From the Department of Defense

WASHINGTON (NNS) — The Navy will commission the newest Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, Dewey, March 6, during an 11 a.m. PST ceremony at Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach, Calif.

Adm. Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will deliver the ceremony’s principal address.

His wife, Deborah Mullen, will serve as the ship’s sponsor. The ceremony will be highlighted by a time-honored Navy tradition when she gives the first order to “man our ship and bring her to life!”

Designated DDG 105, the new destroyer honors Adm. George Dewey (1837-1917) who commanded the Asiatic Station from the cruiser Olympia. Shortly after the onset of the Spanish-American War, Dewey led his squadron of warships into Manila Bay April 30, 1898. The next morning, his squadron destroyed the Spanish fleet in only two hours without a single American loss.

A widely popular hero of his day, Dewey was commissioned Admiral of the Navy, a rank created for him, in March 1903. Two previous ships have proudly carried his name. The first was a destroyer (DD 349) that survived the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor and went on to receive 13 battle stars for World War II service. The second was a destroyer commissioned as a guided-missile frigate (DLG 14</a>) before being reclassified as a guided-missile destroyer (DDG 45).

Dewey is the 55th Arleigh Burke-class destroyer. The ship will be able to conduct a variety of operations, from peacetime presence and crisis management, to sea control and power projection. Dewey will be capable of fighting air, surface and subsurface battles simultaneously and contains a myriad of offensive and defensive weapons designed to support maritime warfare in keeping with “A Cooperative Strategy for 21st Century Seapower,” which postures the sea services to apply maritime power to protect U.S. vital interests in an increasingly interconnected and uncertain world.

Cmdr. Warren Buller, of Concord, Mass., will become the first commanding officer of the ship and lead the crew of 276 officers and enlisted personnel. The 9,200-ton Dewey was built by Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Miss. The ship is 509 feet in length, has a waterline beam of 59 feet, and a navigational draft of 31 feet. Four gas turbine engines will power the ship to speeds in excess of 30 knots.

For more news, visit www.navy.mil.
To visit PCU Dewey’s homepage Visit PCU Dewey DDG 105
For more pictures visit USS Dewey DDG 105

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SECNAV Names New Guided Missile Destroyer USS Michael Murphy DDG-112

By Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class (AW) Kevin S. O’Brien, Office of the Secretary of the Navy, Public Affairs

LAKE RONKONKOMA, N.Y. (NNS) — Secretary of the Navy, Donald C. Winter announced on May 7 at a ceremony in Lake Ronkonkoma, N.Y., the name of the newest Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer will be USS Michael Murphy. Designated as DDG 112, the name honors Lt. Michael Murphy who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroic actions during Operation Red Wings, in Afghanistan on June 28, 2005.

“Michael Murphy’s name which will be forever synonymous with astonishing courage under fire will now be associated with one of the U.S. Navy’s most technologically advanced, most powerful and most capable warships,” Winter said.

Michael P. Murphy Memorial Park contains a black granite wall dedicated to the men lost in Operation Red Wing with each member’s name inscribed. In the center of the memorial, a black granite stone is embedded into the floor of the plaza bearing the picture of Murphy and his Medal of Honor.

A Navy SEAL, Murphy lead a four-man team tasked with finding a key Taliban leader in the mountainous terrain near Asadabad, Afghanistan, when they came under fire from a much larger enemy force with superior tactical position.

Mortally wounded while exposing himself to enemy fire, Murphy knowingly left his position of cover to get a clear signal in order to communicate with his headquarters. While being shot at repeatedly, Murphy calmly provided his unit’s location and requested immediate support for his element. He returned to his cover position to continue the fight until finally succumbing to his wounds.

“Every Sailor who crosses the brow, every Sailor who hears the officer of the deck announce the arrival of the commanding officer, and every Sailor who enters a foreign land representing our great nation will do so as an honored member of USS Michael Murphy,” Winter said.

USS Michael Murphy will be one of the U.S. Navy’s most advanced, state-of-the-art warships in the fleet. With the combination of Aegis, the vertical launching system, and advanced anti-submarine warfare system, advanced anti-aircraft missiles and Tomahawk cruise missiles, the Arleigh Burke-class continues the revolution at sea.

Utilizing a gas turbine propulsion system, USS Michael Murphy will be able to operate independently or as part of carrier strike groups, surface action groups, amphibious ready groups, and underway replenishment groups.

USS Michael Murphy will be the 62nd Arleigh Burke-class destroyer. She is 509.5 feet in length, has a waterline beam of 59 feet, displaces approximately 9,200 tons, has a crew size of 323 (23 officers and 300 enlisted) and she will make speed in excess of 30 knots.

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Photo Release — Northrop Grumman-Built U.S. Navy Amphibious Transport Dock Somerset (LPD 25) Honors Heroes of United Airlines Flight 93

AVONDALE, La., Dec. 11, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) observed a significant milestone with a keel authentication ceremony for Somerset (LPD 25), the ninth ship in the LPD 17 series of San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ships being built by the company.

Somerset is named in honor of the passengers and crew of
United Airlines Flight 93, whose courageous actions prevented terrorist hijackers from reaching their target on Sept. 11, 2001. Somerset is the county in Pennsylvania in which United Flight 93 crashed.

“This ship demonstrates the steadfast commitment of our nation to protecting our freedom, and it symbolizes the courage of those aboard Flight 93 who refused to yield to those who threatened it,” said Irwin F. Edenzon, vice president and general manager, Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding – Gulf Coast. “As shipbuilders, we provide the nation’s sea services with the tools of their trade. Shipbuilding is hard, complicated work. And I am proud that we do it well and strive every day to do it better.”

Construction of Somerset is taking place at the Shipbuilding sector’s Avondale shipyard, with fabrication support from the three other company facilities in Pascagoula and Gulfport, Miss., as well as Tallulah, La.

Mary Jo Myers, ship sponsor and wife of U.S. Air Force (Ret.) former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, had her initials welded onto a keel plate by Northrop Grumman welder Lanford Bridges. Following the welding, Mrs. Myers announced LPD 25′s keel to be “truly and fairly laid.”

“The shipyard workers are building this ship for those men and women who wear our country’s uniform, but there’s more than one way to serve our country,” said Mrs. Myers. “You are serving it by your passion and dedication in the work that you’re doing and by building something that’s greater than yourselves. I’m inspired by that pride and patriotism you bring to your craft.”

“These men and women who have dedicated themselves to shipbuilding join our extended family to build upon a memory that we cannot afford to lose,” said Gordon Felt, president, Families of Flight 93, whose brother Edward, was a passenger on the flight. “To build a naval vessel that will remind the world and motivate those who serve aboard her that what took place in Somerset County, Pennsylvania on September 11, 2001, was worthy of our honor and remembrance.”

The 684-foot, 105-foot-wide LPD transport dock ships are used to transport and land U.S. Marines, their equipment and supplies by embarked air cushion or conventional landing craft and Expeditionary Fighting vehicles, amphibious assault vehicles, augmented by helicopters or vertical takeoff and landing aircraft such as the Osprey. The ships will support amphibious assault special operations, or expeditionary warfare missions throughout the first half of the 21st century.

Somerset (LPD 25) is scheduled to launch in the fall of 2011 and be delivered to the U.S. Navy at the end of 2012.

“With dozens of ships currently under contract, I’ve had the opportunity to watch American shipbuilders across the country, and I can tell you there are no more dedicated, skilled or passionate crafts men and women anywhere in the world,” said U.S. Navy Rear Adm. William E. Landay III, program executive officer, ships. “The United States Navy is the preeminent power in the world because of the powerful combination of the abilities of the American Sailor and Marine and the skill and passion of the American shipbuilder. I can think of no better team of patriots to entrust the care and construction of our Navy’s newest amphibious assault ship.”

Two other Northrop Grumman built LPD ships are named in honor of the victims and heroes of 9/11 — Arlington (LPD 24), currently under construction in Pascagoula, Miss., and USS New York (LPD 21), which was recently commissioned in New York City.

Somerset (LPD 25) is the fifth United States Navy ship of that name.

Northrop Grumman Corporation is a leading global security company whose 120,000 employees provide innovative systems, products, and solutions in aerospace, electronics, information systems, shipbuilding and technical services to government and commercial customers worldwide.

CONTACT: Bill Glenn
Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding
(228) 327-1671
william.glenn@ngc.com

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