Navy To Honor Former Commandant
GUIDED MISSILE DESTROYER SHOUP TO BE COMMISSIONED
The U.S. Navy will commission Arleigh Burke class guided missile
destroyer, Shoup (DDG 86), on Saturday, June 22, 2002, during an
11 a.m. PST ceremony at Port Terminal 37 in Seattle.
The ship honors 22nd commandant of the Marine Corps and Medal of
Honor recipient Gen. David M. Shoup (1904-1983) for his actions
during the initial landings on Betio, Tarawa Atoll, in the
Pacific on Nov. 20-22, 1943. While in command of the Second
Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, he carried out his
leadership duties and exposed himself to withering enemy fire
despite suffering a serious, painful leg wound, which had become
infected.
On Jan. 22, 1945, Shoup received the Medal of Honor for his
actions. The citation read in part: "By his brilliant
leadership, daring tactics and selfless devotion to duty,
Colonel Shoup was largely responsible for the final decisive
defeat of the enemy." He was also awarded the Purple Heart (oak
leaf cluster), Legions of Merit with Combat V and the British
Distinguished Service order.
In 1959, President Dwight D. Eisenhower appointed Shoup the
commandant of the Marine Corps. Later, he was known as President
John F. Kennedy's "favorite general." When President Lyndon
Johnson pinned the Distinguished Service Medal on Shoup in 1964,
Johnson described him as "strong enough to prevent a war and
wise enough to avoid one."
Shoup died on Jan. 13, 1983, at the age of 78. No previous Navy
ship has been named for Shoup.
Gen. James L. Jones, 32nd Commandant of the Marine Corps, will
deliver the ceremony's principal address. Zola Shoup, widow of
the ship's namesake, and Claudia Natter, wife of Adm. Robert J.
Natter, commander, U.S. Atlantic Fleet, will both serve as ship
sponsors. Matron of Honor, Lt. Col. Catherine Chase, USMCR, will
represent her grandmother at the ceremony. Together, in the
time-honored Navy tradition, Mrs. Natter and Lt. Col. Chase will
give the order to "man our ship and bring her to life!"
Shoup is the 36th of 58 Arleigh Burke class destroyers currently
authorized by Congress and the 16th of this DDG 51 Aegis
destroyer program to be built by Northrop Grumman Ship Systems.
These multi-mission ships can conduct a variety of operations,
from peacetime presence and crisis management to sea control and
power projection, in support of the national military strategy.
These combatant ships are equipped with the Navy's Aegis combat
systems, which combines satellite-based communication, radar and
weapons technologies in a single platform for unlimited
flexibility while operating "Forward... from the Sea."
Construction of DDG 86 began at Northrop Grumman Ship Systems'
Ingalls Operations on Nov. 10, 1998. The ship's keel was laid
on Dec. 13, 1999, and she was launched on Nov. 22, 2000. DDG 86
sailed into the Gulf of Mexico for her first sea trials on Dec.
11, 2001. The ship was delivered to the Navy by Northrop
Grumman on Feb. 18, 2002, and departed Pascagoula on April 22,
2002.
Following its commissioning, Shoup will join the U.S. Pacific
Fleet with Cmdr. E. Bernard Carter, a native of Hopkins, S.C.,
as the commanding officer. The ship will be homeported in
Everett, Wash., with a crew of approximately 383. Shoup is
509.5 feet in length, and has a waterline beam of 59 feet. Four
gas-turbine engines power the 9,300 ton ship to speeds in excess
of 30 knots.
For more information on Arleigh Burke class destroyers, visit
http://www.chinfo.navy.mil/navpalib...s/ship-dd.html.
Sempers,
Roger
