The Lake Champlain, commissioned in 1988, is a Ticonderoga-class cruiser named for the 1814 naval battle where American forces defeated a superior British squadron on the lake, helping secure American sovereignty after the War of 1812. She has served in the Pacific Fleet, deploying to the Western Pacific and Persian Gulf as an AEGIS air defense platform. A ship whose name was earned on freshwater that has spent her career proving herself on every ocean.