USS Nitze (DDG-94)

USS Nitze at sea
History
United States
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
Identification:	DDG-94
Motto:	"Vision, Courage, Determination"
Status:	in active service, as of 2024
Badge:
General characteristics
Class & 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 (155.30 m) length overall 471 feet (144 m) waterline length
Beam:	66 feet (20 m) extreme 59 feet (18 m) at 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:	Over 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph)
Complement:	30 officers, 350 sailors
Armament:	1 × 32-cell, 1 x 64-cell Mark 41 vertical launch systems, 96 RIM-66 SM-2, BGM-109 Tomahawk or RUM-139 VL-Asroc, missiles 1 × 5 in/62 (127 mm/62) gun, 1 x 25 mm, 4 x 12.7 mm guns 2 × Mark 46 triple torpedo tubes 1 × 20 mm Phalanx CIWS
Aircraft carried:	Two SH-60 Sea Hawk helicopters

USS Nitze (DDG-94) is an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer. She 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

Nitze during her commissioning ceremony. USS Boxer and USS Bataan can be seen in the background.

The contract to build her was awarded to Bath Iron Works Corporation in Bath, Maine on March 6, 1998 and her keel was laid down on September 20, 2002. She was launched on April 3, 2004 sponsored by Elisabeth Porter, Nitze's wife. Nitze, who was 97 years old at the time, was present at the christening, thus adding the destroyer to the rapidly growing list of military vessels named after living Americans (Nitze died 6½ months later). Nitze was commissioned on March 5, 2005, with Cmdr. Michael A. Hegarty in command. Nitze, homeported in Norfolk, VA, went on her maiden deployment in January 2007 as part of the USS Bataan Expeditionary Strike Group, returning home on July 3, 2007.

USS Nitze seen from her port side, with semaphore flags displayed on the railing of her helideck

A Navy VBSS team deploys from Nitze

On September 12, 2008, Nitze departed Norfolk for a seven-month deployment with Carrier Strike Group Two, led by USS Theodore Roosevelt, returning on April 18, 2009.

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

From July 1-5, 2011, Nitze was docked in Eastport, Maine, for 4th of July celebrations.

From March 12 to November 4, 2012, Nitze completed her third deployment to the Fifth Fleet Area of Responsibility with the USS Enterprise Battlegroup (CCSG 12).

Nitze was deployed a fourth time, from November 29, 2013 to July 15, 2014, spending most of their time off the Horn of Africa conducting maritime security operations.

Nitze is currently under the command of Cmdr. Paul Kaylor; Cmdr. Michael Cloud serves as Executive Officer.

Nitze's sailors are known as "Cold Warriors" in reference to Paul Nitze's involvement in shaping US Cold War policy.

References

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

External links

• USS Nitze’s Web site
• USS Roosevelt strike group to deploy this week.