassified as Guided-Missile Destroyers following the 1975 ship reclassification.
Destroyer leader (DL) was the United States Navy designation for large destroyers from 9 February 1951 through the early years of the Cold War. United States ships with hull classification symbol DL were officially frigates from 1 January 1955 until 1975. The smaller destroyer leaders were reclassified as destroyers and the larger as cruisers by the United States Navy 1975 ship reclassification so destroyer escorts could be reclassified as frigates (FF) in conformance with international usage of the term.
USS Macdonough (DLG-8/DDG-39) was a Farragut-class guided missile destroyer in the United States Navy. She was named for Commodore Thomas Macdonough, the 4th ship of the United States Navy to be named for him.
A hull number is a serial identification number given to a boat or ship. For the military, a lower number implies an older vessel. For civilian use, the Hull Identification Number (HIN) is used to trace the boat's history. The precise usage varies by country and type.
USS Sterett (DLG/CG-31) was a Belknap-class destroyer leader / cruiser. She was the third ship to be named for Master Commandant Andrew Sterett (1778–1807), who served during the Quasi-War with France and the Barbary Wars. She was launched as DLG-31, a frigate, and reclassified a cruiser (CG) on 30 June 1975.
USS Dewey (DLG-14/DDG-45) was a Farragut-class guided missile destroyer in the United States Navy. She was named in honor of George Dewey, the United States' only Admiral of the Navy. She was the third of four ships whose namesake was Admiral Dewey. The ship's motto was The First and Finest.