USS Port Royal (CG-73)

USS Port Royal (CG-73)

USS Port Royal (CG-73) is a United States Navy Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser, the 27th and final in the class. She is the second U.S. warship to bear the name of two naval battles of Port Royal Sound, South Carolina, of the American Revolutionary War and the American Civil War. However, during the initial building phase, the builders and crew were unaware of this history of the first Port Royal, as a result, the Engineering Control Center bears a plaque "First ship named".

The cruiser was ordered 25 February 1988, laid down 18 October 1991 by Ingalls Shipbuilding at Pascagoula, Mississippi, launched on 20 November 1992, christened on 5 December 1992 by Susan G. Baker (wife of James A. Baker III, Chief of Staff to President George H. W. Bush and former Secretary of State), and formally commissioned on 9 July 1994 at Savannah, Georgia; Captain Nicholas L. Richards Commanding, Lieutenant Commander Derek B. Kemp Executive Officer, and Master Chief Petty Officer Dennis W. Mills, Command Master Chief. Decommissioning is set for 31 March 2013.

USS Vicksburg was originally named Port Royal but the name was formally changed during construction.