USS Jouett CG 29 – History of the U.S. Navy's Guided Missile Cruiser & Navy Decals

USS Jouett CG 29 – History, Service Record & Navy Decals

The USS Jouett (CG-29) was the fourth ship of the Belknap class of guided missile cruisers, serving the Pacific Fleet through nearly three decades of Cold War service. Named for Rear Admiral James Edward Jouett, USN — a distinguished Civil War naval officer who served with conspicuous gallantry at one of the most celebrated and dramatic naval battles of the Civil War, the Battle of Mobile Bay on August 5, 1864, where Admiral David Farragut delivered his immortal command: “Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!”

James Edward Jouett served as executive officer of USS Metacomet during the Battle of Mobile Bay — one of the most ferocious naval engagements of the Civil War, fought in the face of Confederate torpedo mines (then called “torpedoes”), shore batteries, and the powerful Confederate ironclad CSS Tennessee under Admiral Franklin Buchanan. When Farragut led his fleet into Mobile Bay lashed to the rigging of his flagship Hartford, Jouett's Metacomet was one of the Union gunboats lashed alongside the larger warships to add firepower and maneuverability to the fleet as it ran past the Confederate defenses.

During the battle, Jouett led the boarding party that captured the Confederate ram CSS Selma in one of the close-quarters actions that characterized the fighting in Mobile Bay — demonstrating the personal courage and aggressive seamanship that marked the finest Union naval officers of the Civil War. For his gallantry at Mobile Bay, Jouett received the Thanks of Congress and accelerated promotion. He went on to a distinguished postwar career, rising to command the North Atlantic Squadron and retiring as a Rear Admiral. USS Jouett honored that legacy of Civil War naval courage and aggressive seamanship throughout her Cold War career in the Pacific.

Keel, Launch & Commissioning

Jouett's keel was laid down on September 25, 1962, at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Washington. She was launched on June 30, 1965, and commissioned into the U.S. Navy on December 3, 1966, as the fourth ship of the Belknap class under hull designation CG-29 (originally designated DLG-29, reclassified as CG-29 in 1975).

Class & Design

USS Jouett was one of nine Belknap-class guided missile cruisers — the second generation of American purpose-built guided missile cruisers, combining a single-arm Standard Missile launcher forward with a 5-inch/54 caliber gun aft for versatile multi-mission capability. At approximately 547 feet in length and displacing approximately 8,200 tons fully loaded, she carried the ASROC anti-submarine rocket system, torpedo tubes, Harpoon anti-ship missiles, and the Phalanx close-in weapon system — a capable and well-rounded surface combatant suited to the demanding Pacific Fleet operational environment.

Cold War Pacific Fleet Service

Commissioned in December 1966, USS Jouett was assigned to the Pacific Fleet, where she served as an escort for carrier battle groups and conducted Cold War operations across the Pacific and Western Pacific for nearly three decades. Homeported on the West Coast, she deployed repeatedly to the Western Pacific throughout her Cold War career — including during the Vietnam War, when Pacific Fleet guided missile cruisers like Jouett provided surface warfare, air defense, and anti-submarine warfare support to the carrier battle groups conducting strikes against North Vietnam and supporting operations throughout Southeast Asia.

Throughout her Pacific Fleet career, Jouett participated in the full range of Cold War naval operations — carrier battle group escorts across the vast expanse of the Pacific, fleet exercises testing readiness against the growing Soviet Pacific Fleet, Western Pacific deployments that sustained American strategic commitments across the Asia-Pacific region, and the sustained forward presence that was the foundation of American naval power in the Pacific throughout the Cold War's most consequential decades.

Later in her career, USS Jouett was homeported at Yokosuka, Japan as a forward-deployed Pacific Fleet surface combatant — providing the persistent American naval presence in the Western Pacific that was a cornerstone of American security commitments to Japan and the broader Asia-Pacific region, and placing her at the operational center of American naval power in the theater where the Cold War's most consequential naval competition with the Soviet Pacific Fleet was playing out.

Decommissioning

USS Jouett was decommissioned on April 29, 1994, after more than 27 years of commissioned service — a career spanning from the Johnson administration through the Cold War's end, encompassing the Vietnam War, the Reagan naval buildup, and the full arc of Cold War Pacific Fleet operations.

Legacy

For the sailors who served aboard Jouett — the missile technicians, sonar operators, electronics warfare specialists, and surface warfare professionals who kept this Pacific Fleet guided missile cruiser operational and ready through more than 27 years of Cold War service — she represents a career of exceptional dedication to American naval power in the Pacific. Named for the officer who boarded and captured CSS Selma in the smoke and fury of Mobile Bay while Farragut's voice rang across the water — “Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!” — USS Jouett embodied that same aggressive, forward-pressing fighting spirit through every year of her distinguished Cold War career.

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