IN THEKNOW

The USS Fitzgerald (DDG 62) is an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer home-ported in Yokosuka Naval Base in Japan. It is one of the eight destroyers assigned to Destroyer Squadron 15 and is forward-deployed to the US 7th Fleet which operates in IndoAsia Pacific in support of security and stability in the region. The Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, described as warships that provide multimission offensive and defensive capabilities, have a length of 154 meters (505 feet) and displacement of approximately 8,300 metric tons. Destroyers in the Arleigh Burke class employ four gas turbines and are capable of achieving over 30 knots in open seas. Armament of Arleigh Burke-class destroyers include: Standard Missile (SM-2MR); Vertical Launch Asroc (VLA) missiles; Tomahawk; MK-46 torpedoes (from two triple tube mounts); close-in weapon system (CIWS), 5-in. MK-45 Gun and Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile (ESSM). The USS Fitzgerald was commissioned in October 1995. Its original home port was in San Diego, California, before it moved to Yokosuka, Japan, in 2004. The ship was named in honor of Lt. William C. Fitzgerald, a recipient of the Navy Cross, the USNavy’s highest decoration for valor, for his extraordinary heroism in the Vietnam War. In April, USS Fitzgerald arrived in Subic Bay for a brief port call. The ships crew, which numbers more than 300, were set to conduct some minor repairs during the stop, a statement on the USNavy website said. In November 2011, then US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former Foreign Affairs Secretary Secretary Albert del Rosario boarded the USS Fitzgerald in Manila where they signed a declaration calling for multilateral talks to resolve maritime disputes and marking the 60th anniversary of the US-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty.