USS Cowpens CVL- 25 and USS Cowpens CG-63

USS Cowpens CVL-

25 and USS

Cowpens CG-63

History

By the dim light of

dawn on January

17, 1781, the

Americans under

Brigadier General

Daniel Morgan, and

the British under

Lieutenant Colonel

Banastre Tarleton,

met and fought a

battle that many

historians consider

to be the turning

point of the American Revolution in the Southern Campaign. The site of

the battle was a well-known pasturing area called the Cow Pens. In a little

less than an hour, the Americans had won. This victory gave them the

moral support that they needed to continue fighting the British and win at

Yorktown, the last major battle of the American Revolution, just nine

months later.

Two ships have commemorated the battle with the name USS Cowpens.

CVL-25

The first was a

light aircraft carrier

of the

Independence class

in World War II.

When her keel was

laid on November

17, 1941, she was

to be the light

cruiser,

Huntington, CL-

107. However, the Navy needed more carriers than cruisers. In the

meantime, George Dean Martin, owner of a drugstore in Cowpens, South

Carolina, had written to President Franklin D. Roosevelt suggesting that an

aircraft carrier be named for the nearby famous Revolutionary War battle,

Cowpens. In those days, carriers were named for battles, so the ship was

reclassified CVL-25, and named USS Cowpens. Her crew affectionately

called her the "Mighty Moo."

On October 5 and 6, 1943, she won her first Battle Star for the strike on

Wake Island. She went on to earn eleven more Battle Stars and one Navy

Unit Commendation before the war was over.

On December 18, 1944, a typhoon struck the Cowpens and one

crewmember was lost. Bombs and airplanes broke loose and careened

about the deck. Crewmembers struggled against 100 mph winds and the

rolling and pitching of the ship as they tried to secure the loose gear. The

crew’s skill prevented major damage to the ship. The Cowpens arrived at

Ulithi for repairs on December 21, and by the 30

she was at sea again for

the Lingayen Gulf landings.

The Cowpens also participated in the final raids on the Japanese mainland,

launching photographic reconnaissance missions to patrol airfields and to

locate and supply prisoner-of-war camps in August 1945. In addition,

Cowpens was the first light aircraft carrier in the Tokyo Bay (8-27-45).

From their ship, the Cowpens crewmembers watched the signing of the

peace treaty on the USS Missouri.

During the 22 ½ months that the USS Cowpens served in the war in the

South Pacific, she flew 10,634 flights, participated in 2,452 action sorties,

destroyed 108 enemy planes in the air, destroyed 198 enemy planes on

the ground, dropped 657 tons of bombs, fired 3063 rockets, and sank 39

merchant ships.

The USS Cowpens, CVL-25, was decommissioned January 13, 1947 and

reclassified as an aircraft transport, AVT-1, but she never served in that

role. She was sold for scrap in 1961.

CG-63

On March 3, 1989, the US Navy launched the second USS Cowpens, CG-

63, a guided missile cruiser from Bath Iron Works in Bath, Maine. She was

commissioned two years later in Charleston, South Carolina, on March 9,

1991 and was the seventeenth Aegis cruiser of the Ticonderoga class. This

ship is also known as the "Mighty Moo" and her crew call themselves "the

Herd."

CG-63 has state-

of-the-art

technology. Her

Mark 41 Vertical

Launching

System, SPY-1B

Phased Array

Radar, and

Phalanx Close In

Weapon System

(CIWS) enable the

USS Cowpens to

fight threats from

the air. Her

LAMPS Mark III SH-60B Helicopter combined with the AN/SQR-19

Tactical Towed Array Sonar (TACTAS) and AN/SQR-53B Hull Mounted

Sonar make up the Anti-Submarine Combat System. She can fire

Tomahawk Cruise Missiles, Harpoon Cruise Missiles, or her two 5- inch 54

Caliber Mark 45 Gun Weapon Systems against surface threats. Thus the

USS Cowpens, CG-63 can fulfill her mission in all directions, up, down,

and out.

On January 17, 1993, while serving in the Persian Gulf, the USS Cowpens

fired 10 Tomahawk missiles in response to Iraqi violations of sanctions that

the United States had imposed. Ten years later, on March 20, 2003, she

fired the first tomahawk missile into Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

The histories of the Battle of Cowpens and of CVL-25 are noted in CG-

63’s coat of arms. Muskets, bayonets, and a drum represent the

Revolutionary War battle. It is also depicted in the three lines that represent

the three lines which Brigadier General Daniel Morgan placed his troops.

In addition, the motto, "Victoria Liberatis Vindex", Latin for "Victory

Vindicates Liberty" was on the medal which Congress awarded Morgan for

his valor and leadership at the Battle of Cowpens. The colors blue, gold,

red, and green represent the Navy Unit Commendation that CVL-25

earned, and the twelve stars in a circle represent the battle stars. In addition

to symbolizing its history, the Coat of Arms denotes the capabilities of CG-

63. The Navy sword signifies both the heritage of service and the vertical

launch qualifications. The rays shooting upward represent the combat air

support and the Aegis Weapons System of CG-63.

The newest USS Cowpens expects to live up to her

heritage and serve the United States of America to

the best of her ability.

Cowpens National Battlefield is a unit of the National Park Service,

Department of the Interior. It commemorates the January 17, 1781 victory

of Brigadier General Daniel Morgan and his American forces over the

British forces led by Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton. For additional

information about the battlefield or the ships, please check with the Park

Ranger at the Visitor Center.