USS Nitze (DDG-94)

USS Nitze (DDG-94) USS Nitze at sea
Career (US)
Name:	USS Nitze
Namesake:	Paul Nitze
Ordered:	6 March 1998
Builder:	Bath Iron Works
Laid down:	20 September 2002
Launched:	3 April 2004
Commissioned:	5 March 2005
Motto:	"One Team, One Fight"
Status:	in active service, as of 2024
Badge:	150px
General characteristics
Class and type:	Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer
Displacement:	6,600 tons light, 9,200 tons full, 2,600 tons dead
Length:	509 feet 6 inches (155.3 m) overall, 471 feet (143.6 m) waterline
Beam:	66 feet (20.1 m) extreme, 59 feet (18 m) waterline
Draft:	31 feet (9.4 m) maximum, 22 feet (6.7 m) limit
Propulsion:	Four General Electric LM2500-30 gas turbines, two shafts, 100,000 shp (75 MW)
Speed:	30+ knots
Complement:	32 officers, 348 men
Armament:	One 32-cell, one 64-cell Mark 41 vertical launch systems, 96 RIM-66 SM-2, BGM-109 Tomahawk or RUM-139 VL-Asroc, missiles one 5/62 in (127/62 mm) gun, two 25 mm, four 12.7 mm guns two Mark 46 triple torpedo tubes
Aircraft carried:	Two SH-60 Sea Hawk helicopters

USS Nitze (DDG-94), an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer, is the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for Paul Nitze, who served as Secretary of the Navy under President Lyndon B. Johnson and as chief arms control adviser in the administration of President Ronald Reagan.

Overview

The contract to build her was awarded to Bath Iron Works Corporation in Bath, Maine on 6 March 1998 and her keel was laid down on 20 September 2002. She was launched on 3 April 2004 sponsored by Elisabeth "Leezee" Porter, Nitze's wife. Nitze, 97 years old, was present at the christening, thus adding the destroyer to the rapidly growing list of military vessels named after living Americans. Nitze was commissioned on 5 March 2005, with Commander Michael A. Hegarty in command.

File:US Destroyer Nitze.jpg

While in command, Hegarty saw port visits in New York for Fleet Week, Mobile, AL for Mardi Gras, and several other high visibility port visits. The current commanding officer is Commander Richard Brawley. The Executive Officer is Commander Sean Anderson. The ship is known as the "Cold Warriors" in reference to Paul Nitze's involvement in shaping US Cold War policy. "Nitze," based out of Norfolk, VA, went on its maiden deployment on January 5, 2007 as part of the Bataan Expeditionary Strike Group, returning home on 3 July 2007.

On September 12, 2008, Nitze departed Norfolk for a seven-month underway period with the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) Carrier Strike Group, returning on 18 April 2009.

In October 2009, "Nitze" was open to the public for tours in downtown Norfolk as part of the US Navy Fleet Week celebration. She was moored at the Nauticus Museum and Half Moone Cruise terminal.

External links

• USS Nitze’s Web site

References

This article includes information collected from the Naval Vessel Register, which, as a U.S. government publication, is in the public domain.

File:USS Nitze DDG-94.jpg

USS Nitze (DDG-94)