USS Hopper (DDG-70) is an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer of the United States Navy, named for the pioneering computer scientist Rear Admiral Grace Hopper.[5]
 USS Hopper at Pearl Harbor on 20 May 2016
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | Hopper |
| Namesake | Grace Hopper |
| Ordered | 8 April 1992 |
| Builder | Bath Iron Works |
| Laid down | 23 February 1995 |
| Launched | 6 January 1996 |
| Commissioned | 6 September 1997 |
| Homeport | Pearl Harbor |
| Identification |
|
| Motto |
|
| Nickname(s) | Amazing Grace [1] |
| Status | in active service |
| Badge |  |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Arleigh Burke-class destroyer |
| Displacement | |
| Length | 505 ft (154 m) |
| Beam | 59 ft (18 m) |
| Draft | 31 ft (9.4 m) |
| Propulsion | 2 × shafts |
| Speed | In excess of 30 kn (56 km/h; 35 mph) |
| Range | 4,400 nmi (8,100 km; 5,100 mi) at 20 kn (37 km/h; 23 mph) |
| Complement | |
| Sensors and processing systems |
|
| Electronic warfare & decoys |
|
| Armament |
|
| Aircraft carried | 1 × Sikorsky MH-60R |
Hopper is only the second US Navy warship to be named for a woman from the Navy's own ranks. This ship is the 20th destroyer of her class. Hopper was the 11th ship of this class to be built at Bath Iron Works in Bath, Maine, and construction began on 23 February 1995. She was launched and christened on 6 January 1996. On 6 September 1997, she was commissioned in San Francisco.
Service history
editDeployments
editHopper has participated in multiple deployments to East Asia and the Persian Gulf, including RIMPAC 98, three individual PACMEF deployments, an Expeditionary Strike Group deployment to the Persian Gulf in 2004, and a deployment to Southeast Asia in support of Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) 2006. In addition, Hopper has been foremost in the field of Ballistic Missile Defense.[6]
On 1 April 2002, Hopper departed for a six-month deployment to the North Persian Gulf.
On 12 November 2007, Hopper departed with the USS Tarawa Expeditionary Strike Group for a scheduled deployment to the Fifth Fleet and Seventh Fleet.[7]
On 6 January 2008, Hopper was involved in an incident with five gunboats of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. Hopper, along with USS Port Royal, a guided missile cruiser, and USS Ingraham, a guided missile frigate, were entering the Persian Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz when the five Iranian boats approached them at high speed and in a threatening manner. The US Navy ships had been in the Arabian Sea searching for a sailor who had been missing from Hopper for 24 hours. The US Navy said the Iranian boats made "threatening" moves toward the US Navy vessels, coming as close as 200 yards (180 m). The US Navy received a radio transmission saying, "I am coming to you. You will explode after a few minutes." As the US Navy ships prepared to fire, the Iranians abruptly turned away, the US officials said. Before leaving, the Iranians dropped white boxes into the water in front of the US Navy ships. The US Navy ships did not investigate the boxes.[8]
Officials from the two nations differed on the severity of the incident. The Iranians claimed they were conducting normal maneuvers while American officials claimed that an imminent danger to American naval vessels existed.[8]
On 15 April 2011, Hopper departed from Pearl Harbor on a deployment to Asia and the Middle East.[9]
On 22 June 2014, Hopper, with her Aegis Combat System, detected and tracked a test missile launched from the Reagan Test Site on Kwajalein Atoll using her onboard AN/SPY-1 radar, providing critical targeting data to a long-range ground-based interceptor (GBI) launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. GBI's protect the US from limited long-range ballistic missile attack.[10]
In January 2018, Hopper performed a freedom of navigation cruise, sailing within 12 nautical miles of the disputed Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea. China, which has held the rocky outpost since seizing it from the Philippines in 2012, registered a protest on the grounds that the US Navy should have notified China in advance of its approach and had "violated China's sovereignty and security interests".[11]
Coat of arms
edit Shield
editThe shield has a background of blue. In the center is a gold lion with red talons.
Crest
editThe crest consists of a lozenge with a silver star above the trident. Surrounding the lozenge is a wreath with lightning bolts stemming from the bottom. The crest is completed by the blue and gold framing.
Motto
editThe motto is written on a scroll of white with red trim.
The ships motto is "AUDE ET EFFICE" which can be translated to "DARE AND DO" within context of a command.[citation needed]
Seal
editThe coat of arms in full color as in the blazon, upon a white background enclosed within a dark blue oval border edged on the outside with a gold rope and bearing the inscription "USS HOPPER" at the top and "DDG 70" in the base all gold.
See also
edit- USS Higbee (DD-806), the first US warship named for a woman from the Navy, Lenah S. Higbee
- List of U.S. military vessels named after women
References
edit
This article includes information collected from the Naval Vessel Register, which, as a U.S. government publication, is in the public domain.
- ^ "Scientist of the Day: Grace Hopper". Linda Hall Library. Retrieved 9 March 2024.
- ^ "Mk46 MOD 1 Optical Sight System". Kollmorgen. Archived from the original on 30 November 2022. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
- ^ Rockwell, David (12 July 2017). "The Kollmorgen/L-3 KEO Legacy". Teal Group. Archived from the original on 29 May 2023. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
- ^ Hart, Jackie (17 December 2023). "Decoy Launch System Installed Aboard USS Ramage". navy.mil. Archived from the original on 28 April 2016. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
- ^ "Grace Murray Hopper (1906-1992): A legacy of innovation and service". news.yale.edu. 10 February 2016. Retrieved 22 May 2022.
- ^ "USS Hopper DDG 70". U.S. Carriers. 10 April 2013. Retrieved 10 April 2013.
- ^ "Navy NewsStand – Eye on the Fleet". United States Navy. 12 November 2007. Archived from the original on 5 August 2012. Retrieved 6 December 2007.
- ^ a b "Iranian boats 'harass' U.S. Navy, officials say". CNN. 7 January 2008. Retrieved 7 January 2008.
- ^ "USS Hopper Heads West for Deployment". US Navy. 15 April 2011. Archived from the original on 5 August 2012. Retrieved 15 February 2012.
- ^ "U.S. conducts successful missile intercept test in Pacific". US Air Force. 22 June 2014. Archived from the original on 2 July 2014. Retrieved 29 June 2014.
- ^ "China says U.S. warship violated its South China Sea sovereignty". Reuters. 20 January 2018.
External links
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