Another Arleigh Burke-class Aegis guided-missile destroyer (DDG) has joined the U.S. Pacific Fleet, two weeks before another was christened. In addition, Secretary of the Navy Richard Danzig has selected the name of a famous Navy "dynasty" for the 39th ship of the class, and President Clinton has selected the name of a recently deceased senator and former secretary of the Navy for the 40th.

The USS O'Kane (DDG 77)--the 27th Burke-class DDG built and the 16th built by Bath Iron Works--was commissioned in ceremonies at Naval Station Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, the new ship's homeport. The ship is named for the late Rear Adm. Richard H. O'Kane, a recipient of the Medal of Honor for his daring attacks on two Japanese convoys in 1944 while he commanded the Gato-class submarine USS Tang (SS 306), which participated in five patrols and sank 31 ships--a record unsurpassed by any other U.S. submarine. The Tang was sunk by its own malfunctioning torpedo during an attack on an enemy ship; O'Kane--also a recipient of three Navy Crosses and three Silver Stars--spent the remainder of the war as a prisoner of the Japanese.

Retired Capt. Edward L. Beach, himself a distinguished submariner, was the principal speaker at the 23 October ceremonies. The ship's sponsor, Mrs. Leslie Allen Berry, granddaughter of O'Kane, gave the order to "man our ship and bring her to life." O'Kane's widow, Mrs. Ernestine O'Kane, served as matron of honor.

"With this wonderful ship, we honor Richard O'Kane," Beach said. "But the real fact is that it is he who is honoring us. It is we, who bask in his memory, who are truly honored by the privilege of doing so."

The O'Kane is believed to be only the second U.S. Navy ship ever commissioned in Hawaii. The first was the Ticonderoga-class Aegis guided-missile cruiser USS Lake Erie, commissioned in 1993. Both commissioning ceremonies were sponsored and organized by members of the Honolulu Council of the Navy League and other community leaders.

Cdr. David C. Hulse is the first commanding of the 504-foot, 8,930-ton O'Kane and her crew of 318 officers and enlisted personnel.

Vietnam Rescuer

The Lassen (DDG 82), the 14th Burke-class DDG built by Litton Ingalls Shipbuilding, is named for a Navy helicopter pilot and recipient of the Medal of Honor for a heroic rescue in North Vietnam. The late Cdr. Clyde Everett Lassen, a lieutenant assigned to Helicopter Combat Support Squadron Seven, flew a UH-2 Seasprite rescue helicopter over enemy territory on the night of 19 June 1968 to recover two Navy fliers whose aircraft was downed deep inside North Vietnam. Initially, dense tree cover, enemy fire, and intermittent illumination frustrated his efforts to locate the downed fliers. Despite the danger of highlighting his position, Lassen turned on his landing lights, enabling the fliers to make their way to the pickup point. Lassen piloted his bullet-riddled helicopter to the safety of a guided-missile destroyer offshore, landing with only five minutes of fuel remaining.

Christening the 509-foot Lassen were Lassen's widow, Mrs. Linda Barbara Lassen, and her cosponsor, Mrs. Barbara Orbon Pilling, wife of Adm. Donald Pilling, vice chief of naval operations. Rep. Steven Kuykendall (R-Calif.) was the principal speaker at the 6 November ceremonies at the Litton Ingalls shipyard in Pascagoula, Miss. Lassen's daughter, Lynnell Marie Lassen, served as maid of honor, and Pilling's daughters, Jennifer Pilling Stopkey and Kathleen Pilling Posivak, served as matrons of honor.

The 9,238-ton Lassen will be homeported in San Diego, Calif., after her commissioning, which is scheduled for mid-2001. Cdr. Sean O'Connor, a native of Rumson, N.J., is the prospective commanding officer of the Lassen.

Guadalcanal Vet; SECNAV; Governor; U.S. Senator

President Clinton named the 40th Burke-class DDG for Sen. John H. Chafee (R-R.I.), a former Marine and former secretary of the Navy, who died in office on 24 October. A veteran of the Guadalcanal campaign in World War II, Chafee later commanded a Marine rifle company in the Korean War. He also served as governor of Rhode Island and in 1969 was appointed secretary of the Navy by President Richard M. Nixon. He was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1976 and reelected three times since.

Honoring Four Mustins

Secretary Danzig selected the name Mustin for the 39th Burke-class DDG, in honor of four generations of Naval Academy graduates who have "recorded a rich and honorable tradition of naval service" spanning nearly a century, 1896 to 1989.

Capt. Henry C. Mustin (1874­1923)--for whom the WWII Sims-class destroyer USS Mustin (DD 413) was named--was commended for distinguished service in the capture of Vigan, Philippines; he also flew the first aircraft ever catapulted from a ship and the first combat missions in the history of naval aviation (during the 1914 Vera Cruz operation), and served as the first commander of Aircraft Squadrons, Battle Fleet.

His son, Vice Adm. Lloyd Mustin (1911-1999), helped to develop the Navy's first lead-computing anti-aircraft gunsight, which was used effectively in combat during World War II. He survived the sinking of the light cruiser USS Atlanta (CL 51) during the naval battle of Guadalcanal and served ashore with the First Marine Division. He later served as director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

His son, retired Vice Adm. Henry C. Mustin II, is a Vietnam veteran who went on to command the U.S. Second Fleet and to serve as deputy chief of naval operations for plans and policy. His son, retired Lt. Cdr. Thomas M. Mustin, served in combat on river patrol boats in Vietnam.

MSC Prepositioning Ship Named for USAF Hero

A ship chartered by the Military Sealift Command has been named for an Air Force pilot who received the Medal of Honor for a heroic rescue during the Vietnam War.

Retired Col. Bernard F. Fisher and his wife and six sons were present at the naming ceremonies at the Military Ocean Terminal in Sunny Point, N.C., for the MV Maj. Bernard F. Fisher (T-AKR 4396). Fisher, a pilot of an A-1E Skyraider attack aircraft assigned to the First Air Commando Squadron at Bien Hoa Air Base in South Vietnam, was flying a close air support mission in March 1966 in support of a U.S. Army Special Forces camp in the A Shau Valley, which was being overrun by a force of 2,000 North Vietnamese soldiers. After a fellow A-1E pilot was shot down at the camp's airstrip, Fisher landed his aircraft and taxied almost the full length of a debris-littered airstrip--dodging portions of the Marston matting destroyed by mortar fire. Under withering enemy fire, Fisher located the downed pilot, who climbed into the cockpit, and took off again to safety.

Fisher's wife, Realla Fisher, the ship's sponsor--assisted by her six daughters-in-law, the matrons of honor--broke the ceremonial bottle of champagne on the ship. Air Force Vice Chief of Staff Maj. General Lester Lyles was the principal speaker at the 15 October ceremonies.

The 652-foot Maj. Bernard F. Fisher will be operated by the MSC and used to preposition Air Force ammunition and related supplies overseas. The ship, owned by Sealift Inc., displaces 48,000 long tons and can reach speeds up to 19 knots.

MSC Marks 50 Years

The Military Sealift Command has marked half a century of service.

The Department of Defense ocean-transportation provider was established on 1 October 1949 as the Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS). In 1958 MSTS expanded its role to include the operation of the Navy's scientific support ships. In 1970 the command was redesignated the Military Sealift Command. Beginning in 1972 the MSC assumed the operation of the Navy's fleet auxiliary ships, and, during the 1980s, began to operate the afloat prepositioning ships.

The MSC today operates approximately 120 ships and maintains more than 100 ships in a reserve status. More than 95 percent of the cargo needed for U.S. war or contingency operations moves via sealift.

Sea Service Notes

The Navy marked its safest year ever in fiscal year 1999, despite the high tempo of operations, which included combat in Operations Desert Fox and Allied Force, Navy officials said. Only 15 Navy personnel were killed in military mishaps; six of those died in aircraft accidents. Only nine Navy aircraft were lost to mishaps--a rate of 0.77 Class A mishaps per 100,000 hours of flight.

A new training squadron (VT) has been activated at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, Texas. VT-35 has been added to Training Air Wing Four to assume some of the maritime multiengine turboprop training formerly conducted solely by VT-31. VT-35 operates the 18 TC-12B Hurons formerly flown by VT-31, which now flies only the T-44A Pegasus multiengine trainer. The first commanding officer of VT-35--a joint squadron--is an Air Force officer, Lt. Col. John Gomez.

The Navy's Lockheed-built Trident I (C4) missile has completed twenty years of nuclear deterrent submarine patrols, totaling almost 800 patrols. The missile was first deployed on the nuclear-powered ballistic-missile submarine USS Francis Scott Key on 22 October 1979. The Trident I missile is expected to serve for five more years until completely replaced by the Trident II (D5) missile.

The Naval Surface Warfare Center Carderock Division has closed its Annapolis Lab, which began its service in 1903 as the Engineering Experiment Station. The Annapolis Lab--whose closure was mandated by the 1995 Base Closure and Realignment process--was heavily involved in the development of naval machinery, materials, quieting technology, and environmental systems. The laboratory's work has been shifted to the warfare center's facilities in Carderock, Md., and Philadelphia, Pa. *

 
Historic Perspective

The Oregon's Rush Around Cape Horn

 

By DAVID F. WINKLER

Dr. David F. Winkler is a historian for the Naval Historical Foundation.

 

On 15 February 1898, an explosion ripped through the battleship USS Maine, costing 266 Sailors their lives and leaving one of America's most modern warships sunk in the mud of Havana harbor. While the cause of the blast was undetermined, a jingoistic press convicted Spain of the atrocity and cried out for war. Two months later, on 26 April, Congress heeded the calls and formally declared war against Spain.

One of the dramatic subplots of the Spanish-American war was whether the battleship USS Oregon could race from San Francisco, around South America, and arrive in time to reinforce the U.S. Navy's Atlantic battle squadron. As a precaution, Secretary of the Navy John D. Long ordered the West Coast battleship to the East Coast and, on 19 March, the ship passed through the Golden Gate and headed south.

Arriving in Callao, Peru, on 4 April, the ship had steamed 4,800 miles in 16 days. On 17 April the Oregon cleared the Strait of Magellan, having weathered a terrific gale. She arrived at Rio de Janeiro on 30 April, where her commanding officer learned of the congressional declaration of war and of Commo. George Dewey's great victory at Manila Bay. The battleship headed north again, making a coaling stop at Barbados before arriving off Jupiter Islet, Fla., on 24 May to report ready for action. By 1 June the warship had joined Adm. William T. Sampson's fleet and was bombarding shore targets at Santiago, Cuba. A month later, the Oregon contributed to the destruction of Adm. Pascual Cervera y Topete's Spanish squadron.

The 66-day, 14,000-mile journey, hailed as a major nautical feat for its day, neutralized opposition to those Americans who advocated the building of a canal across Central America. The United States could ill afford to wait two months to transfer warships from one coast to the other. National security became the foremost imperative for linking the world's two greatest oceans with a man-made navigable waterway.

Visit the Naval Historical Center's web site www.history.navy.mil for source materials on the Spanish-American War, photos of both the U.S. and Spanish warships, and individual ship histories.

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