USS McFaul

USS McFaul (DDG-74) underway in the Atlantic Ocean.
History
United States
Name	USS McFaul
Namesake	Donald L. McFaul
Ordered	21 January 1993
Builder	Ingalls Shipbuilding, Pascagoula, Mississippi
Laid down	26 January 1996
Launched	18 January 1997
Acquired	23 February 1998
Commissioned	25 April 1998
Motto	Courage, Honor, Sacrifice
Status	in active service
Badge
General characteristics
Class and type	Template:Sclass-
Displacement	Light: approx. 6,783 tons Full: approx. 8,915 tons
Length	505 ft (154 m)
Beam	59 ft (18 m)
Draft	31 ft (9.4 m)
Propulsion	2 × shafts
Speed	In excess of 30 kn (56 km/h; 35 mph)
Range	4,400 nmi (8,100 km; 5,100 mi) at 20 kn (37 km/h; 23 mph)
Complement	33 commissioned officers 38 chief petty officers 210 enlisted personnel
Sensors and processing systems	AN/SPY-1D PESA 3D radar (Flight I, II, IIA) AN/SPY-6(V)1 AESA 3D radar (Flight III) AN/SPS-67(V)3 or (V)5 surface search radar (DDG-51 – DDG-118) AN/SPQ-9B surface search radar (DDG-119 onwards) AN/SPS-73(V)12 surface search/navigation radar (DDG-51 – DDG-86) BridgeMaster E surface search/navigation radar (DDG-87 onwards) 3 × AN/SPG-62 fire-control radar Mk 46 optical sight system (Flight I, II, IIA) Mk 20 electro-optical sight system (Flight III) AN/SQQ-89 ASW combat system: AN/SQS-53C sonar array AN/SQR-19 tactical towed array sonar (Flight I, II, IIA) TB-37U multi-function towed array sonar (DDG-113 onwards) AN/SQQ-28 LAMPS III shipboard system
Electronic warfare & decoys	AN/SLQ-32 electronic warfare suite AN/SLQ-25 Nixie torpedo countermeasures Mk 36 Mod 12 decoy launching systems Mk 53 Nulka decoy launching systems Mk 59 decoy launching systems
Armament	Guns: 1 × 5-inch (127 mm)/54 mk 45 mod 1/2 (lightweight gun) 2 × 20 mm (0.8 in) Phalanx CIWS 2 × 25 mm (0.98 in) Mk 38 machine gun system 4 × 0.50 inches (12.7 mm) caliber guns Missiles: 2 × Mk 141 Harpoon anti-ship missile launcher 1 × 29-cell, 1 × 61-cell (90 total cells) Mk 41 vertical launching system (VLS): RIM-66M surface-to-air missile RIM-156 surface-to-air missile BGM-109 Tomahawk cruise missile RUM-139 vertical launch ASROC Torpedoes: 2 × Mark 32 triple torpedo tubes: Mark 46 lightweight torpedo Mark 50 lightweight torpedo Mark 54 lightweight torpedo
Aircraft carried	Cannot embark rotary wing aircraft, but is equipped with a flight deck that allows a single SH-60 Seahawk helicopter to conduct underway replenishment.

USS McFaul (DDG-74) is an Template:Sclass- in the United States Navy. She is named for U.S. Navy SEAL Chief Petty Officer Donald L. McFaul. This ship is the 24th destroyer of its class. The USS McFaul was the 11th ship of this class to be built at Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Mississippi, and construction began on 26 January, 1996. She was launched on 18 January, 1997 and was christened on 12 April, 1997. On 25 April, 1998 she had her commissioning ceremony at the Garden City Terminal in Savannah, Georgia.

History

On 22 August 2005, McFaul was involved in a minor collision with the destroyer USS Winston S. Churchill off the coast of Jacksonville, Florida. Both ships suffered minor damage, and no injuries were reported. Both ships returned to their homeport at Naval Station Norfolk under their own power.

On 16 February 2007, McFaul was awarded the 2006 Battle "E" award.

Humanitarian supplies being loaded on McFaul 20 August 2008, at Souda Bay, Crete for delivery to Georgia

On 24 August 2008, McFaul arrived in Batumi, Georgia, as part of Operation Assured Delivery to "deliver humanitarian relief supplies...as part of the larger United States response to the government of Georgia request for humanitarian assistance" in the wake of the 2008 South Ossetia war. McFaul offloaded nearly 155,000 pounds (70,000 kg) of supplies—including hygiene items, baby food and care supplies, bottled water, and milk—donated by the United States Agency for International Development.

On 5 April 2010, McFaul responded to a distress call from the merchant vessel MV Rising Sun after she was attacked by pirates. McFaul was able to neutralize the threat, and captured ten suspected pirates and successfully rescued eight crewmembers from on board a dhow near Salalah, Oman. The pirates were then transferred to the destroyer USS Carney for a week before they were transferred back to McFaul where 30 days later they were turned over to the Somalian Transitional Federal Government for subsequent prosecution.

On 12 September 2012, McFaul was ordered to the coast of Libya in what the Pentagon called a "contingency" in case a strike was ordered. This was in response to the 2012 diplomatic missions attacks.

The ship may have been assigned to Carrier Strike Group Ten in the 2010s.

Upgrade

On 12 November 2009, the Missile Defense Agency announced that McFaul would be upgraded during fiscal 2013 to RIM-161 Standard Missile 3 (SM-3) capability in order to function as part of the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System.

Commanding Officers

The Commanding Officer (CO) of the USS McFaul (DDG-74) is the most senior officer that is in command of the ship. Sailors will refer to the CO as "the Captain" (regardless of rank), or sometimes informally as "Skipper". Below is the list of commanding officers of the USS McFaul.

#	Name	Start	End
12	CDR Joseph M. Bromley	6 May, 2016	Present
11	CDR Michael J. Gunther	5 December, 2014	6 May, 2016
10	CDR Lester A. Brown Jr.	21 June, 2013	5 December, 2014
9	CDR Daniel J. Gillen	18 March, 2011	21 June, 2013
8	CDR Ronald W. Toland Jr.	8 May, 2009	18 March, 2011
7	CDR Timothy L. Schorr	14 November, 2007	8 May, 2009
6	CDR Mary M. Jackson	21 June, 2006	14 November, 2007
5	CDR Sean M. Connors	24 September, 2004	21 June, 2006
4	CDR Bradley C. Mai	18 April, 2003	24 September, 2004
3	CDR Neil R. Parrott	31 August, 2001	18 April, 2003
2	CDR Bruce H. Curry	16 November, 1999	31 August, 2001
1	CDR Bernard L. Jackson	25 April, 1998	16 November, 1999

Coat of Arms

Shield

The shield has background of dark blue with Neptune being pulled by seahorses in a chariot over sea waves.

The traditional Navy colors were chosen for the shield because dark blue and gold represents the sea and excellence respectively. Neptune, God of the Sea, symbolizes maritime prowess and swift mobilization. Waves represent the coastline and highlight Chief Petty Officer McFaul’s enclosure from sea by rubber raiding craft to block General Noriega’s escape from Panama.

Crest

The crest consists of the shape of an array with a gold cross center. The array is split into quarters with palm leaves surrounding.

The crests AEGIS shape highlights the USS McFAUL’s modern multi-mission warfare operations. The cross honors the Navy Cross awarded to Platoon Chief Petty Officer Donald L. McFaul for extraordinary heroism in action under fire and saving his teammate's life. The quarter colored crest are adapted from the Panamanian flag to represent operation “Just Cause” in the Republic of Panama. The quartered sections also honor McFaul’s SEAL team, SEAL Team Four. The laurel symbolizes achievement and honor. The palm indicates to the location of Panama while symbolizing victory.

Motto

The motto is written on a scroll of blue that has a gold reverse side.

The ships motto is "Courage Honor Sacrifice".

Seal

The coat of arms in full color as in the blazon, upon a white background enclosed within a dark blue oval border edged on the outside with a gold rope and bearing the inscription "USS McFAUL" at the top and "DDG 74" in the base all gold.

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

• Official site
• Naval Vessel Register – DDG-74