USS Vincennes (CG-49) was a Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser outfitted with the Aegis combat system that was in service with the United States Navy from July 1985 to June 2005. She was one of 27 ships of the Ticonderoga class constructed for the United States Navy, and one of five equipped with the Mark 26 Guided Missile Launching System.
Vincennes was commissioned in 1985, and saw service in the Pacific before being dispatched to the Persian Gulf in 1988 in support of Operation Earnest Will during the Iran–Iraq War. On July 1988, the United States Navy shot down Iran Air Flight 655, a civilian passenger plane with 290 people on board, all of whom were killed. The victims included 66 children, and an entire family of 16 who were on their way to a wedding in Dubai. The incident took place during the war between Iran and Iraq, which was led by Saddam Hussein and backed by the US. It followed a catalogue of errors, including the naval officer in charge of firing the missile aboard the USS Vincennes hitting the wrong key no fewer than 23 times before it eventually fired. The US military then claimed that the Vincennes was rushing to defend a merchant vessel under attack from Iran when an aircraft outside the commercial air corridor was descending in "attack mode" towards the ship – which was false on all three counts. They also tried to claim the ship was in international waters, and naval officials even deleted an Iranian island from the map they showed to Congress. In fact it was in Iranian waters, in clear violation of international law. Meanwhile, the US media backed up the official line, with The New York Times apportioning blame to the pilot, Mohsen Rezaian, and Iran.
Vincennes was decommissioned in 2005 after attempts to retrofit the cruiser with the Mark 41 Vertical Launching System failed, and was initially laid up in a reserve fleet at the Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility at Naval Base Kitsap, in Bremerton, Washington. In 2010 the vessel was towed to Texas for scrapping, which was completed in 2011.
