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The Battle of Gettysburg
(July 1–3, 1863), fought in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania,
as part of the Gettysburg Campaign, was the bloodiest battle of the American
Civil War and is frequently cited as the war's turning point. Union Major
General George G. Meade's Army of the Potomac decisively defeated attacks by
Confederate General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, ending Lee's
second and final invasion of the North.
Background and movement to battle
Shortly after Lee's army won a decisive victory over the Army of the Potomac
at the Battle of Chancellorsville (May 1–3, 1863), Lee decided upon a second
invasion of the North. Such a move would upset Federal plans for the summer
campaigning season and possibly relieve the besieged Confederate garrison at
Vicksburg, and it would allow the Confederates to live off the bounty of the
rich Northern farms while giving war-ravaged Virginia a much needed rest.
Also Lee's 75,000-man army could threaten Philadelphia, Baltimore, and
Washington and give voice to the growing peace movement in the North.
Thus, on June 3 Lee's army began to shift northward from Fredericksburg,
Virginia. In order to attain more efficiency in his commands, Lee had
reorganized his two large corps into three new corps. James Longstreet
retained command of his First Corps. However, the old corps of Lieutenant
General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson was divided into two, with
the Second Corps going to Lt. Gen. Richard S. Ewell and the new Third Corps
commanded by Lt. Gen. A.P. Hill. The Gettysburg Confederate Order of Battle
lists the units and commanders of the Army of Northern Virginia.
The Federal Army of the Potomac, under Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker, consisted of
seven infantry corps, a cavalry corps, and an Artillery Reserve, for a
combined strength of more than 90,000 men. However, Abraham Lincoln would
soon replace Hooker with Maj. Gen. George G. Meade, due to Hooker's defeat at
the Battle of Chancellorsville and his timid response to Lee's second
invasion north of the Potomac. The Gettysburg Union Order of Battle lists the
units and commanders of the Army of the Potomac after Meade assumed command.
The first major action of the campaign took place on June 9 between the
opposing cavalry forces at Brandy Station, near Culpeper, Virginia. The
Confederate cavalry under J.E.B. Stuart was nearly bested by the Federal
horsemen, but Stuart eventually prevailed. However, this battle, the largest
cavalry engagement of the war, proved that for the first time, the Union
horse soldier was equal to his Southern counterpart.
By mid-June, the Army of Northern Virginia was poised to cross the Potomac
River and enter Maryland. After defeating the Federal garrisons at Winchester
and Martinsburg, Ewell's Second Corps began crossing the river on June 15.
Hill's and Longstreet's corps followed on June 24–25. Hooker's army pursued,
keeping between the U.S. Capital and Lee's army. The Federals crossed the
Potomac on June 25–27.
Meanwhile, in a controversial move, Lee allowed J.E.B. Stuart to take a
portion of the army's cavalry and ride around the Union army. However, Lee's
orders gave Stuart much latitude, and both generals are to blame for the long
absence of Stuart's cavalry, as well as for the failure to assign a more
active role to the cavalry left with the army. Stuart and his three best
brigades were absent from the army during the crucial phase of the approach
to Gettysburg and the first two days of battle. By June 29, Lee's army was
strung out in an arc from Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, 28 miles (45 km)
northwest of Gettysburg, to Carlisle, 30 miles (48 km) north of Gettysburg,
to near Harrisburg and Wrightsville on the Susquehanna River.
In a dispute over the use of the forces defending the Harpers Ferry garrison,
Hooker offered his resignation, and Abraham Lincoln and General-in-Chief
Henry W. Halleck, who were looking for an excuse to get rid of Hooker,
immediately accepted the resignation. They replaced him on June 27–28 with
Maj. Gen. George Gordon Meade, commander of the V Corps.
When, on June 29, Lee learned that the Army of the Potomac had crossed its
namesake river, he ordered a concentration of his forces around Cashtown,
located at the eastern base of South Mountain and eight miles (13 km) west of
Gettysburg.
On June 30, while part of Hill's Corps was in Cashtown, one of Hill's
brigades, North Carolinians under J. Johnston Pettigrew, ventured toward
Gettysburg. The memoirs of Maj. Gen. Henry Heth, Pettigrew's division
commander, claimed that Pettigrew was in search of a large supply of shoes in
town, but this explanation has been largely discounted by historians.
When Pettigrew's troops approached Gettysburg on June 30, they noticed
Federal cavalry under Brig. Gen. John Buford west of town, and Pettigrew
returned to Cashtown without engaging them. When Pettigrew told Hill and
Henry Heth about what he had seen, neither general believed that there was a
substantial Federal force in or near the town, suspecting that it had been
only Pennsylvania militia. Despite General Lee's order to avoid a general
engagement until his entire army was concentrated, Hill decided to mount a
significant reconnaissance in force the following morning to determine the
size and strength of the enemy force in his front. Around 5 a.m. on
Wednesday, July 1, Heth's division advanced to Gettysburg.
First day of battle
General Buford realized the importance of the high ground directly to the
south of Gettysburg, knowing that if the Confederates could gain control of
the heights, Meade's army would have a hard time dislodging them. He decided
to utilize three ridges west of Gettysburg: Herr Ridge, McPherson Ridge, and
Seminary Ridge (proceeding west to east toward the town). These were
appropriate terrain for a delaying action by his small division against
superior Confederate forces, meant to buy time awaiting the arrival of
infantrymen who could occupy the superior defensive positions south of town,
Cemetery Hill, Cemetery Ridge, and Culp's Hill.
Heth's division advanced with two brigades forward, commanded by Brig. Gens.
James Archer and Joseph R. Davis. They proceeded easterly in columns along
the Chambersburg Pike. Three miles (5 km) west of town, about 7:30 a.m. on
July 1, Heth's two brigades met light resistance from cavalry vedettes and
deployed into line. Eventually, they reached dismounted troopers from Col.
William Gamble's cavalry brigade, who mounted determined resistance and
delaying tactics from behind fence posts with rapid fire from their Sharps
carbines. By 10:20 a.m., the Confederates had pushed the Union cavalrymen
east to McPherson Ridge, when the vanguard of the I Corps (Maj. Gen. John F.
Reynolds) finally arrived.
North of the Pike, Davis gained a temporary success against Brig. Gen.
Lysander Cutler's brigade, but was repulsed with heavy losses in an action
around an unfinished railroad bed cut in the ridge. South of the Pike,
Archer's brigade assaulted through Herbst (also know as McPherson's) Woods.
The Federal Iron Brigade under Brig. Gen. Solomon Meredith enjoyed initial
success against Archer, capturing several hundred men, including Archer
himself.
Early in the fighting, while General Reynolds was directing troop and
artillery placements just to the east of the woods, he fell from his horse,
killed instantly by a bullet striking him behind the left ear. Maj. Gen. Abner
Doubleday assumed command. Fighting in the Chambersburg Pike area lasted
until about 12:30 p.m. It resumed around 2:30 p.m., when Heth's entire
division engaged, adding the brigades of Pettigrew and Col. John M.
Brockenbrough.
As Pettigrew's North Carolina Brigade came on line they flanked the 19th
Indiana and drove the Iron Brigade back. The 26th North Carolina (the largest
regiment in the army with nearly 900 men) lost heavily, leaving the first
day's fight with around 212 men. By the end of the three-day battle, they
would have about 60 men standing, the highest casualty percentage for one
battle of any other regiment, north or south. Slowly the Iron Brigade was
pushed out of the woods toward Seminary Ridge. Hill added William Dorsey
Pender's division to the assault and the I Corps was driven back through the
grounds of the Lutheran Seminary and Gettysburg streets.
As the fighting to the west proceeded, two divisions of Ewell's Second Corps,
marching west toward Cashtown in accordance with Lee's order for the army to
concentrate in that vicinity, turned south on the Carlisle and Harrisburg
Roads toward Gettysburg, while the Union XI Corps (Maj. Gen. Oliver O.
Howard) raced north on the Baltimore Pike and Taneytown Road. By early
afternoon, the Federal line ran in a semi-circle west, north, and northeast
of Gettysburg.
Unfortunately, the Federals did not have enough troops; Cutler, who was
deployed north of the Chambersburg Pike, had his right flank in the air. The
leftmost division of the XI Corps was unable to deploy in time to strengthen
the line, so Doubleday was forced to throw in reserve brigades to salvage his
line.
Around 2:00 p.m., Robert E. Rodes's and Jubal Early's Second Corps divisions
smashed and out-flanked the Federal I and XI Corps positions north and
northwest of town. The brigades of Edward A. O'Neal and Alfred Iverson
suffered severe losses assaulting the I Corps division of Brig. Gen. John C.
Robinson south of Oak Hill. Early's division profited from a blunder made by
Brig. Gen. Francis C. Barlow, when he advanced his XI Corps division to
Blocher's Knoll (directly north of town and now known as Barlow's Knoll);
this represented a salient in the corps line, susceptible to attack from
multiple sides, and Early's troops overran his division, which constituted
the right flank of the Union Army's position. Barlow was wounded and captured
in the attack.
As Federal positions collapsed both north and west of town, Gen. Howard
ordered a retreat to the high ground south of town, Cemetery Hill, where he
had left the division of Adolph von Steinwehr as a reserve.
Gen. Lee understood the defensive potential to the Union if they held this
high ground. He sent orders to Ewell that Cemetery Hill be taken "if
practicable." Ewell chose not to attempt the assault, considered by
historians to be a great missed opportunity.
The battle of July 1 had pitted over 25,000 Confederates against 18,000
Federals, and ranks in itself as the twenty-third largest battle of the war.
Second day of battle
Plans and movement to battle
Throughout the evening of July 1 and morning of July 2, most of the remaining
infantry of both armies arrived on the field, including the Union II, III, V,
VI, and XII Corps. Longstreet's third division, commanded by George Pickett,
had begun the march from Chambersburg early in the morning; it would not
arrive until late on July 2.
The Union line ran from Culp's Hill southeast of the town, northwest to
Cemetery Hill just south of town, then south for nearly two miles (3 km)
along Cemetery Ridge, terminating just north of Little Round Top. Most of the
XII Corps was on Culp's Hill, the remnants of I and XI Corps defended
Cemetery Hill, II Corps covered most of the northern half of Cemetery Ridge,
and III Corps was ordered to take up a position to its flank. This shape of
the Union line is popularly described as a "fishhook" formation.
The Confederate line paralleled the Union line about a mile (1600 m) to the
west on Seminary Ridge, ran east through the town, then curved southeast to a
point opposite Culp's Hill. Thus, the Federal army had interior lines, while
the Confederate's exterior line was nearly five miles (8 km) in length.
Lee's battle plan for July 2 called for Longstreet's First Corps to position
itself stealthily to attack the Union left flank, facing northeast astraddle
the Emmitsburg Road, and to roll up the Federal line. The attack sequence was
to begin with John Bell Hood's and Lafayette McLaws's divisions, followed by
Richard H. Anderson's division of Hill's Third Corps. The progressive en
echelon sequence of this attack would prevent Meade from shifting troops from
his center to bolster his left. At the same time, Edward
"Allegheny" Johnson's and Jubal Early's Second Corps divisions were
to make a "demonstration" against Culp's and Cemetery Hills (again,
to prevent the shifting of Federal troops), and to turn the demonstration
into a full-scale attack if a favorable opportunity presented itself.
Lee's plan, however, was based on faulty intelligence, exacerbated by
Stuart's continued absence from the battlefield. Instead of moving beyond the
Federals' left and attacking their flank, Longstreet's left division, under
McLaws, would face Maj. Gen. Daniel Sickles's III Corps directly in their
path. Sickles, dissatisfied with the position assigned him on the southern
end of Cemetery Ridge, and seeing higher ground more favorable to artillery
positions a half mile (800 m) to the west, had advanced his corps - without
orders - to the slightly higher ground along the Emmitsburg Road. The new
line ran from Devil's Den, northwest to the Sherfy farm's Peach Orchard, then
northeast along the Emmitsburg Road to south of the Codori farm. This created
an untenable salient at the Peach Orchard; Brig. Gen. Andrew A. Humphreys's
division (in position along the Emmitsburg Road) and Maj. Gen. David B.
Birney's division (to the south) were subject to attacks from two sides and
were spread out over a longer front than their small corps could defend
effectively.
Longstreet's attack was to be made as early as practicable; however,
Longstreet got permission from Lee to await the arrival of one of his
brigades, and, while marching to the assigned position, his men came within
sight of a Union signal station on Little Round Top. Countermarching to avoid
detection wasted much time, and Hood's and McLaws's divisions did not launch
their attacks until just after 4 p.m. and 5 p.m., respectively.
Attacks on the Union left flank
As Longstreet's divisions slammed into the Union III Corps, Meade had to send
reinforcements in the form of the entire V Corps, Caldwell's division of the
II Corps, most of the XII Corps, and small portions of the newly arrived VI
Corps. Hard fighting took place in Devil's Den, the Wheatfield, Little Round
Top, and the Peach Orchard. The III Corps was virtually destroyed as a combat
unit in this battle and Sickles's leg was amputated after it was shattered by
a cannonball. Caldwell's division was devoured piecemeal in the Wheatfield.
Anderson's division assault starting around 6 p.m. reached the crest of
Cemetery Ridge, but they could not hold the position in the face of
counterattacks from the II Corps.
Meanwhile, Colonel Strong Vincent of V Corps was holding, with his small
brigade, an important hill in the Union position: Little Round Top. He was
able to hold off repeated assaults by a Confederate brigade of Hood's
division with his five relatively small regiments. Meade's chief engineer,
Brig. Gen. Gouverneur K. Warren, had realized the importance of this
position, and dispatched Vincent's brigade, Hazlett's artillery battery, and
the 140th New York to occupy Little Round Top mere minutes before Hood's
troops arrived. The defense of Little Round Top with a bayonet charge by the
20th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment was one of the most fabled episodes in
the Civil War.
Attacks on the Union right flank
About 7:00 p.m., the Second Corps' attack by Johnson's division on Culp's
Hill got off to a late start. Most of the hill's defenders, the Union XII
Corps, had been sent to the left to defend against Longstreet's attacks, and
the only portion of the corps remaining on the hill was a brigade of New
Yorkers under Brig. Gen. George S. Greene. Due to Greene's insistence on
constructing strong defensive works, and with reinforcements from the I and
XI Corps, Greene's men held off the Confederate attackers, although the
Southerners did capture a portion of the abandoned Federal works on the lower
part of Culp's Hill.
Just at dark, two of Jubal Early's brigades attacked the Union XI Corps
positions on East Cemetery Hill where Col. Andrew L. Harris of the 2nd
Brigade, 1st Division, came under a withering attack, losing half his men;
however, Early failed to support his brigades in their attack on the Union
defenders, and Ewell's remaining division, that of Maj. Gen. Robert E. Rodes,
failed to aid Early's attack by moving against Cemetery Hill from the west.
The Union army's interior lines enabled its commanders to shift troops
quickly to critical areas, and with reinforcements from II Corps, the Federal
troops retained possession of East Cemetery Hill, and Early's brigades were
forced to withdraw.
J.E.B. Stuart and his four cavalry brigades arrived in Gettysburg late in the
afternoon, but had no role in the second day's battle. Wade Hampton's brigade
fought a minor engagement with George Armstrong Custer's Michigan cavalry
near Hunterstown to the northeast of Gettysburg.
Third day of battle
General Lee wished to renew the attack on Friday, July 3, using the same
basic plan as the previous day: Longstreet would attack the Federal left,
while Ewell attacked Culp's Hill. However, before Longstreet was ready,
Federal XII Corps troops started a dawn artillery bombardment against the
Confederates on Culp's Hill in an effort to regain a portion of their lost
works. The Confederates attacked and the second fight for Culp's Hill ended
around 11 a.m., after some seven hours of bitter combat.
Lee was forced to change his plans. Now Longstreet would command Pickett's
Virginia division of his own First Corps, plus six brigades from Hill's
Corps, in an attack on the Federal II Corps position at the right center of
the Union line on Cemetery Ridge. Prior to the attack, all the artillery the
Confederacy could bring to bear on the Federal positions would bombard and
weaken the enemy's line.
Around 1:00 p.m., 170 Confederate cannons began an artillery bombardment was
probably the largest of the war. In order to save valuable ammunition for the
infantry attack that they knew must follow, the Army of the Potomac's artillery
at first did not return the enemy's fire. After waiting about 15 minutes, 80
or so Federal cannon added to the din. The Army of Northern Virginia was
critically low on artillery ammunition, and the cannonade did not
significantly affect the Union position. Around 3:00 p.m, the cannon fire
subsided, and 12,500 Southern soldiers stepped from the ridgeline and
advanced the three-quarters of a mile (1200 m) to Cemetery Ridge in what is
known to history as "Pickett's Charge". Due to fierce flanking
artillery fire from Union positions on Cemetery Hill and north of Little
Round Top, and musket and canister fire from the II Corps as the Confederates
approached, nearly one half of the attackers would not return to their own
lines. Although the Federal line wavered and broke temporarily at a jog in a
low stone fence called the "Angle", just north of a patch of
vegetation called the Copse of Trees, reinforcements rushed into the breach
and the Confederate attack was repulsed.
There were two significant cavalry engagements on July 3. Stuart was sent to
guard the Confederate left flank and was to be prepared to exploit any
success the infantry might achieve on Cemetery Hill by flanking the Federal
right and hitting their trains and lines of communications. Three miles (5
km) east of Gettysburg, in what is now called "East Cavalry Field"
(not shown on the accompanying map, but between the York and Hanover Roads),
Stuart's forces collided with Federal cavalry: Brig. Gen. David McM. Gregg's
division and George A. Custer's brigade. A lengthy mounted battle, including
hand-to-hand sabre combat, ensued. Custer's charge, leading the 1st Michigan
Cavalry, blunted the attack by Wade Hampton's brigade, blocking Stuart from
achieving his objectives in the Federal rear. After Pickett's Charge, Meade
ordered Brig. Gen. Judson Kilpatrick to launch a cavalry attack against the
infantry positions of Longstreet's Corps southwest of Big Round Top. Brig.
Gen. Elon J. Farnsworth protested against the futility of such a move, but
obeyed orders; Farnsworth was killed in the attack and his brigade suffered
significant losses.
Aftermath
The armies stared at one another across the bloody fields on July 4, the same
day that the Vicksburg garrison surrendered to Gen. Ulysses S. Grant. Lee reformed
his lines into a defensive position, hoping that Meade would attack. The
cautious Union commander, however, decided against the risk, a decision for
which he would later be criticized.
On July 5, in a driving rain, the Army of Northern Virginia left Gettysburg
on the Hagerstown Road; the Battle of Gettysburg was over, and the
Confederates headed back to Virginia. Meade's Army of the Potomac followed,
though the pursuit was half-spirited at best. The recently rain-swollen
Potomac trapped Lee's army on the north bank of the river, but by the time
the Federals caught up, the Confederates were ready to cross back to
Virginia. The rear-guard action at Falling Waters on July 14 ended the
Gettysburg Campaign and added some more names to the long casualty lists,
including General Pettigrew, mortally wounded.
Throughout the campaign, General Lee seemed to have entertained the belief
that his men were invincible; most of Lee's experiences with the army had
convinced him of this, including the great victory at Chancellorsville in
early May and the rout of the Federals at Gettysburg on July 1. To the
detrimental effects of this blind faith were added the fact that the Army of
Northern Virginia had many new and inexperienced commanders. (Neither Hill
nor Ewell, for instance, though capable division commanders, had commanded a
corps before.) Also, Lee's habit of giving general orders and leaving it up
to his lieutenants to work out the details contributed to his defeat.
Although this method may have worked with Stonewall Jackson, it proved
inadequate when dealing with corps commanders unused to Lee's loose style of
command. Lastly, after July 1, the Confederates were simply not able to
coordinate their attacks. Lee faced a new and very dangerous opponent in Maj.
Gen. George G. Meade, and the Army of the Potomac stood to the task and
fought well on its home territory.
The armies would move on, but Gettysburg had much cleaning up to do. The two
armies had suffered 51,000 casualties - killed, wounded, and captured/missing.
More than 7,000 soldiers had been killed outright; these bodies, lying in the
hot summer sun, needed to be buried quickly. 5,000 horse carcasses were
burned in a pile south of town; townsfolk became violently ill from the
stench. The ravages of war would still be evident in Gettysburg more than
four months later when, on November 19, the Soldiers' National Cemetery was
dedicated. During this ceremony, President Abraham Lincoln with his
Gettysburg Address would re-dedicate the nation to the war effort and to the
ideal that no soldier at Gettysburg - North or South - had died in vain.
Today, the Gettysburg National Cemetery and Gettysburg National Military Park
are maintained by the U.S. National Park Service as two of the nation's most
revered historical landmarks.
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Gettysburg
(CG-64) was laid down by Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine - 17 August 1988;
launched 22 July 1989; and commissioned 22 June 1991. She serves with the
Atlantic Fleet, homeported at Mayport Florida.
USS Gettysburg was one of six U.S. Navy ships ordered by President Clinton on
October 15, 1993, to be deployed to enforce a trade embargo against Haiti as
part of Operation "Support Democracy". The order came the day after
the United Nations Security Council voted to reimpose stiff sanctions against
Haiti, including an embargo on oil products, until order was restored and the
Governors Island process clearly resumed. Gettysburg was one of five ships
replaced less than two weeks later so as to permit it and the others to
resume previously scheduled assignments.
In June 1994, USS Gettysburg participated in the twenty-second edition of
Baltic Operations, "BALTOPS 94". USS Gettysburg, along with the
guided missile frigate USS Halyburton (FFG 40), then made port calls to
Capetown and Simonstown in South Africa from November 8-14, 1994, marking the
first visit to South African ports in 27 years by a U.S. Navy warship; the
last one having been the aircraft carrier USS Franklin D. Roosevelt in
February 1967.
On November 30, 1994, USS Gettysburg, along with the USS Halyburton (FFG 40),
was diverted by COMUSNAVCENT on a rescue mission and to provide assistance to
the Italian cruise ship ACHILLE LAURO, made famous by its hijcking in October
1985, which was on fire about 130 miles east off Somalia in the Indian Ocean.
The decision to divert the ships was made after receiving word of the fire
from the search and rescue center in Norway. The Navy ships were operating
about 350 miles north of the ACHILLE LAURO's position. ACHILLE LAURO's burnt
out hulk sunk a few days later on December 2.
As the Navy ships approached the scene, a helicopter operating from the deck
of Gettysburg overflew the merchants, then returned to Gettysburg to retrieve
medical supplies and food to support the evacuated passengers. Gettysburg’s
Commanding Officer, was designated the Navy's on-scene commander, and was
tasked with assessing further rescue operations upon his ship's arrival. USS
Gettysburg then deployed to the Arabian Gulf.
Along with the USS Enterprise, USS Pittsburgh (SSN 720), USS Supply, the USS
Gettysburg transitted in mid-September 1996, to join the U.S. Naval Forces
Central Command area of responsibility, as part of Operation Desert Strike.
The USS Enterprise (CVN 65) Battle Group, which included the USS Gettysburg,
deployed for a scheduled six-month period on November 6, 1998 to the Arabian
Gulf. During this deployment, Gettysburg took part in Operation Desert Fox,
an operation designed to degrade Saddam Hussein's ability to deliver
chemical, biological and nuclear weapons, and wage war against his neighbors.
The operation was a 70-hour-long assault which took place from December
16-20. The Gettysburg performed as the Air Defense Commander for the
Enterprise Battle Group, conducted Tomahawk strikes against Iraq during
Operation Desert Fox, and conducted Maritime Interdiction Operations in
support of UN sanctions against Iraq.
USS Gettysburg operated in 1998 in the Adriatic as part of Operation Deliberate
Forge adding military weight to ongoing diplomatic negotiations regarding
Kosovo.
USS Gettysburg, sailed into the Adriatic Sea on January 20, 1999 as part of
the USS Enterprise (CVN 65) Battle Group.
Gettysburg deployed with the USS Enterprise (CVN 65) Battle Group as it was
conducting training in the Atlantic in September 2000.
Gettysburg deployed in 2001 for a six-month period with the USS Enterprise,
to conduct multinational and joint operations with navies of various European
countries, and visit ports in Mediterranean and Arabian Gulf nations. The
ships and squadrons of the Battle Group were scheduled to return home in
October 2001.
She took part in Fleet Week USA docking at Port Everglades FL along with
destroyers Cole, McFaul, and Thorn, docking there on 28 April 2003. She then
deployed with the Enterprise (CVN-65) battle group to the Arabian Gulf. As
part of this battle group, she deployed the Spartan Scout, a Department of
Defense Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration developed by the Naval
Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC), Newport, RI. Spartan is a modular,
reconfigurable, multi-mission, semi-autonomous unmanned surface vehicle (USV)
which carries a payload of 3,000 lbs (7-meter version) or 5,000 lbs (11-meter
version). It can be used as an expeditionary sensor and weapons platform.
She deployed with the Enterprise Carrier Battle Group to the Persian Gulf 2
October 2003 and returned to Mayport FL 27 February 2004.
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