Military

DDG 93 Chung-Hoon

Chung-hoon (DDG 93) is the 43rd ship in the ARLEIGH BURKE (DDG 51) Class of Aegis guided missile destroyers - the U.S. Navy's most powerful destroyer fleet. DDG 93 is also the 20th Aegis destroyer to be launched and christened from Northrop Grumman Ship Systems in Pascagoula, Mississippi. This will be the 15th Flight IIA Arleigh Burke class destroyer to employ an embarked helicopter detachment capable of supporting dual SH-60 helicopters.

Arleigh Burke class destroyers are equipped to operate with battle groups in high-threat environments and conduct a variety of missions, from peacetime presence and crisis management to sea control and power projection, in support of national military strategy. They also provide essential escort capabilities to Navy and Marine Corps amphibious forces, combat logistics ships and convoys.

These multi-mission ships are equipped with the Navy's AEGIS combat weapons system, which combines space-age communication, radar and weapons technologies into a single platform for unlimited flexibility and significant influence while operating "Forward...From the Sea." These destroyers replace older, less capable ships that are being taken out of service as the Navy reduces spending while maintaining quality as part of its overall plan to recapitalize the fleet.

DDG 93 and higher ships will be delivered with Mafo-Holtcamp watertight doors. These doors will have stainless steel panels, and dog systems fully on the inboard side of the bulkhead, thus avoiding bulkhead penetrations that lead to many of the current maintenance requirements. The Navy is currently spending between 20-30 million dollars per year in watertight door repair costs. Approximately ½ of the repair effort is expended on aluminum doors, though they represent only 15% of the entire population of doors. Despite this effort, recent INSURV data indicates that 33% of the watertight doors inspected are not watertight. Recent shipboard surveys indicate substantial differences in material condition of individual ships can be attributed to effort and attitude, but even under the best conditions a destroyer type ship will expend over 2 man years of effort in their upkeep.

Construction of Chung-hoon began on January 17, 2001, and DDG 93's keel was laid on January 14, 2002. During the construction of DDG 93, hundreds of subassemblies were built and outfitted with piping sections, ventilation ducting and other shipboard hardware. These subassemblies were joined to form dozens of assemblies, which were then joined "on-block" to form the ship's hull. During the assembly integration process, the ship was outfitted with larger equipment items, such as electrical panels, propulsion equipment and generators. The ship's superstructure, or "deckhouse," was lifted atop the ship's midsection early in the assembly process, facilitating the early activation of DDG 93's electrical and electronic equipment.

When the ship's hull integration was complete, DDG 93 was moved over land via Ingall's wheel-on-rail transfer system, and onto the shipyard's launch and recovery dock.

On December 15, 2002, the drydock was ballasted down, and Chung-hoon floated free. She was then moved to her christening birth.

The Chung-hoon was christened Jan. 11, 2003. Chung-Hoon was built by Ingalls Shipbuilding, in Pascagoula, Miss. She was christened by the ship's spnsor, Ms. Michelle Punana Chung-Hoon, the niece of Rear Admiral Chung-Hoon.

Upon completion of outfitting, as well as dockside and at-sea testing and crew training, DDG 93 will be commissioned USS Chung-hoon in the summer of 2004. USS Chung-hoon will be homeported in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii

The guided-missile destroyer USS Chung-Hoon (DDG 93), arrived on September 10, 2004 at her new homeport of Naval Station Pearl Harbor. It was commissioned on Sept. 18, 2004, during a ceremony at Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii at 10:30 a.m. Hawaii Standard Time.

Gordon P. Chung-Hoon

On 10 October 2000 Secretary of the Navy Richard Danzig announced the decision to name the 43rd ship of the Arleigh Burke class of guided missile destroyers, "Chung-Hoon" (DDG 93).

The name Chung-Hoon (DDG 93) will honor Navy Rear Adm. Gordon P. Chung-Hoon, born in Honolulu, Hawaii, July 10, 1910. Chung-Hoon attended the U.S. Naval Academy and graduated in May 1934. He is a recipient of the Navy Cross and Silver Star for conspicuous gallantry and extraordinary heroism as commanding officer for USS Sigsbee (DD 502) from May 1944 to October 1945. In the spring of 1945, Sigsbee assisted in the destruction of 20 enemy planes while screening a carrier strike force off the Japanese island of Kyushu. On April 14, 1945, while on radar picket station off Okinawa, a kamikaze crashed into Sigsbee, reducing her starboard engine to five knots and knocking out the ship's port engine and steering control. Despite the damage, then-Cmdr. Chung-Hoon valiantly kept his antiaircraft batteries delivering "prolonged and effective fire" against the continuing enemy air attack while simultaneously directing the damage control efforts that allowed Sigsbee to make port under her own power. He retired in October 1959 and died in July 1979.

Danzig said, "The destroyer 'Chung-Hoon' commemorates a triumph of the human spirit. Cmdr. (later Rear Adm.) Chung-Hoon secured two victories by his courage and tenacity in the face of catastrophic damage to his own ship. The officers and crew of DDG 93 will proudly serve on a ship that bears this name."