Two Navy ships--an Arleigh Burke-class Aegis guided-missile destroyer (DDG) and a Watson-class LMSR (large, medium-speed roll-on/roll-off sealift ship)--were christened as 1999 came to a close. In addition, the Navy has selected the name of a pioneering oceanographer for its next Pathfinder-class oceanographic survey ship. 

The Howard (DDG 83) was christened and launched from the Bath Iron Works (BIW) shipyard in Bath, Maine, after the traditional bottle of champagne was smashed against the ship's hull by the ship's sponsors, Theresa M. Howard, widow of the ship's namesake, and Jill Foreman Hultin, wife of Under Secretary of the Navy Jerry M. Hultin. The Howards' eldest daughter, Yvonne M. Howard, served as maid of honor for her mother. Sgt. Maj. Alford L. McMichael, sergeant major of the Marine Corps, was the principal speaker at the ceremonies. 

The new DDG is named for Marine Corps Gunnery Sgt. Jimmie E. Howard--a native of Iowa and recipient of the Silver Star for bravery during the Korean War--who was awarded the Medal of Honor for heroism in Vietnam while leading his platoon against repeated attacks by a battalion-sized force of Viet Cong guerrillas in June 1966. After being severely wounded by a grenade, Howard organized his men into a perimeter, distributed ammunition, directed air strikes against the attacking enemy, and repulsed repeated Viet Cong attacks throughout the night. The 13 surviving platoon members of the platoon were later rescued. Howard died in 1993. 

The 509-foot destroyer--the 33rd of 51 planned Arleigh Burke-class DDGs and the 19th built by BIW--is scheduled to be commissioned in 2001 and wil be homeported in San Diego, Calif. Cdr. Joseph F. Nolan is the prospective commanding officer of the 9,238-ton ship and her crew of 340 officers and enlisted personnel. 

An earlier USS Howard--a WWII Navy destroyer (DD 179) that served from 1929 until 1945--was named for Civil War hero Charles W. Howard. 

The Fifth Watson   

The Military Sealift Command's fifth Watson-class LMSR was christened Charlton (T-AKR 314) by Fairy M. Papadopoulus, sister of the ship's namesake, and her cosponsor, Marion Stearns White, wife of retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Byron R. White. 

The principal speaker at the 11 December 1999 christening ceremonies at the National Steel and Shipbuilding Company (NASSCO) shipyard in San Diego, Calif., was Army Maj. Gen. Mario F. Montero, assistant deputy chief of staff for logistics. Also speaking were Rep. Brian Bilbray (R-Calif.), Vice Adm. Gordon S. Holder, commander of the Military Sealift Command, Rear Adm. Dennis G. Morral, program executive officer for expeditionary warfare, and Richard H. Vortmann, president of NASSCO. Serving as matrons of honor were Agatha Fincher, also a sister of Charlton, and Nancy Lippe, daughter of Justice and Mrs. White. 

The 950-foot LMSR is named for Army Sgt. Cornelius H. Charlton, who was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously for heroism in the Korean War. When his platoon was attacked on 2 June 1951 and his platoon leader was wounded, Charlton rallied his men for an assault on enemy positions on a commanding hill. He killed six enemy soldiers with rifle fire and grenades before suffering a severe chest wound from a grenade. Mortally wounded, Charlton refused medical attention and led another attack. 

The 62,000-ton Charlton is designed to transport Army helicopters, armored vehicles, and other equipment in approximately 390,000 square feet of cargo space to potential trouble spots overseas. Gas turbine engines are designed to power the ship to speeds up to 24 knots. 

WAVE Oceanographer Honored 

Secretary of the Navy Richard Danzig has selected the name Mary Sears for the sixth ship (T-AGS 65) of the Pathfinder class of oceanographic survey ships. The ship will be the Navy's first oceanographic ship named for a woman. 

Sears, who died in 1997 at age 92, was a guiding force in the development of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts at its founding in 1930. As a lieutenant junior grade in the Navy's WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) during World War II, Sears organized the Oceanographic Unit of the Navy's Hydrographic Office. The unit evolved into a division, and eventually into the Naval Oceanographic Office. Her intelligence reports, "Submarine Supplements to the Sailing Directions"--which predicted the presence of thermoclines under which submarines could escape detection by sonar--are credited as being key to the survivability of U.S. submarines during World War II. Danzig termed Sears' contributions to oceanographic research "legendary." 

The Mary Sears is scheduled to be christened and launched in 2000 at the shipyard of its builder, Halter Marine, in Pascagoula, Miss. 

Marinette Marine Launches Last Two Keeper Tenders 

Marinette Marine of Menominee, Wis., closed out 1999 by launching the last two Keeper-class coastal buoy tenders (WLMs) within a month of each other. The Henry Blake (WLM 5613) and the George Cobb (WLM 5614) were christened and side-launched into the Menominee River. The new ships--the 13th and 14th of the Keeper class--will be commissioned in the summer of 2000. 

The Henry Blake was christened by her sponsor, Mary Saccardi Blayney, wife of Rear Adm. Paul M. Blayney Jr., commander of the Thirteenth Coast Guard District and the keynote speaker for the 20 November launching ceremonies. 

The Henry Blake is named for the keeper of New Dungeness Lighthouse near Port Angeles, Wash.; she will be homeported in Seattle, Wash. 

The George Cobb was christened by Janice Kuykendall, wife of Rep. Steven Kuykendall (R-Calif.), the principal speaker at the 18 December ceremonies. Also speaking was Rear Adm. Ernest R. Riutta, assistant commandant for operations at U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters. 

The George Cobb--named for a keeper of Point Bonita Lighthouse Station near San Francisco Bay, Calif.--will be homeported in San Pedro, Calif. 

The 175-foot Keeper-class WLMs feature Z-drive propulsion and integrated GPS/INS (global positioning system/inertial navigation system) units that enable them to maintain exact position while placing or retrieving navigational aids. The principal secondary missions for the Keeper WLMs are environmental protection and search and rescue. 

MSC Tests Outsourcing Of VERTREP Helicopters 

The Military Sealift Command has deployed commercial helicopters on one of its combat stores ships (T-AFSs), beginning a three-year experiment in outsourced vertical replenishment (VERTREP) operations. The experiment is intended to assess the feasibility of using commercial helicopters to meet the fleet's requirement for VERTREP services. 

The MSC awarded a three-year $20.3 million contract--with an additional two-year $10.9 million option--to Geo-Seis Helicopters Inc., based in Fort Collins, Colo. The company has deployed two SA-330J Puma helicopters on board the USNS Sirius for six months. The helicopters will rotate between the Sirius, her sister ship USNS Saturn, and the Mars-class T-AFS USNS Concord on future six-month deployments. 

MSC officials consider the outsourcing of VERTREP services to be a cost-effective alternative to using the H-46 Sea Knight helicopter, which is approaching the end of its service life and for which a shortage exists in the fleet. The Navy also is procuring CH-60S Knighthawks, some of which will replace many of the H-46s now in service. 

The MSC uses helicopters from its combat logistics force ships to rapidly transfer cargo--including ammunition and jet engines--to and from Navy ships at sea. The SA-330J Puma can lift a maximum of 7,000 pounds of cargo externally and, like the H-46, can carry passengers as well. 

Navy Plans Increase In NJROTC Units 

The Chief of Naval Education and Training (CNET) will be significantly expanding the Navy Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps (NJROTC) program over the next several years, Navy officials have announced. CNET is increasing--to 490, from 435 at present--the number of high schools authorized to have NJROTC programs in fiscal year 2000, and is planning to add a total of 210 more units in fiscal years 2001 through 2005. 

The NJROTC program is designed to promote leadership skills and the qualities of patriotism, good citizenship, and self-discipline in high school students. As part of their high school curriculum, NJROTC students study naval history, oceanography, navigation, naval operations, astronomy, and leadership. They also participate in military drill, orientation trips and cruises, academic and athletic events, and community service programs. 

The current NJROTC program includes approximately 63,000 students and 961 instructors in units located in 43 states, the District of Columbia, Italy, Japan, and Guam. NJROTC instructors are retired officers and senior enlisted personnel (E-6 through E-9) of the Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard. 

CNET officials said that schools with NJROTC programs have "demonstrated increased attendance, higher graduation rates, reduced gang involvement, and decreased discipline problems." 

Sea Service Notes 

The Blue Ridge-class command ship USS Mount Whitney has returned to her homeport in Norfolk, Va., after her first deployment to the Mediterranean--which included service in Operation Allied Force. The Mount Whitney, normally the flagship for the U.S. Second Fleet, served in the Mediterranean for more than five months as flagship for the U.S. Sixth Fleet while the command ship USS La Salle was undergoing overhaul in France. 

The Hamilton-class high-endurance cutter USCGC Munro intercepted a 200-foot freighter suspected of smuggling undocumented Asian migrants in international waters east of Guatemala. The Munro came to the assistance of the Wing Fing Lung, which signaled that it was taking on water and that its passengers were abandoning ship. A boarding team from the Munro confirmed that the vessel was in no danger and found the ship crowded with persons of Asian descent living in deplorable conditions. The Munro escorted the ship to a Central American harbor. 

The Perry-class guided-missile frigate USS Curts, the Famous-class medium-endurance cutter USCGC Northland, and the Island-class patrol boat USCGC Matagorda teamed together to intercept a 45-foot "Go-Fast" boat and three suspects off the coast of Colombia, seizing 2,100 pounds of cocaine with a street value estimated between $16 million and $20 million. 

Another ship swap is planned for the U.S. Seventh Fleet in 2000. The Ticonderoga-class Aegis guided-missile cruisers USS Mobile Bay and USS Cowpens--based in Yokosuka, Japan, and San Diego, Calif., respectively--will trade homeports and--for the most part--their crews. The transfer--similar to the rotation of four other warships in 1999--is intended to minimize disruption of personnel and their families while ensuring that forward-deployed ships receive the previously scheduled maintenance and modernization periods needed to maintain combat readiness.