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Fort Ticonderoga was a stronghold throughout the
Revolutionary War in America during the years of 1775 to 1783. It is located
in Essex County, ninety-five miles north of Albany, New York on a neck of
land between Lake George and Lake Champlain. The name Ticonderoga comes from
the Iroquois Indian word Cheonderoga, meaning "place between two
waters."
Ticonderoga controlled the route between the Hudson River Valley and Canada
in the wars of the eighteenth century. In 1755, Fort Carillon was built by
the French on a military road on an Indian portage between the two lakes. The
area then became an active place of fighting betwwen the Indians, French,
British, and Americans.
The Connecticut Committee of Safety had decided that taking Ticonderoga was a
good idea particularly because the fort held cannons that would be of great
use to the Americans. They wrote to Ethan Allen and others, who also liked
the idea. James Easton raised 40 volunteers at Pittsfield, Massachusetts for
the venture. Allen assembled over a hundred of his Green Mountain Boys. They
met on the evening of May 9 at Bennington, and made their plans.
Ethan Allen was elected Colonel, with Easton and Seth Warner as his
lieutenants. Samuel Herrick was sent to Skenesboro and Asa Douglas to Panton
with detachments to secure boats. Allen would march the rest up the lake to a
point a few miles below Ticonderoga, to cross there. The council had just
parted when Benedict Arnold arrived with orders from the Connecticut
committee and insisted that he should be in command. He was generally
ignored, but they did let him march up front with Allen.
Local volunteers brought their numbers up to about 200. By moonset, they had
assembled at Hand's Cove and were ready to cross the lake, but had only two
boats secured by Douglas. Eighty-three of the Green Mountain boys piled in
with Arnold and Allen and crossed the lake. Douglas went back for the rest.
But as dawn approached, fearful of losing the element of surprise, they
attacked. Surprising the only sentry on duty at the south gate, they rushed
into the crumbling fort. Allen and Arnold charged up the stairs into the
officer's quarters, roused the garrison commander from bed, and demanded
surrender, which they got. Only one shot was fired, and there were no
injuries on either side.
Ticonderoga was not the fortress it had been in 1758, when the French had
famously held it from a British attack. It had largely fallen into disrepair
and the garrison consisted of only two officers and forty-six men.
Aftermath
Seth Warner marched a detachment up the lakeshore and captured nearby Crown
Point, garrisoned by only nine men. On May 12, Allen sent the prisoners to
Connecticut's Governor Jonathan Trumbull noting that "I make you a
present of a Major, a Captain, and two Lieutentants of the regular Establishment
of George the Third."
Arnold took a small schooner and several bateaux from Skenesboro north with
50 volunteers. On May 18 they seized another garrison at Fort St. Johns along
with the Enterprise, a seventy ton sloop. Aware that several companies were
stationed a twelve miles down river at Chambly, they loaded the more valuable
captured supplies and cannon, burned the boats they couldn't take and
returned to Crown Point.
Ethan Allen and his men returned home. Benedict Arnold remained with some
Connecticut replacements in command at Ticonderoga. At first the Continental
Congress wanted the men and forts returned to the British, but on May 31 they
bowed to pressure from Massachusetts and Connecticut and agreed to keep them.
Connecticut sent a regiment under Colonel Benjamin Hinman to hold
Ticonderoga. When Arnold learned that he was second to Hinman, he resigned
his Connecticut commission and went home.
In the winter of 1775-1776, Henry Knox moved the guns of Ticonderoga to
Boston, to support the Siege of Boston. The captured ships were used, along
with others, in 1776 by then General Arnold to thwart Britain's attempt at
recapture in the Battle of Valcour Island. Ticonderoga was retaken by the
British Saratoga Campaign in 1777, but abandoned after their surrender at the
Battle of Saratoga.
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The fifth Ticonderoga (CG-47) was laid down on 21
January 1980 at Pascagoula, Miss., by the Ingalls Shipbuilding Division of
Litton Industries; launched on 25 April 1981; sponsored by Mrs. Nancy Reagan,
wife of then President Ronald Reagan; and commissioned 22 January 1983 - the
first of twenty-seven ships of her class.
An extensive test and check-out effort and outfitting period was then
undertaken as the mighty hull was brought to life. Ticonderoga men arrived in
Pascagoula in July 1981 and crew training, certification and systems
check-out were underway. Sea trials were held in May, August, and November of
1982. During the first trial, Ticonderoga's propulsion systems were
stringently tested, passing with flying colors. The new cruiser accomplished a
four-hour run at full power, achieving a speed in excess of 30 knots.
On its second trial, Ticonderoga and her Navy crew accomplished an
unprecedented "Navy First." She flexed her muscles for the first
time, 6 months prior to commissioning, by successfully firing every weapon
system on board. This included two Anti-Surface Harpoon Blast Test Missiles,
11 Surface-to-Air Blast Test Missiles, 5"/54-Caliber Gun Ammunition,
CIWS and, finally, two Standard Surface-to-Air Missiles against drone air targets
off Eglin Missile Range. The latter was a complete success, and the
Ticonderoga, "the First and Formidable," had truly accomplished a
"first" with Ticonderoga men manning and firing the combat system
in cooperation with Ingalls' employees and civilian contractors.
Ticonderoga was delivered to the Navy on 13 December 1982. Following
commissioning, she moved to Norfolk, her home port. During the next year, CG
47 was scheduled to participate in extensive Combat System and Engineering
Exercises, as well as intensive single ship and Battle Group readiness
evolutions. She returnd to Pascagoula in the Summer for a six-week
Post-Shakedown Availability.
Cruiser construction went on in the shipyard as it continued to build the
second, third, and fourth Ticonderoga Class cruisers. But for Ticonderoga, it
was time to undertake the duty for which she was built, as she brought her
strength and power into the service for her country. Ticonderoga sailed from
Pascagoula in February, truly "Combat Ready," with a demanding schedule
ahead, and with the knowledge that her systems, construction, and the
Ticonderoga men who man her are the very best. "Stand by Admiral
Gorshkov, AEGIS is at sea."
Ticonderoga was built in sections, called modules, which allowed improved
access to all areas of the ship during construction. The modules were then
moved together to form the hull of the ship, and the deckhouse sections were
then lifted aboard. For launching, the ship was moved several hundred yards
across land to the floating dry dock, which was used to actually launch the
ship.
Ticonderoga took part, in May 1995, in an 11-day exercise, called Destined
Glory '95, The exercise took place in the western Mediterranean south of
Sardinia and included more than 20 ships and thousands of troops from the
NATO countries of Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Turkey, U.K. and the
U.S. This marked the first time, NATO countries conducted a fully integrated
amphibious exercise in an air, land and sea training environment. The
Ticonderoga was in the Mediterranean as part of the Theodore Roosevelt Battle
Group, having left its homeport on March 22.
It deployed with the Theordore Roosevelt and other battle group ships to the
Arabian Gulf in support of Operation Southern Watch, the enforcement of the
no-fly zone over Iraq. It then deployed back to the Adriatic to take station
for Operation Deny Flight, the U.N.-mandated no-fly zone over Bosnia. The
Roosevelt reported on station May 26.
The Ticonderoga relocated to Pascagoula, MS, in 1996, after being tasked
primarily with supporting operations in the Caribbean and South America.
Ticonderoga as the first production Smart Ship cruiser fielded in the summer
of 2000, undergoing the upgrade at Naval Station Pascagoula. After fourteen
long months of installations and ship alterations, Ticonderoga completed sea
trials. The crew next prepared for various readiness and operational
inspections. Light Off Assessment (LOA) was conducted in late May prior to
sea trials and Engineering Department put in numerous off-duty hours
preparing the ship’s engineering spaces. Sea trials with the new SMART SHIP
program went smoothly on June 1st and 2nd without any major problems.
Ticonderoga took part in the mid-October 2000, Atlantic phase of the 41st
annual "Unitas" Task Group deployment. The purpose of
"Unitas" is to conduct multi-lateral naval operations including
traditional at-sea exercises and inport activities with participating naval
forces in support of U.S. foreign policy in South America. During the Atlantic
phase, the Ticonderoga made a stop at the port city of Ushuaia, located in
the Patagonia region on the southern tip of Argentina, which it departed from
on October 4th. The vessel later visited Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, October 23,
2000, as part of a four U.S. Navy ships contingent.
After a holiday vacation, the crew of America’s First Aegis Cruiser returned
to sea in late January to mid-February 2001. Ticonderoga served as flagship
for DESTROYER SQUADRON SIX, its immediate superior in charge, and completed a
Group Sail with several other ships in the squadron. Events included tactical
maneuvering, seamanship exercises, communications drills, and electronic
warfare exercises to prepare for upcoming deployments. Each ship had the
opportunity to fire a Standard missile to maintain combat readiness
standards. The missile launches were the highlight of the Group Sail.
Ticonderoga’s crew next prepared for INSURV, a mandated inspection that
occurs on board each U.S. Navy ship every five years. The inspection is a
material and systems readiness assessment to prove how well a crew has
maintained their ship. Many crewmembers have dedicated numerous off-duty
hours to ensure all navigation, engineering, electronic, and combat systems
equipment are ready for the inspection.
In the following months, Ticonderoga was to loosen all lines and deploy in
support of U.S. Southern Command operations. USS Ticonderoga participated in
Teamwork South, a series of challenging naval exercises in the Southeastern
Pacific Ocean with Rodney M. Davis (FFG-60), twelve Chilean warships and the
British Destroyer HMS Edinburgh (D-97). The exercise was completed in
mid-July 2001 and included a live fire Sink Exercise (SINKEX) on the ex-USS
La Moure County (LST-1194) unmanned hulk target, which had been
decommissioned after an accident off the coast of Chile the previous year and
whose use as a target was determined to outweigh the cost of potential
repairs.
Bender Shipbuilding & Repair Co. Inc., Mobile, AL, was awarded a
$7,990,455 firm-fixed-price modification to a previously awarded contract for
the drydocking selected restricted availability of the Ticonderoga. As of
January 2002, work was to be performed in Mobile, AL, and was expected to be
completed by June 2002.
Ticonderoga departed its homeport at Naval Station Pascagoula for its final
deployment 10 March 2004. While deployed, the ship conducted counter-drug
operations in the eastern Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea, and then
participated in UNITAS operations off the coast of South America. On 30 June
2004, she stopped a fast boat with 72 bales of cocaine aboard - a street
value of $36 million. Returning to Pascagoula on 3 August, she set a record
for counter-drug operations netting more than 7 tons of cocaine and detaining
25 suspects. Ticonderoga was decommissioned 30 September 2004 but retained in
high maintenance as a surge asset.
After her decommissioning, she was towed to the
Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility in Philadelphia. Recently, however,
she was put up for museum donation by the Navy and there is a strong effort
to bring Ticonderoga to Pascagoula, Mississippi, where she was built, to
serve as a museum ship.
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