USN surface ship ASW armament changes
January 2nd, 2009 From
>Date: Mon, 26 May 1997 12:55:18 -0700
>From: Mike Potter
>Reply-To: mike.potter@artecon.com
>Organization: Artecon, Inc.
>X-Mailer: Mozilla 3.01Gold (WinNT; I)
>To: mahan@microwrks.com
>Subject: USN surface ship ASW armament changes
>Precendence: bulk
>Sender: mahan-owner@microworks.net
>
>Corrections to recent and even current naval reference books:
>
>In the early 1990s the US Navy removed all ASW capability from former
>DLG/DLGN cruisers, at least other than (possibly) the =Virginia= (CGN
>38)
>class.
>
>ASRoc launchers were physically dismounted and ASRoc reloading hatches
>were welded closed. It seems less widely known that the Mk 32 torpedo
>tubes too were dismounted. Sonar domes presumably were left in place but
>all sonar electronic equipment was decommissioned. All sonar technicians
>(STG rating) were transferred from these ships.
>
>Many of these cruisers made their final deployments without ASW systems
>before the ships themselves were decommissioned in the mid-1990s.
>
>On USS =California= (CGN 36), the former torpedo room (which had fixed
>twin Mk 32 tubes mounted as in the =Knox= class frigates) now is a gym.
>The ship carries SLQ-25 anti-torpedo decoys as her only undersea warfare
>equipment.
>
>The Navy is still updating =Spruance=-class destroyers’ hull-mounted
>sonars to AN/SQS-53C. This upgrade reportedly had been cancelled, but
>either it wasn’t or it has been restored.
>
>–