USS Vella Gulf, a Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser, has been removed from the U.S. Navy’s fleet after nearly 29 years in active service, DVIDSHub reported Thursday.
The military branch held a ship inactivation ceremony Thursday for the first of five cruisers that will be decommissioned within the year and will place the vessel in “Logistical Support Asset” status when it arrives at an inactive ship facility in Philadelphia.
Ingalls Shipbuilding-built Vella Gulf commissioned in September 1993 in Norfolk, Virginia, is the second warship dedicated to the naval engagement that took place in the Pacific Ocean during World War II.
“She has served her crews and her nation well, and rightfully takes her place among the ships that, for well over 200 years, have played an indispensable role in protecting the United States of America and serving her strategic interests across the world,” said Capt. Mike Desmond, commanding officer of CG 72.
The ship’s crew supported NATO’s military operations against Serbia in 1999 to end human rights abuses against Albanian people in Kosovo.
Other contributions of the vessel and its sailors include support for national government response to the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, an anti-piracy mission in 2009 off the Horn of Africa and a 2017 strike campaign that fought the Islamic State militant group.