USS Benfold (DDG-65)

The Benfold 2001 in the Pacific
Overview
Order	January 16, 1991
Keel laying	September 27, 1993
Launch	November 9, 1994
1. Period of service
Commissioning	March 30, 1996
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 Benfold (DDG-65) is a destroyer in the United States Navy and belongs to the Arleigh Burke class . It is named after Edward Clyde Benfold , a US Navy medic who received the Medal of Honor for his services in the Korean War .

history

The United States Navy commissioned the Benfold from Ingalls Shipbuilding in 1991 . This shipyard laid the keel in September 1993, the launch took place after 13.5 months of construction in November 1994. On March 30, 1996, the destroyer finally entered service with the Navy.

At the end of 1997 the Benfold was in the Persian Gulf , where it was supposed to enforce the UN sanctions against Iraq. For this purpose, among other things, the cargo of suspicious ships was searched and, if necessary, confiscated.

After the seaquake in the Indian Ocean in 2004 , the USA started Operation Unified Assistance , which coordinated the rescue and relief efforts of the US armed forces. Here was Benfold involved. In May 2008, the destroyer deployed alongside the USS Peleliu (LHA-5) in the Western Pacific. From June 28 to July 2, the Benfold took part in a communication test as part of the National Missile Defense out of the Persian Gulf with her sister ship USS Russell (DDG-59) , which sailed in the Mediterranean . In the summer of 2010, the destroyer took part in the multinational exercise RIMPAC .

After modernization, the destroyer is now able to fight ballistic missiles . The ship moved from its previous base in San Diego to its new home port of Yokosuka in October 2015 .

literature

• Michael Abrashoff: It's Your Ship: Management Techniques from the Best Damn Ship in the Navy , Warner Business Books 2002, ISBN 0446529117

This book was published by the Commanding Officer (1997-1999) of Benfold , Cmdr. Michael Abrashoff, written about his command aboard the destroyer.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ USN Aegis BMD destroyer enters Asia-Pacific area of ​​operations, Janes, October 14, 2015 ( Memento of October 18, 2015 in the Internet Archive )

Web links

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

• Entry in the Naval Vessel Register (Engl.)
• Official Homepage (Engl.)