American guided missile destroyer
USS
Ramage
(DDG-61)
is an
Arleigh Burke
-class
guided missile destroyer
of the
United States Navy
. The ship is named for
Vice Admiral
Lawson P. Ramage
, a notable
submarine
commander and
Medal of Honor
recipient in
World War II
.
Ramage
was
laid down
4 January 1993 at the
Ingalls Shipbuilding
in
Pascagoula, Mississippi
,
launched
11 February 1994, sponsored by Barbara Ramage (wife of the admiral), and
commissioned
22 July 1995.
Construction
[
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]
Ramage
was constructed utilizing efficient modular shipbuilding techniques pioneered by Ingalls in the 1970s and enhanced in recent years through the development of Product-Oriented Shipbuilding Technology (POST).
[5]
These innovative techniques allow a large ship, such as
Ramage
, to be built in three separate hull and
superstructure
modules and later joined to form the complete ship. Heavy machinery, such as propulsion equipment, as well as piping, duct work, and electrical cabling were installed in hundreds of sub-assemblies, which were joined to form dozens of assemblies. These assemblies were then joined to form the three hull modules. The ship's superstructure, or "deck house", was lifted atop the mid-body module early in the assembly process.
[5]
Ramage
'
s launching was as unique as her construction. The ship was moved over land via Ingalls' wheel-on-rail transfer system and onto the shipyard's launch and recovery drydock. The drydock was ballasted down, and DDG-61 floated free on 11 February 1994. She was then moved to her outfitting dock in preparation for the traditional christening ceremony and completion of outfitting and testing.
[5]
Service history
[
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]
1996-2000
[
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]
On 25 November 1996,
Ramage
embarked on her maiden deployment to the
Mediterranean Sea
.
Ramage
visited six countries and made 16 port calls.
Ramage
was awarded the
Meritorious Unit Commendation
ribbon, the
Sea Service Ribbon
, and the
Armed Forces Service Medal
during this deployment.
In March 1997
Ramage
provided logistic and communications support for
Marines
in Albania during
Operation Silver Wake
.
[6]
On 21 July 1997,
Ramage
was an escort of the museum ship
USS
Constitution
when she set sail in
Massachusetts Bay
.
On 24 May 1999, as a member of the
Theodore Roosevelt
Battle Group,
Ramage
departed on her second deployment to the Mediterranean and Arabian Seas, MED/MEF 2?99. While deployed overseas,
Ramage
visited eight countries and made 15 port visits.
Ramage
also participated in Operation Allied Force off the coast of Montenegro.
2001-2010
[
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]
Following the
11 September 2001 attacks
,
Ramage
sortied to the waters off the East Coast of the United States where she provided extended radar coverage of the
New York City
and the surrounding area in the wake of the terrorist attacks.
Ramage
deployed with the
George Washington
Surface Strike Group to the
Arabian Sea
in support of
Operation Enduring Freedom
. During this deployment
Ramage
participated in multi-national exercises Neo Tapon 04 and Iron Siren 04.
Ramage
again deployed to the
Persian Gulf
in support of the
Global War on Terrorism
in October 2006. While on station
Ramage
participated in Operations Argos Asterion and Argos Declion.
Ramage
was also the first ship to respond to the
Horn of Africa
during the
Ethiopian and Somalian hostilities
of late December 2006 providing extended coordination for
P-3
coverage of the events.
Ramage
visited eight countries and conducted ten port calls.
In August 2008
Ramage
departed for a seven-month deployment in the
Persian Gulf
with the
Iwo Jima
Expeditionary Strike Group.
Ramage
participated in multi-national Operation Red Reef and Focused Operation Trident Knight.
Ramage
returned to home port in April 2009 after visiting four countries and making six port calls.
Ramage
departed for the
North Sea
and
Baltic Sea
to participate in
Exercise Joint Warrior
09 in September 2009.
Ramage
operated with
HMS
Illustrious
and many other multi-national naval units. After making five ports of call in four countries,
Ramage
returned in November 2009. On 28 October 2009 while pierside at
Gdynia
, Poland after participating in a Joint Warrior exercise, a sailor on the ship conducting maintenance accidentally discharged one of the ship's
M240 machine guns
into the port city. Two rounds from the gun's three-round burst hit a warehouse, causing no injuries, the third round was not recovered. Local police allowed the ship to depart as originally scheduled later that day after questioning the ship's crew.
[7]
Ramage
departed on deployment to the
Mediterranean Sea
on 5 January 2010. In late January 2010,
Ramage
was dispatched to the Mediterranean Sea to assist with the search-and-rescue effort in the wake of the crash of
Ethiopian Airlines Flight 409
.
[8]
Ramage
also provided Ballistic Missile Defense to the Eastern Mediterranean during this deployment.
Ramage
'
s port visits included:
Naples
, Italy;
Haifa
, Israel;
Ku?adası
,
Bodrum
, and
Aksaz
, Turkey;
Limassol
, Cyprus;
Rhodes
, Greece;
Augusta Bay
, Sicily; and
Ponta Delgada
,
Azores
.
Ramage
returned to
home port
on 6 August 2010.
2011-2020
[
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]
On 8 August 2013,
Ramage
departed for an eight-month deployment into the US Navy
6th Fleet
area of responsibility to assist with ballistic missile defense. The ship's last deployment was from May 2012 to January 2013.
[9]
[10]
Ramage
entered the eastern Mediterranean Sea as a response to the
Syrian Civil War
. The destroyer was specifically deployed after allegations that President
Bashar al-Assad
's regime had
used chemical weapons
on its own people in suburbs of Damascus.
Ramage
arrived in the region, according to a defense official, on 23 August 2013. The destroyer was intended to replace
USS
Mahan
, but
Mahan
remained in area temporarily along with
USS
Gravely
and
USS
Barry
. All four were equipped with cruise missiles.
On 28 October 2013, the destroyers
Gravely
and
Ramage
answered a distress call from a vessel carrying immigrants located 160 nautical miles (300 km; 180 mi) off the coast of
Kalamata
, Greece.
[11]
In February 2014,
Ramage
was one of two U.S. Navy ships operating in the
Black Sea
during the
Sochi Olympics
.
[12]
In August 2014,
Ramage
underwent testing and evaluation at
Norfolk Naval Shipyard
(NNSY).
In November 2015,
Ramage
deployed to the US Navy 6th Fleet area of responsibility to assist with ballistic missile defense, and to escort the USS
Harry S. Truman
carrier strike group. She completed 28 Strait of Hormuz transits throughout the deployment, and returned to her home port of Norfolk, Virginia on 25 July 2016.
Following her 2015?2016 deployment
, Ramage
conducted her mid-cycle upgrade. As a result of the US Navy's new coast-wide shipyard bidding process, she was selected for an unusual "out of home port" yard period, and spent a nine-month period in Pascagoula, Mississippi.
Ramage
left the yards on time, and returned to Norfolk, Virginia in August 2017 to begin workups for the next deployment.
In October 2018,
Ramage
received short-notice Presidential tasking, and deployed to the US Navy 4th fleet area of responsibility to provide radar surveillance support for the G-20 summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She departed Norfolk, Virginia on 25 August 2018, and returned soon.
In the fall of 2019,
Ramage
deployed to the US Navy 5th fleet area of responsibility as an independent ballistic missile defense operator. During this time, she was assigned as the flagship for Commander, Task Force 55, in a defensive response to the assassination of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani. She took command of all US Naval surface forces in the 5th fleet area, positioning each ship in a strategic defensive manner.
2021-2023
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]
On 9 August 2023, The Navy announced plans to extend the ship's service life beyond the initial 35 years, intending to keep
Ramage
in service until at least 2035.
[13]
On 8 October 2023, the day after the
Hamas attack on Israel
, the U.S. Secretary of Defense,
Lloyd Austin
, directed the
Gerald R. Ford
carrier strike group to the Eastern Mediterranean in response. Along with the
carrier
, the group also includes the cruiser
Normandy
, and the destroyers
Ramage
,
Carney
,
Roosevelt
and
Thomas Hudner
.
[14]
Awards
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]
- Navy Unit Commendation
- (Mar-May 1997, Oct 2001-Apr 2002, Oct 2006-May 2007, Nov 2015-Jul 2016)
- Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation
- (11-19 Sep 2002, Aug 2013-May 2014)
- Battle "E"
- (1995, 1998, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2016, 2019)
References
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External links
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