USS San Jacinto is the 10th ship in the Ticonderoga class of AEGIS cruisers. Built by Ingalls Shipbuilding, in Pascagoula, Mississippi, her keel was laid down on July 22, 1985. She was launched on November 14, 1986 and comissioned on January 23, 1988.
San Jacinto is powered by four General Electric LM-2500 gas turbines. This gives her 80,000 SHP, good for over 30 knots speed. She carries a crew of over 400. Her main armament is the MK41 Vertical Launch System, capable of carrying up to 122 missiles. The SPY 1-A radar is used acquire, track, and target threats, as well as direct missiles. Harpoon missiles are carried in a seperate cannister installation on the fantail. Two five inch guns are carried, as well as two Phalanx CIWS (for last-ditch defense against incoming missiles). Torpedo tubes are mounted above the waterline, behind hydraulic doors. Up to two helicopters may also be carrried.
San Jacinto participated in the Gulf War, and is credited with launching the first Tomahawk missile of the war, from the Red Sea. She won the Battenburg cup for excellence in 1992, and went around South America on the UNITAS 33 cruise the same year. She was the first US ship in free Poland, during BALTOPS 93. She has participated in multiple counter narcotic missions, receiving a Joint Meritorius Unit Commendation (JMUC). She had previously received both the Meritorius Unit Commendation (MUC) and Navy Unit Commendation (NUC) during Med Cruise 89.