US Navy decommissions guided-missile cruiser Leyte Gulf

The US Navy decommissioned the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Leyte Gulf in a ceremony at Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia, on Friday, September 20.

The cruiser was built at Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Mississippi, and commissioned in Port Everglades, Florida, on September 26, 1987. The ship's namesake commemorates the largest naval battle in history, fought from October 23 to 26, 1944, during World War II.

Leyte Gulf participated in a number of offensive engagements, including in 2011, when it aided in the capture of pirates off Somalia and later supported missile strikes against forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

On February 5, 2019, the cruiser collided with the US Navy dry cargo ship USNS Robert E. Peary during underway replenishment. There were no injuries among the crews while both vessels suffered only minor damage.

The decommissioning of Leyte Gulf is part of the navy's ongoing program of phasing out the Ticonderoga-class cruisers, which were built from the early 1980s to the early 1990s.