USS Curtis Wilbur (DDG-54)

8315 tons

154 m

20 meters

9.5 meters

26 officers, 315 teams

Two propellers, each driven over 4 gas turbines; 100,000 shaft horsepower

31 knots

90 VLS cells, 2 triple torpedo launchers, 1 artillery 127 mm

The USS Curtis Wilbur (DDG- 54) is a guided missile destroyer of the United States Navy. It belongs to the Arleigh Burke-class. The ship is named after the 34th Secretary of the Navy Curtis D. Wilbur, named.

History

Construction

The end of 1988 the contract for the construction of DDG- 54 at Bath Iron Works was awarded. There, the ship was laid in March 1991 on Kiel. After 14 months in dry and almost two years for final outfitting and sea trials the Curtis Wilbur was put into service on 19 March 1994. First home port was San Diego.

Patrol car

The first application runs took place in the summer of 1994, the destroyer participated in the RIMPAC maneuvers in the Pacific. As of October 1994, women were admitted to the Department, the Curtis Wilbur became the first AEGIS ship with women on board. The first installation led the ship in 1995 in the Persian Gulf, where the Curtis Wilbur participated in Operation Southern Watch.

1996 changed the destroyer its home port, as forward deployed unit drove the ship from the Japanese port of Yokosuka since from its operations. From there, in 1997 the first ride with the aircraft carrier USS Independence (CV -62 ) later local exercises and maneuvers followed.

1998 Curtis Wilbur was first overtaken in Yokosuka. Then she took part in exercises with the South Korean Navy. 1999 use trip on the USS Kitty Hawk (CV -63 ) was held. Along with the USS Chancellorsville ( CG 62) laid the three ships at high speed into the Persian Gulf, where again the Operation Southern Watch was in the foreground. 2001, again with the Kitty Hawk, the ship took part in Operation Enduring Freedom. 2006 and 2007 took the destroyer with the Kitty Hawk in the exercise Valiant Shield in part, 2007 also in Exercise Malabar with Indian, Japanese, Australian and Singaporean naval forces. 2008, the destroyer moved back to the Kitty Hawk battle group and took the part of a port visit to Hong Kong. End of March 2010, the destroyer was used to search for survivors aboard the Cheonan (PCC -772 ). The South Korean ship was torpedoed by official investigations off the North Korean coast, a North Korean submarine is said to have carried out the attack.

In March 2011, Curtis Wilbur was sent to the coast of Miyagi, to search for the Tohoku Earthquake survivors.