USS Hopper (DDG-70)

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USS Hopper (DDG-70)
A grey ship at sea with land in the background
USS Hopper (DDG-70) underway at sea
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, Hawaii, U.S.
Motto: Aude Et Effice – "Dare And Do"
Status: In active service, as of 2015
Badge: 120px
General characteristics
Class & type: Arleigh Burke-class destroyer
Displacement:
  • Light: approx. 6,800 long tons (6,900 t)
  • Full: approx. 8,900 long tons (9,000 t)
Length: 505 ft (154 m)
Beam: 66 ft (20 m)
Draft: 31 ft (9.4 m)
Propulsion: 4 General Electric LM2500-30 gas turbines, two shafts, 100,000 total shaft horsepower (75 MW)
Speed: >30 knots (56 km/h)
Range:
Complement:
Sensors and
processing systems:
Electronic warfare
& decoys:
Armament:
Aircraft carried: 1 Sikorsky SH-60 Seahawk helicopter can be embarked

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 "Amazing" Grace Hopper.[1]

The contract to build Hopper was awarded to Bath Iron Works Corporation in Bath, Maine on 8 April 1992 and her keel was laid down on 23 February 1995. She was launched on 6 January 1996 sponsored by Mrs. Mary Murray Westcote, sister of the ship's namesake, and commissioned on 6 September 1997 in San Francisco to be near Silicon Valley, with Commander Thomas D. Crowley in command.

Hopper is only the second U.S. Navy warship to be named for a woman from the Navy's own ranks. The first was the World War II destroyer USS Higbee named for the Superintendent of the U.S. Navy Nurse Corps during World War I, Lenah Higbee.

History

Deployments

Hopper 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.[2]

On 1 April 2002, Hopper departed for a six-month deployment to the North Persian Gulf.

On 12 November 2007, Hopper departed with the Tarawa Expeditionary Strike Group for a scheduled deployment to the Fifth Fleet and Seventh Fleet.[3]

On 6 January 2008, Hopper was involved in an incident with five Iranian Revolutionary Guard gunboats. Hopper, the cruiser Port Royal and the frigate Ingraham were entering the Persian Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz when five Iranian boats approached them at high speed and in a threatening manner. The U.S. ships had been in the Arabian Sea searching for a sailor who had been missing from the Hopper for one day. The U.S. Navy said the Iranian boats made "threatening" moves toward the U.S. vessels, coming as close as 200 yards (180 m). The U.S. Navy received a radio transmission saying, "I am coming to you. You will explode after a few minutes." As the U.S. ships prepared to fire, the Iranians abruptly turned away, the U.S. officials said. Before leaving, the Iranians dropped white boxes into the water in front of the U.S. ships. The U.S. ships did not investigate the boxes.[4]

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.[4]

On 15 April 2011, Hopper departed from Pearl Harbor on a deployment to Asia and the Middle East.[5]

On 22 June 2014, Hopper, with its Aegis Weapon System, detected and tracked a test missile launched from the Reagan Test Site on Kwajalein Atoll using its 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.[6]

Coat of Arms

File:Crest finished 2.png
The coat of arms of the USS Hopper (DDG-70).

Blazon

SHIELD: Azure, a lion rampant Or, armed and langued Gules.

Translation: On a background of blue, a gold lion rising with fore paws in the air as if attacking, claws and tongue of red.

CREST: From a wreath Or and Azure a lozenge Gules charged with a mullet Argent above a demi-trident of the first, between two lightning bolts pilewise of the like and all upon a wreath of laurel and oak Proper.

Translation: From a two-color roll of gold and blue, a red diamond bearing a white five-point star above a gold three-point spear head, between two wedge shaped lightning bolts also of gold, and all upon a wreath of laurel and oak in their natural colors.

MOTTO: A scroll Argent edged Gules inscribed "AUDE ET EFFICE" Azure.

Translation: A white scroll edged in red inscribed "DARE AND DO" (in Latin) in blue.

SEAL: The complete coat of arms in full color as in the blazon upon a white field enclosed by a blue oval border edged on the outside with gold rope and bearing the name USS HOPPER at top and DDG 70 in base all in gold.

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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