USS England (DLG-22)

The second USS "England" (DLG/CG-22), a "Leahy"-class guided missile cruiser, was a ship of the United States Navy named in honor of Ensign John C. England. Originally called a "destroyer leader" or frigate, in 1975 she was re-designated a cruiser in the Navy's 1975 ship reclassification.

Ensign John Charles England was born in Harris, Mo., on December 11, 1920. He attended Pasadena City College, in Pasadena, California and was on the pep-squad there. He enlisted in the Naval Reserve on September 6, 1940 and was commissioned ensign on June 6, 1941. On September 3, 1941 he reported for duty on the USS Oklahoma (BB-37) and was killed while saving others on board during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.

CG/DLG-22 was the second USS England. The first was DE-635, the ship that sunk six enemy submarines in 12 days in May 1944. That act caused the Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Ernest King, to declare "There’ll always be an England in the United States Navy." DE-635 was decommissioned in 1945.

To fulfill Admiral King’s promise, USS England DLG-22 was built by Todd Shipbuilding. The keel was laid on October 4, 1960, launched March 6, 1962, and commissioned on December 07, 1963. Her designation was changed in 1976 to CG-22 at Bremerton Naval Shipyard during an overhaul.

The USS England served in every major Pacific engagement from Vietnam to Desert Storm, from rescuing pilots, performing as plane guard or picket, to showing force around the globe. She was decommissioned on January 21, 1994, and is now part of the ghost fleet in the Suisun Bay near Benicia, California.

External links

* http://www.ussengland.org/
* [http://www.nvr.navy.mil/nvrships/details/CG22.htm Naval Vessel Register - CG-22]