USS Winston S. Churchill (DDG-81)
_turn.jpg) The Winston S. Churchill 2008 making a quick turn |
|
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Order | January 6, 1995 |
| Keel laying | May 7, 1998 |
| Launch | April 17, 1999 |
| 1. Period of service |
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|
| Commissioning | March 10, 2001 |
| Technical specifications | |
| displacement |
9200 tons |
| length |
156 meters |
| width |
20 metres |
| Draft |
9.5 meters |
| crew |
32 officers, 350 men |
| drive |
2 propellers, driven by 4 gas turbines; 100,000 wave horsepower |
| speed |
31 knots |
| Armament |
96 VLS cells |
The USS Winston S. Churchill (DDG-81) is a destroyer in the United States Navy and belongs to the Arleigh Burke class .
history
The Winston S. Churchill was laid down at Bath Iron Works in 1998 and launched in April 1999. The unit entered service with the US Navy in 2001.
The ship is named after Winston Churchill and christened by Lady Soames , Churchill's daughter. The ship is (as of 2006) the only ship in service with the US Navy that is named after a foreign citizen (even though Churchill was granted honorary citizenship). In addition, the ship is only the fourth American warship to be named after an Englishman. In addition, the Churchill is the only US warship on which a Royal Navy officer is permanently stationed.
On September 14, 2001, three days after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 in the USA , the German destroyer Lütjens passed the Churchill and paid homage to the Americans with a front . In addition, the Stars and Stripes were raised to half-mast and a banner with the words We stand by you was shown.
On August 22, 2005, the Churchill collided with her sister ship USS McFaul (DDG-74) off Florida, with both ships being only slightly damaged.
At the end of 2005, the Churchill set out with the USS Nassau (LHA-4) as part of an Expeditionary Strike Group from Norfolk to the east. On January 22, 2006, the Churchill landed a pirate ship in the Indian Ocean, and on May 2, 2006 the voyage was over. In November 2007, the Churchill set out for these regions again, this time as part of the combat group around the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) . Another relocation on the side of the Truman followed in 2010 . On this voyage, the Churchill's crew found a skiff with 85 Somalis on board who wanted to reach Yemen . After an engine failure, the skiff drifted while water and food on board ran out. With rigid craft soldiers brought supply means on board, but could not repair the engine. The crew then decided to tow the skiff back to Somalia. When another rubber dinghy brought food to the skiff after a few hours, the Somalis all stormed to one side, whereupon the skiff capsized. The two rubber dinghies rescued 61 people from the water, 13 drowned, 11 more were listed as missing.
In June 2012, the Churchill was relocated to the side of the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) in the Mediterranean and Arabian waters.
Web links
- Entry in the Naval Vessel Register (English)
- Official Homepage (English)