Belknap (CG-26)

USS Belknap was the lead ship of a class designed during the Cold War to escort carrier task forces with missile, gun, sonar, and command capabilities. The class was originally categorized as guided-missile destroyer leaders, reflecting the U.S. Navy's transitional taxonomy for large escorts. In 1975, Belknap and similar ships were reclassified as guided-missile cruisers, better matching their battle-force role and command potential. That development history helps explain why the ship sits between older gun-era escorts and later Aegis cruisers: it was a missile-era combatant built before vertical launch and phased-array radar became standard.

FAS summarizes the Belknap class as a battle-force capable surface combatant able to support carrier groups, amphibious forces, or independent surface action groups. Its primary missions were anti-air and anti-surface defense, with secondary anti-submarine and naval-gunfire-support roles. The class carried Standard missiles, ASROC, Harpoon, torpedoes, a 5-inch/54 gun, Phalanx CIWS, long-range sonar, and air-search radars. Later New Threat Upgrade work improved radars and combat-direction systems so the ships could coordinate multiple air engagements with SM-2 extended-range missiles.

Belknap's service life spanned the height of Cold War carrier operations through the early 1990s drawdown. The ship was commissioned in 1964, converted through upgrades, and decommissioned in 1995 after roughly three decades of use. Its career illustrates both the longevity and limits of pre-Aegis missile cruisers: modernization could improve sensors and missile-control systems, but hull age, manpower demands, and the arrival of newer combat systems eventually made retirement more attractive. For readers comparing U.S. cruiser generations, Belknap is a bridge between Talos/Terrier-era ships and the later Ticonderoga model.