USS Gettysburg

Three ships of the United States Navy have been named USS Gettysburg for the Battle of Gettysburg.

USS Gettysburg (1858)

The first USS Gettysburg was a steamer in the Union Navy.

The ship was built in Glasgow, Scotland in 1858, named Douglas, and operated for the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company between Liverpool, United Kingdom and Douglas on the Isle of Man until November 1862. She was then sold to the Confederacy, renamed Margaret and Jessie, and operated as a blockade runner until her capture by the Union on 5 November 1863. The ship was renamed Gettysburg, and commissioned into the Union Navy on 2 May 1864.

During her military service, Gettysburg operated with the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, was involved in both the first and second attacks on Fort Fisher, helped lay telegraph cables between Key West and Havana and undertook navigational surveys of the Caribbean and the Mediterranean.

Gettysburg was decommissioned on 6 May 1879 and sold two days later.

Pre-Civil War

Isle of Man Steam Packet Company, 1858-1862

Due to increasing passenger traffic between the Isle of Man and England, it was decided in 1858 that a larger, faster ship would be ordered for the packet fleet. During trials, she achieved 17.75 kn (20.43 mph; 32.87 km/h), and was declared the fastest Channel Steamer in existence during the period. In November 1858, she was sold to Cunard, Wilson & Co, on behalf of the Confederate agents, Fraser, Trenholm & Co. She was renamed Margaret and Jessie and sailed in gray livery for the Confederate States.

USS Gettysburg (CG-64)

USS Gettysburg (CG-64) is a Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser in the United States Navy. She is named for the Battle of Gettysburg during the American Civil War. She was laid down at the Bath Iron Works in Maine.

Her guided missiles and five-inch mounted guns render her capable of facing and defeating threats in air, on and in the sea, and ashore as well. She can carry up to two Seahawk LAMPS multi-purpose helicopters.

She is homeported in Mayport, Florida.

Operation history

On November 30, 1994, Gettysburg — along with USS Halyburton — was dispatched to assist the cruise ship Achille Lauro, which was on fire in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Somalia. Achille Lauro eventually sank but the passengers were rescued and transported to Mombasa, Kenya.

In March 2003 the ship was assigned to Cruiser-Destroyer Group Twelve.

On May 13, 2009, a team of sailors from the ship apprehended 17 pirates off the coast of Yemen as the pirates were attempting to hijack the Egyptian ship Motor Vessel Amira. The ship was filmed in her counter-piracy role and featured on the Spike TV network special U.S. Navy: Pirate Hunters.