.jpg) USSJames E. Williams on 7 December 2004 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | James E. Williams |
| Namesake | James E. Williams |
| Ordered | 6 March 1998 |
| Builder | Ingalls Shipbuilding |
| Laid down | 15 July 2002 |
| Launched | 25 June 2003 |
| Commissioned | 11 December 2004 |
| Home port | Norfolk |
| Identification |
|
| Motto | Lead from the Front |
| Honours and awards | SeeAwards |
| Status | in active service |
| Badge |  |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Arleigh Burke-classdestroyer |
| Displacement | 9200tons |
| Length | 509 ft 6 in (155.30 m) |
| Beam | 66 ft (20 m) |
| Draft | 31 ft (9.4 m) |
| Propulsion | 4 ×General Electric LM2500-30gas turbines, 2 shafts, 100,000 shp (75 MW) |
| Speed | >30 kn (56 km/h; 35 mph) |
| Range | 4,400 nmi (8,100 km; 5,100 mi) at 20 kn (37 km/h; 23 mph) |
| Complement | 32 officers and 348 enlisted |
| Armament |
|
| Aircraft carried | 2 ×MH-60R Seahawk helicopters |
USSJames E. Williams (DDG-95) is anArleigh Burke-class (Flight IIA)Aegisguided missile destroyer in theUnited States Navy. The ship was named forBoatswain's MateFirst ClassJames Elliott Williams (1930–1999), aRiver Patrol Boat commander andMedal of Honor recipient from theVietnam War who is considered to be the most decoratedenlisted man in Navy history. As of April 2023 the ship is part ofDestroyer Squadron 26 based out ofNaval Station Norfolk.[1]
James E. Williams had herkeel laid down on 15 July 2002 by theNorthrop Grumman Ship Systems atIngalls Shipbuilding inPascagoula, Mississippi. She waslaunched on 25 June 2003,sponsored by Elaine Weaver Williams,Chief Petty Officer Williams's widow. On 11 December 2004,James E. Williams wascommissioned inCharleston, South Carolina.
On 2 May 2006,James E. Williams deployed on her maiden deployment as part of the Global War on Terrorism Surface Strike Group (GWOT SSG) 06–2.James E. Williams joined with the amphibious transport dockTrenton and guided-missile cruiserHue City as part of a surge deployment.[2] On 17 October 2006,James E. Williams completed her first deployment conducting anti-piracy operations off the coast ofSomalia as part of the maritime security operations.
James E. Williams deployed again on 9 July 2007 as a part of theEnterpriseCarrier Strike Group. The strike group consisted of theaircraft carrierEnterprise, the destroyersForrest Sherman,Arleigh Burke andStout; the guided-missile cruiserGettysburg; and the fast-attack submarinePhiladelphia, along with the fast combat support shipUSNS Supply.[3] On the morning of 30 October 2007,Combined Maritime Forces Headquarters, inBahrain, received a call from the International Maritime Bureau, located inKuala Lumpur, Malaysia, providing the status of the North Korean cargo vesselDai Hong Dan, which had been taken over 29 October by Somali pirates. The ship was approximately 60 nautical miles (110 km) northeast ofMogadishu, Somalia. At that time,James E. Williams was about 50 nautical miles (93 km) from the vessel and sent a helicopter to investigate the situation. The destroyer arrived in the vicinity of the Korean ship midday local time and contacted the pirates via bridge-to-bridge radio, ordering them to give up their weapons. At that point, the Korean crew had confronted the Somali pirates, regained control of the ship and began communicating withJames E. Williams, requesting medical assistance. The crew said the pirates had been in control of the bridge, but the crew had retained control of the steering and engineering spaces. The crew ofJames E. Williams provided care and assistance for approximately 12 hours to crew members and Somali pirates aboardDai Hong Dan. Five pirates were captured and two were killed. The pirates remained aboardDai Hong Dan.[4]
In November 2007,James E. Williams aided the crew of the Taiwanese ship, M/VChing Fong Hwa 168, which had also been hijacked by Somali pirates. After the pirates returned to shore, the destroyer escorted the Taiwanese ship out of Somali waters and provided needed supplies and medical assistance.[5] On 19 December 2007, she returned from her second deployment to theFifth FleetAOR in support of OperationsIraqi andEnduring Freedom.
On 20 April 2009,James E. Williams left on her third deployment in three years, deploying to the sixth and fifth Fleet areas of operations fromNaval Station Norfolk as the lead element of theBataan Amphibious Ready Group.James E. Williams conducted maritime security operations in theMediterranean Sea andPersian Gulf regions, including working with other nations' maritime forces.[6] She returned to her homeport at Naval Station Norfolk on 19 October 2009.[7]
On the evening of 8 August 2012,James E. Williams rescued ten mariners from a burningIranian-flaggeddhow (pictured) while operating in theGulf of Oman. Of the ten mariners, eight were identified as Iranians and two werePakistanis. The rescued mariners received medical treatment and transport to the carrierEnterprise before being repatriated back to Iran on 10 August.[8][9][10][11]James E. Williams reentered theMediterranean Sea on 25 August.
During the 2014-2015 deployment,James E. Williams made port calls toRota, Spain;Djibouti, Djibouti;Port Victoria, Seychelles; andPort Louis, Mauritius.
On 3 August 2017, the destroyer visited Trondheim Seilforening inTrondheim, Norway.[citation needed]
On 29 November 2017 she visited thePort of Odesa in Ukraine.[16]
During the 2017 Deployment, the ship visitedRotterdam, Netherlands;Kiel, Germany (as a part ofKiel Week);Reykjavik, Iceland; Rota, Spain; Trondheim, Norway;Bergen, Norway;Riga, Latvia;Lisbon, Portugal;Souda Bay, Greece;Manama, Bahrain;Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; and Odesa, Ukraine prior to returning home to Norfolk, VA on 23 December 2017. The ship's crew also earned theirBlue Nose for crossing into theArctic Circle.[17]
On 15 February 2021,James E. Williams andColombian Navy frigateARC Antioquia (FM-53) conducted apassing exercise in theCaribbean Sea.[18]
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
Media related toUSS James E. Williams (DDG-95) at Wikimedia Commons