USS Higgins (DDG-76)
 The Higgins 2001 on high-speed trips off California |
|
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Order | January 19, 1993 |
| Keel laying | November 14, 1996 |
| Launch | 4th October 1997 |
| 1. Period of service |
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|
| Commissioning | April 24, 1999 |
| 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 |
The USS Higgins (DDG-76) is a destroyer of Arleigh Burke class . The United States Navy named the ship after the US Marine William Richard Higgins , who was tortured and murdered hostage by a pro-Iranian group in Lebanon in 1990.
history
DDG-76 was ordered in 1993 and laid down at Bath Iron Works in Bath , Maine in November 1996 . The unit was launched in October of the following year. After the final equipment and the shipyard test drives, the Higgins was officially put into service in April 1999.
In 2000 the Higgins moved to the Pacific for the first time, visiting Sydney, among others, during this voyage . In 2002, the destroyer took part in exercises with the carrier USS Constellation (CV-64) , and at the end of the year she moved with the combat group on her second voyage as part of Operation Enduring Freedom . In 2003 the ship was involved in Tomahawk attacks on targets in Iraq, and in 2004 the Higgins was in the Persian Gulf. In 2005 she moved with the USS Nimitz (CVN-68) as part of the war on terrorism , and an exercise with the Indian Navy was also on the agenda. In 2006, the destroyer was a participant in the Fleet Week Sea and Air Parade in San Diego .
Also in 2007 the Higgins moved to the Middle East, she was again assigned to escort the Nimitz . On May 8, their commandant, Cmdr. Jeffrey P. Menne, relieved of his command, the reason given was a loss of trust due to an administrative matter. As escort of the Nimitz , the Higgins was involved in the Valiant Shield exercise in August and then in the Malabar exercise in September . Again with Nimitz , the destroyer moved to the Western Pacific in early 2008, where the combat group replaced the USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63) , which was due for overhaul. The Higgins docked with her combat group in April to visit Hong Kong .
In early 2010, the Higgins supported the humanitarian operation on the side of the USS Nimitz (CVN 68) off the coast of Haiti , where an earthquake had caused severe damage.
In the air raid on Damascus and Homs on April 14, 2018, the Higgens participated with the use of 23 Tomahawk cruise missiles from the northern part of the Persian Gulf.
Web links
- Entry in the Naval Vessel Register (Engl.)
- Official Homepage (Engl.)