The Ships That Sailed With Her

A carrier never sails alone. Constellation deployed at the center of a battle group — cruisers, a destroyer, support ships, and a submarine that screened her, supplied her, and extended her reach.

A Carrier and Her Escorts

A carrier battle group is built around an aircraft carrier and the warships and support vessels that screen, supply, and extend it. The escorts provide layered defense against air, surface, and subsurface threats, while logistics ships sustain the group at sea for months at a time. Together these vessels allow the carrier to operate far from home waters as a self-contained instrument of presence and power.

For her 1994–95 deployment, USS Constellation (CV-64) sailed at the center of a seven-ship battle group. The escorting force comprised the guided-missile cruisers Chosin and Lake Erie, the destroyer Kinkaid, the ammunition ship Kiska, the oiler Cimarron, and the attack submarine Topeka. Each contributed a distinct capability to the group’s defense and endurance.

Roles Within the Group

The guided-missile cruisers Chosin and Lake Erie and the destroyer Kinkaid furnished the surface combatant screen, defending the formation against air and surface threats and contributing to its overall battle management. Beneath the surface, the attack submarine Topeka extended the group’s reach and its protection against hostile submarines, operating as the formation’s undersea sentinel.

Endurance came from the logistics ships. The ammunition ship Kiska and the oiler Cimarron replenished the group’s magazines and fuel at sea, sparing the warships frequent returns to port and allowing sustained operations during the Persian Gulf deployment. The combination of combatants, submarine, and replenishment vessels gave Constellation the means to remain on station in support of Operation Southern Watch.

The Ships

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