USS Arleigh Burke (DDG51)

History

USS Arleigh Burke (DDG-51), named for Admiral Arleigh A. Burke, USN (1901–1996), is the lead ship of the Arleigh Burke class of Aegis guided missile destroyer. She is of the Flight I variant. She was laid down by the Bath Iron Works company at Bath, Maine, on 6 December 1988; launched on 16 September 1989; and commissioned on 4 July 1991.

Arleigh Burke's designers incorporated many lessons learned by the Royal Navy during the Falklands campaign and from the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruisers. The Ticonderoga-class cruisers were becoming too expensive to continue building and too difficult to upgrade. Arleigh Burke was the first modern destroyer designed with features meant to lower its radar cross-section, which improves a ship's ability to evade radar detection. She also used a slightly downgraded version of the Aegis Combat System, which allows for launching, tracking, and evading missiles simultaneously. Her all-steel construction provides good protection for her superstructure, while her Collective Protection System allows her to operate in environments contaminated by chemical, biological, or radiological materials.

Text from Wikipedia: USS Arleigh Burke, CC BY-SA 4.0, lightly trimmed.

Key dates

1. 1989
   The ship was launched on 16 September 1989 by Mrs.
2. 1993
   Following her initial operational testing, Arleigh Burke was deployed to the Mediterranean Sea and the Adriatic Sea in 1993, serving as the "Green Crown" during Operation Provide Promise.
3. 2000
   During her fourth cruise in 2000–2001, Arleigh Burke saw service in the Mediterranean and Red Seas and in the Persian Gulf, enforcing United Nations sanctions against Iraq and conducting exercises with allied naval partners.
4. 2003
   On her fifth deployment in 2003, Arleigh Burke and the other units of the Theodore Roosevelt-led carrier battle group participated in Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom.
5. 2009
   In 2009, Arleigh Burke was deployed to the eastern coast of Africa in support of AFRICOM's Africa Partnership Station.
6. 2018
   In 2018, the ship made two three-month overseas deployments, returning to Norfolk, Virginia, between cruises.
7. 2019
   In 2019, she entered General Dynamics NASSCO's shipyard in Norfolk, Virginia, for continued work towards modernization for ballistic missile defense.
8. 2021
   The crew began their first forward-deployed patrol in August 2021, returning in December 2021.
9. 2024
   On 13–14 April 2024, Arleigh Burke and USS Carney shot down at least six Iranian ballistic missiles during the 2024 Iranian strikes in Israel.

Dates and events quoted from the same Wikipedia article (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Records that place someone aboard this ship

A ship history doesn't name everyone who served. These records do:

• Navy muster rolls, 1939–1949 (National Archives guide)
• Deck logs: how to get them (Naval History and Heritage Command)
• Crew lists research guide (NHHC)
• Search the National Archives Catalog for “USS Arleigh Burke”

More history

• Wikipedia: USS Arleigh Burke