USS Leahy (DLG-16)

USS Leahy (DLG-16)

USS Leahy (DLG/CG-16) was the lead ship of a new class of destroyer leaders in the United States Navy. Named for Fleet Admiral William D. Leahy, she was commissioned in 4 August 1962 as DLG-16, a frigate, and reclassified as CG-16, a cruiser, on 30 June 1975.

From 1962 to 1993, Leahy operated as a unit of the Atlantic Fleet (1962-1976) and the Pacific Fleet (1976-1993). She made six Mediterranean deployments (Sixth Fleet), two UNITAS cruises and eight WestPac deployments (Seventh Fleet), completed three Panama Canal transits, and crossed the equator over a dozen times. She traveled the seas from the easternmost end of the Mediterranean to the westernmost edge of the Indian Ocean. She steamed far north to Leningrad, Russia, and the Aleutian Islands; and far south for two passages through the Straits of Magellan. Over the course of her sixteen major deployments, Leahy made port calls on six continents -- North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia.

Leahy served longer than any other ship of her class. After more than 31 years of active service all over the globe, the "Sweet 16" was decommissioned on 1 October 1993. After another 11 years in the reserve fleet, she was scrapped in Brownsville, Texas, in 2005.