The escorts report their names: Gettysburg, Nicholson, Stout, Klakring 86ef63b

“GUIDED-MISSILE CRUISER” was never going to cut it. The four escorts of the battle group now sail under their own names — chosen from the ships that actually shepherded the Big E through her mid-90s:

1. USS Gettysburg (CG-64) — Ticonderoga-class Aegis cruiser, holding the van 2,400 yards ahead. Gettysburg rode shotgun on the carrier’s 1996 return to sea after the long refuelling, and kept the station for years.
2. USS Nicholson (DD-982) — Spruance-class destroyer on the port beam. Another repeat consort, from the ’96 cruise through Desert Fox.
3. USS Stout (DDG-55) — Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer to starboard, named for Rear Admiral Stout and present in the ’98 group.
4. USS Klakring (FFG-42) — Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate as the astern picket, parked well clear of the approach so your final stays sacred.
5. The sourcing: the November 1998 Navy Wire battle-group list for Enterprise reads Gettysburg, Stout, Nicholson, Klakring almost verbatim — the closest real formation to our 1994, when the Big E herself was finishing her refuelling overhaul. Alternate history, accurate consorts.
6. Where you’ll see them: the tactical map (N) labels each hull by name, the radar paints them as steel-grey triangles, and J spectates them too — the banner reads the name back at you, as in the shot above.