Decommissioning of USS PHILIPPINE SEA (CG-58)

Site Administrator — Fri, 26 Sep 2025 01:07:42 GMT

Decommissioning of USS PHILIPPINE SEA (CG-58) On September 27, 2025, at Pier 2 of Naval Station Newport, Virginia, the Navy formally decommissioned USS PHILIPPINE SEA (CG-58), closing the chapter on more than 36 years of distinguished service. The ceremony, rich with Navy tradition, included banners, music, flags, prayer, and speeches. While reminiscent of the joyful Christenings and Commissionings that begin a ship’s life, a decommissioning carries the weight of reunion, graduation, and farewell— marking the final milestone of a warship’s career. The participation of the Sponsor, or her Maid/Matron of Honor, underscores the Navy’s recognition of the lifetime bond between a Sponsor and her ship. Ceremony Highlights Hundreds gathered as the official party arrived. Michele Lyons, Maid of Honor and Proxy for her late mother, Mrs. Renée Lyons (the ship’s Sponsor), proudly joined the platform. The plankowner community—those who brought the ship into service—was represented by former MCPON John Hagan, who served as Command Master Chief for PHILIPPINE SEA’s precommissioning unit in 1988 before later becoming the Navy’s eighth Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy. The featured speaker was Admiral James Kilby, Vice Chief of Naval Operations, who had begun his own career aboard PHILIPPINE SEA as a junior officer. Captain Steven Liberty, the ship’s final Commanding Officer, was piped aboard and introduced simply as “PHILIPPINE SEA,” a final honor to the ship herself. Plankowner Legacy MCPON Hagan described the involvement of the plankowners and former crew in rallying a reunion in August of 2025. Unfortunately, one plankowner, the Maid of Honor Michele Lyons, was not contacted about that event. One plankowner did realize that the Sponsor’s family was missing from the list of dignitaries. Commissioning crew supply officer Mike Spence, through an arduous and circuitous route, finally reached Michele, the daughter of Ship Sponsor Renee Lyons and Admiral “Ace” Lyons. She eagerly accepted the belated invitation to participate in the decommissioning ceremony and a few days prior to the decommissioning , Michele received a letter from Secretary of the Navy John Phelan thanking her for her years of service as Maid of Honor and recognizing her as Proxy Sponsor for her mother Renee, who passed away in 2018. Michele was accompanied at the event by Ann Zumwalt, President of SOS, and her husband Dr. Michael Coppola. Also attending in support of Michele were Nicole Foster (SOS luncheon Committee Co-Chair with Michele) and her husband RADM Calvin Foster, Deputy Commander Naval Surface Force, Atlantic. A Storied History Michele Lyons spoke of the pride she felt as her parents beamed during the Christening of the Ship. Prior to the champagne bottle break, the chaplain blessed the ship with water from the Philippine Sea provided by Admiral Lyons. Michele recalled the pride she and her mother felt whenever news of the accomplishments of the ship reached them. Like her mother and father, Philippine Sea was part of the family to Michele and it is always hard “to say goodbye to family”. Admiral Kilby reflected on the ship’s operational legacy: from Desert Shield and Desert Storm to her final deployment in December 2024, when she repelled attacks in the Red Sea by Houthi forces. In 36½ years, the “Wardogs” of PHILIPPINE SEA launched missiles in defense of U.S. and allied forces, rescued a Filipino crew from pirates, and responded to the attacks of 9/11 by firing the first Tomahawks into Afghanistan just 26 days later. One sailor recalled pressing the launch button while still grieving his brother-in-law, a New York firefighter lost in the World Trade Center collapse. The cruiser also participated in the burial at sea of astronaut Neil Armstrong in 2012. These moments—etched into history—spoke to the courage and skill of her crews across decades. Captain Liberty gave personal testimony of the ship’s final tour. Assuming command in the midst of renewed Red Sea hostilities, he entered the Combat Information Center to find radar screens filled with hostile contacts. This time it was not an exercise. Over the following days, PHILIPPINE SEA destroyed more than 60 drones and missiles without taking a single casualty. Yet structural fatigue, cracked tanks, and age had taken their toll. Her fighting spirit remained, but like her Ticonderoga-class sisters, she had reached the end of her service life. Farewell to the Ship After the speeches, the moment of parting had arrived. Sideboys manned their posts as the crew, who had manned the rails throughout, was ordered ashore. In solemn formation they marched off the ship, turned, and faced their vessel one final time. In a Navy version of “last man out turn off the lights”, the order was given to stand down the watch. The officer of the watch and his team departed, and slowly, the banners were lowered. Tears welled as memories of decades of service flooded through the crowd. The official party departed. In a poignant closing note, Captain Liberty was announced not as “PHILIPPINE SEA departing” but as “Captain, United States Navy, departing.” The ship was silent. PHILIPPINE SEA was no more.

Enterprise, Navy’s First Nuclear-Powered Aircraft Carrier, Inactivated

Site Administrator — Sun, 02 Dec 2012 02:16:37 GMT

Attendees observe the inactivation ceremony of the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CVN 65). Enterprise was commissioned in 1961 and is scheduled to celebrate her inactivation, Dec. 1, after 51 years of service. U.S. Navy photo 121201-N-KQ416-200.

From USS Enterprise Public Affairs

NORFOLK (NNS) — Nearly 12,000 past and current crewmembers, family and friends attended the inactivation of aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CVN 65) Dec. 1, 2012, at Naval Station Norfolk, Va.

Enterprise, the world’s first nuclear powered aircraft carrier, recently completed its 25th and final deployment and returned to its homeport of Naval Station Norfolk for a scheduled inactivation, held prior to the ship’s terminal offload program and subsequent decommissioning.

The inactivation ceremony was the last official public event for the ship, and served as a celebration of life for the ship and the more than 100,000 Sailors who served aboard.

The Chief of Naval Operations, the Commander of United States Fleet Forces, nine of twenty-three prior commanding officers, many decorated war heroes, and thousands of Enterprise veterans attended the event.

“Enterprise is a special ship and crew, and it was special long before I got here” said Captain William C. Hamilton, Jr., the twenty-third and final commanding officer, during the ceremony.

“Before I took command of this ship, I learned the definition of ‘enterprise’, which is ‘an especially daring and courageous undertaking driven by a bold and adventurous spirit.’ Fifty-one years ago, this ship was every bit of that definition.”

“Here we are 51 years later,” he continued, “celebrating the astonishing successes and accomplishments of this engineering marvel that has roamed the seas for more than half the history of Naval Aviation. Daring, courageous, bold, and adventurous indeed.”

In honor of that spirit, Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus, in a video message played at the ceremony, announced that the name Enterprise will live on as the officially passed the name to CVN-80, the third Ford class carrier and the ninth ship in the U.S. Navy to bear the name.

Commissioned on November 25, 1961, the eighth ship to bear the illustrious name Enterprise, the “Big E” was the world’s first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier.

A veteran of 25 deployments to the Mediterranean Sea, Pacific Ocean, and the Middle East, Enterprise has served in nearly every major conflict to take place during her history. From the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962 to six deployments in support of the Vietnam conflict through the Cold War and the Gulf Wars, Enterprise was there. On September 11, 2001, Enterprise aborted her transit home from a long deployment after the terrorist attacks, and steamed overnight to the North Arabian Sea. Big ‘E’ once again took her place in history when she launched the first strikes in direct support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

More than 100,000 Sailors and Marines have served aboard Enterprise during its lifetime, which has included every major conflict since the Cuban Missile Crisis. It has been home ported in both Alameda, Calif., and Norfolk, Va., and has conducted operations in every region of the world.

societyofsponsorsofusn Decomissionings

Decommissioning of USS PHILIPPINE SEA (CG-58)

Enterprise, Navy’s First Nuclear-Powered Aircraft Carrier, Inactivated