USS Stout (DDG-55)

The stout in the Mediterranean
Overview
Order	December 13, 1988
Keel laying	August 8, 1991
Launch	October 16, 1992
1. Period of service
Commissioning	August 13, 1994
Technical specifications
displacement	8315 tons
length	154 m
width	20 metres
Draft	9.5 meters
crew	26 officers, 315 men
drive	2 propellers, driven by 4 gas turbines; 100,000 wave horsepower
speed	31 knots
Armament	90 VLS cells 2 triple torpedo launchers 1 127 mm gun

The USS Stout (DDG-55) is a United States Navy guided missile destroyer . She belongs to the Arleigh Burke class . The ship is named after Rear Admiral Herald F. Stout , who was in command of the destroyer USS Claxton (DD-571) during World War II .

history

In December 1988 the order for the construction of DDG-55 was placed. The keel of the ship was laid in August 1991 and Ingalls Shipbuilding was the construction yard . In October 1992 the destroyer was launched and was christened. The official commissioning finally took place in August 1994.

The Stout made its first voyages around the turn of the year 1995/96 with the carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73) . Also in 1999 the destroyer moved with the Washington , this time to the Mediterranean. In subsequent years, the destroyer was repeatedly part of the Standing Naval Force Mediterranean of NATO . In 2005 the Stout laid with the USS Bataan (LHD-5) , in 2007 with three of its sister ships as well as the USS Gettysburg (CG-64) and the USS Philadelphia (SSN-690) as escort for the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CVN-65 ) as part of the anti-terror war. During this voyage, the ship took the ferry Spice Islander I in tow off Somalia , which had an engine failure.

In April 2008 it became known that the ship had to be temporarily decommissioned due to massive corrosion and other defects:

• The transmission power of the AN / SPY-1D - radar had to be reduced by 75%.
• Two of the three AN / SPG-62 - fire control radars were not operational.
• The Phalanx CIWS- - short-range defense systems were out of order.
• The Mark 45 lightweight gun was not ready to fire due to corrosion on the loading mechanism.
• The rear VLS start system was not operational due to fuel leaks.

After repairing the damage in the summer, the Stout participated in the sinking of the decommissioned destroyer USS O'Bannon (DD-987) in October . In August 2009, the Stout conducted an exercise with the Marines of Israel and Turkey in the Mediterranean.

In December 2010, the Stout relocated to a National Missile Defense voyage in the Mediterranean. When the violent protests broke out in Libya at the end of February 2011, the destroyer showed a presence off the coast and escorted refugee boats to Malta. On March 19, the destroyer fired BGM-109 Tomahawk cruise missiles at Libyan targets as part of Operation Odyssey Dawn .

On August 29, 2013, the Stout was relocated to the Eastern Mediterranean because of a possible attack by US forces on Syria .

Web links

Commons : USS Stout  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Entry in the Naval Vessel Register (Engl.)
• official homepage on navy.mil (engl.)