The USS Des Moines arrives at the Port of Brownsville, Texas on 7th September, 2006. She was the lead ship of the Des Moines-class heavy cruisers in the United States Navy and served as the Flagship of the US 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean from 1949 to 1956.

Pertinent Information:
Built: Bethlehem Steel Company, Fore River, Quincy, Massachusetts
Ordered: 25 September 1943
Laid down: 28 May 1945
Launched: 27 September 1946
Commissioned: 16 November 1948
Decommissioned: 6 July 1961
Fate: To be scrapped Port of Brownsville, Texas
Struck: 9 July 1991

Displacement: 17,000 tons
Length: 716 ft 6 in
Beam: 76 ft 6 in
Draught: 22 ft
Propulsion: 4 shaft; General Electric turbines; 4 boiler; 120,000 shp
Speed: 33 knots
Range: 10,500 nm at 15 knots
Complement: 1,799 officers and enlisted
Armament: 9 × 8 in (203 mm); 12 × 5 in (127 mm); 24 × 3 in(76 mm)AA; 24 × 20 mm AA