USS Gonzalez (DDG-66)

USS Gonzalez cruises in the Mediterranean Sea.
Career (US)
Name:	USS Gonzalez
Namesake:	Alfredo Cantu Gonzalez
Ordered:	16 January 1991
Builder:	Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine
Laid down:	3 February 1994
Launched:	18 February 1995
Acquired:	14 June 1996
Commissioned:	12 October 1996
Status:	in active service, as of 2011[update]
Badge:
General characteristics
Class and type:	Arleigh Burke class destroyer
Displacement:	Light: approx. 6,800 long tons (6,900 t) Full: approx. 8,900 long tons (9,000 t)
Length:	505 ft (154 m)
Beam:	66 ft (20 m)
Draft:	31 ft (9.4 m)
Propulsion:	4 General Electric LM2500-30 gas turbines, two shafts, 100,000 total shaft horsepower (75 MW)
Speed:	>30 knots (56 km/h)
Range:	4,400 nautical miles at 20 knots (8,100 km at 37 km/h)
Complement:	33 Officers 38 Chief Petty Officers 210 Enlisted Personnel
Sensors and processing systems:	• AN/SPY-1D 3D Radar • AN/SPS-67(V)2 Surface Search Radar • AN/SPS-73(V)12 Surface Search Radar • AN/SQS-53C Sonar Array • AN/SQR-19 Tactical Towed Array Sonar • AN/SQQ-28 LAMPS III Shipboard System
Electronic warfare and decoys:	• AN/SLQ-32(V)2 Electronic Warfare System • AN/SLQ-25 Nixie Torpedo Countermeasures • MK 36 MOD 12 Decoy Launching System • AN/SLQ-39 CHAFF Buoys
Armament:	1 × 29 cell, 1 × 61 cell Mk 41 vertical launch systems with 90 × RIM-156 SM-2, BGM-109 Tomahawk or RUM-139 VL-Asroc missiles 1 × Mark 45 5/54 in (127/54 mm) 2 × 25 mm chain gun 4 × .50 caliber (12.7 mm) guns 2 × 20 mm Phalanx CIWS 2 × Mk 32 triple torpedo tubes
Aircraft carried:	1 SH-60 Sea Hawk helicopter can be embarked
Motto:	Beyond the Call

USS Gonzalez (DDG-66) is an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer in the United States Navy. She is named for Sergeant Alfredo Cantu Gonzalez, a Medal of Honor recipient in the Vietnam War.

History

The warship took part in Operation Allied Force, firing Tomahawk cruise missiles at Serbian targets in 1999. She also assisted a cruise ship, Seabourn Spirit, after an abortive attack by pirates off the coast of Somalia in 2005.^[1]

On 1 March 2006, she rescued the crew of an Iranian ship, whose engine and rudder were broken down since 18 February. The Iranian crew were rendered to Iran.

On 18 March 2006, she was involved in the Action of March 18, 2006 with suspected pirates, along with the USS Cape St. George. The two U.S. warships exchanged fire with the suspected pirates about 25 nautical miles (46 km) off the coast of Somalia. Initial reports indicated that one suspected pirate was killed and five others wounded.

On 17 July 2006, CNN reported that Gonzalez would be deployed to help in evacuation efforts of American citizens from Lebanon in the midst of the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict. On 26 July 2006, Frank James of The Chicago Tribune reported on the evacuation efforts of the Gonzalez.^[2]

References

1. ^ [1]^{[dead link]}
2. ^ [2]

• 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-66
• Official blog by Cmdr. Brian Fort, ship's captain

Gonzalez in the Atlantic, 2003