USS Belknap (CG-26)

USS Belknap (DLG-26/CG-26), named for Rear Admirals George E. Belknap (1832–1903) and Reginald Rowan Belknap (1871–1959), was the lead ship of her class of guided missile cruisers in the United States Navy. She was launched as DLG-26, a guided missile frigate under the then-current designation system, and reclassified as CG-26 on 30 June 1975.

Construction
She was laid down by the Bath Iron Works Corporation at Bath in Maine on 5 February 1962, launched on 20 July 1963 and commissioned on 7 November 1964.

Collision, fire, and reconstruction
Belknap was severely damaged in a collision with John F. Kennedy on 22 November 1975 in heavy weather off the coast of Sicily. A fire broke out on Belknap following the collision, and during the fire her aluminium superstructure was melted, burned and gutted to the deck level. Seven personnel were killed on Belknap and one on Kennedy. The ammunition ship USS Mount Baker (AE-34) was involved in the rescue of the Belknap, escorting her to an ammunition depot and then providing electric and water services as the Mount Baker's Explosive Ordnance Disposal team retrieved all of the remaining ammunition from the Belknap. Mount Baker also assimilated most of the Belknap crew until they could be transferred to a way station for re-assignment. The fire and the resultant damage and deaths, which would have been less had Belknap ' s superstructure been made of steel, drove the US Navy's decision to pursue all-steel construction in future classes of surface combatants. The first USN combatant ships to revert to all steel superstructure were the Arleigh Burke class (DDG-51), which were commissioned beginning in the 1990s. Belknap was reconstructed by the Philadelphia Navy Yard from 30 January 1976 to 10 May 1980.

She was converted to a flagship by Norfolk Naval Shipyard from May 1985 to February 1986.

On 27 May 1989, Belknap participated in Barcelona in a naval parade with ships from 10 countries.

Malta
She played again a role in the Malta Summit between US President George H. W. Bush and Soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev on 2 December and 3 December 1989. The US President, along with his advisors, James Baker, John Sununu and Brent Scowcroft, had their sleeping quarters aboard the Belknap, whereas the meetings took place (due to the stormy weather) on the Soviet cruise ship SS Maxim Gorkiy. Engineers from the Navy Ship Systems Engineering Station devised a mooring arrangement for this event, and despite the worst-case 100-year storm event, the ship held its ground using emergency operating procedures as outlined by the engineers.

Decommissioning
Belknap was decommissioned and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 15 February 1995 and sunk as a target on 24 September 1998.