USS ''Hewitt'' (DD-966), named for

Admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...

H. Kent Hewitt Henry Kent Hewitt (February 11, 1887 – September 15, 1972) was the United States Navy commander of amphibious operations in north Africa and southern Europe through World War II. He was born in Hackensack, New Jersey and graduated from the Unit ...

USN (1887–1972), was a built by the

Ingalls Shipbuilding Ingalls Shipbuilding is a shipyard located in Pascagoula, Mississippi, United States, originally established in 1938, and now part of Huntington Ingalls Industries, HII. It is a leading producer of ships for the United States Navy, and at 12,500 ...

Division of

Litton Industries Litton Industries was a large defense contractor in the United States named after inventor Charles Litton Sr. During the 1960s, the company began acquiring many unrelated firms and became one of the largest conglomerates in the United States. ...

Pascagoula, Mississippi Pascagoula ( ) is a city in Jackson County, Mississippi, United States. It is the principal city of the Pascagoula Metropolitan Statistical Area, and is part of the Gulfport–Biloxi–Pascagoula Combined Statistical Area. The population was 22 ...

and launched on 14 September 1974 by Mrs. Leroy Hewitt Taylor and Mrs. Gerald Hewitt Norton, daughters of Admiral Hewitt.

History

''Hewitt'' was the fourth of the ''Spruance''-class destroyers. Known as the "Greyhounds of the fleet" for their speed, versatility and reliability, they were the largest general purpose destroyers ever to fly the flag of the United States. ''Hewitt'' was commissioned on 25 September 1976. After an intensive period of initial training, ''Hewitt'' deployed to the Western Pacific in September 1978 and was assigned to the

U.S. 7th Fleet The Seventh Fleet is a numbered fleet of the United States Navy. It is headquartered at U.S. Fleet Activities Yokosuka, in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. It is part of the United States Pacific Fleet. At present, it is the largest of th ...

. In addition to serving as a front line unit, ''Hewitt'' also acted as a good will ambassador with port visits to Australia,

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

and

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

. ''Hewitt'' returned to

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

in April 1979. In preparation for her next deployment, ''Hewitt'' participated in a multinational Rim-of-the-Pacific (RIMPAC) battle group exercise in February and March 1980. She departed on her second overseas deployment on 15 May 1980. During that deployment, ''Hewitt'' and other members of Battle Group Charlie operated in the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...

to show U.S. resolve to protect free world access to

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crud ...

resources, and to help obtain the release of 52 Americans held hostage in

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

. ''Hewitt'' earned the

Navy Expeditionary Medal The Navy Expeditionary Medal is a military award of the United States Navy which was established in August 1936. Award criteria The General Orders of the Department of the Navy which established the medal states, "The medal will be awarded, to ...

for her contributions. During the latter part of the deployment, ''Hewitt'' also earned the

Humanitarian Service Medal The Humanitarian Service Medal (HSM) is a military service medal of the United States Armed Forces which was created on January 19, 1977 by President Gerald Ford under . The medal may be awarded to members of the United States military (includi ...

for rescuing a group of

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

ese boat refugees adrift in the

South China Sea The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by the shores of South China (hence the name), in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan and northwestern Phil ...

. For her superior performance, ''Hewitt'' was awarded the Battle "E" as the most outstanding ship in Destroyer Squadron 21 (DesRon 21) from 1979 to 1980. ''Hewitt'' entered the

Long Beach Naval Shipyard The Long Beach Naval Shipyard (Long Beach NSY or LBNSY), which closed in 1997, was located on Terminal Island between the city of Long Beach and the San Pedro district of Los Angeles, approximately 23 miles south of the Los Angeles International ...

on 19 May 1981 for its first regular overhaul. Extensive modifications were performed to improve survivability, and new combat systems capabilities were added to improve quick reaction to missile attacks. After a rigorous re-qualification and retraining period, ''Hewitt'' departed on 21 March 1983 for its third deployment. Highlights included a three aircraft carrier fleet exercise with , and , and independent operations in the South China Sea. ''Hewitt'' departed on her fourth deployment on 18 October 1984. Once again a member of Battle Group Charlie, she spent seven highly successful months in the Western Pacific and Indian Oceans. In January 1985, ''Hewitt'' set a record at the Tabones Firing Range in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

by earning the highest score ever recorded at the range for

Naval Gunfire Support Naval gunfire support (NGFS) (also known as shore bombardment) is the use of naval artillery to provide fire support for amphibious assault and other troops operating within their range. NGFS is one of a number of disciplines encompassed by th ...

(NGFS) exercise. From February to April 1985, ''Hewitt'' operated in the North

Arabian Sea The Arabian Sea ( ar, اَلْبَحرْ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Bahr al-ˁArabī) is a region of the northern Indian Ocean bounded on the north by Pakistan, Iran and the Gulf of Oman, on the west by the Gulf of Aden, Guardafui Channel ...

and

Gulf of Oman The Gulf of Oman or Sea of Oman ( ar, خليج عمان ''khalīj ʿumān''; fa, دریای عمان ''daryâ-ye omân''), also known as Gulf of Makran or Sea of Makran ( ar, خلیج مکران ''khalīj makrān''; fa, دریای مکرا� ...

. For its achievements during the deployment, ''Hewitt'' received the

Meritorious Unit Commendation The Meritorious Unit Commendation (MUC; pronounced ''muck'') is a mid-level unit award of the United States Armed Forces. The U.S. Army awards units the Army MUC for exceptionally meritorious conduct in performance of outstanding achievement or s ...

. ''Hewitt'' returned home to San Diego on 24 May 1985. On 1 September 1985, ''Hewitt'' and other members of Destroyer Squadron 31 became the first Pacific Fleet Anti-Submarine Warfare Squadron. The squadron's basic mission was to locate and track submarines in the Eastern Pacific, to develop USW tactics and training, and to serve as a ready response force under Commander, U.S. 3rd Fleet. From September 1985 to April 1987, ''Hewitt'' and the other ships in DesRon 31 set new standards of excellence in USW. During ''Hewitt'''s second overhaul (May 1987 to November 1988) at National Steel and Shipbuilding Company Shipyard in San Diego, California, she underwent a modernization which included installation of the

Vertical Launch System A vertical launching system (VLS) is an advanced system for holding and firing missiles on mobile naval platforms, such as surface ships and submarines. Each vertical launch system consists of a number of ''cells'', which can hold one or mor ...

, the

Tomahawk A tomahawk is a type of single-handed axe used by the many Indigenous peoples and nations of North America. It traditionally resembles a hatchet with a straight shaft. In pre-colonial times the head was made of stone, bone, or antler, and Europ ...

Missile System, the

Close-In Weapons System A close-in weapon system (CIWS ) is a point-defense weapon system for detecting and destroying short-range incoming missiles and enemy aircraft which have penetrated the outer defenses, typically mounted on a naval ship. Nearly all classes of la ...

(CIWS), LAMPS MK III, and the SQQ-89 Sonar System. After a brief but extensive training and inspection cycle, ''Hewitt'' joined DesRon 21 and once again deployed to the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Persis, Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a Mediterranean sea (oceanography), me ...

on 18 September 1989. ''Hewitts fifth Western Pacific deployment ended on 16 March 1990. Five months later, ''Hewitt'' was underway to her new homeport at

Yokosuka is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city has a population of 409,478, and a population density of . The total area is . Yokosuka is the 11th most populous city in the Greater Tokyo Area, and the 12th in the Kantō region. The city ...

, Japan. ''Hewitt'' joined

Destroyer Squadron 15 Destroyer Squadron 15 is a squadron of United States Navy ''Arleigh Burke''-class destroyers based at Yokosuka, Japan. History Destroyer Squadron Fifteen was founded in 1920 as a reserve fleet unit. The squadron was disestablished in 1922 and an ...

on 25 August 1990. In Yokosuka, she operated with numerous multi-national forces, including the

Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force , abbreviated , also simply known as the Japanese Navy, is the maritime warfare branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, tasked with the naval defense of Japan. The JMSDF was formed following the dissolution of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) ...

, and the South Korean, Bruneian,

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Au ...

Saudi Arabian Saudis ( ar, سعوديون, Suʿūdiyyūn) are people identified with the country of Saudi Arabia. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. The Saudis are composed mainly of Arabs and primarily speak a regional dialect ...

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

, and

Singaporean Singaporeans, or the Singaporean people, refers to citizens or people who identify with the sovereign island city-state of Singapore. Singapore is a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multi-lingual country. Singaporeans of Chinese, Malay, India ...

navies. ''Hewitt'' participated as flagship for Maritime Interception Force (MIF) Commander Red Sea for Boarding Operations in support of Operation Desert Storm in 1991 as part of United Nations sanctions against Iraq. ''Hewitt'' concluded an intensive six-month deployment to the Persian Gulf in April 1993. Her seventh deployment was highlighted by a Tomahawk strike against

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

and combined operations with numerous navies, the Russian destroyer . ''Hewitt'' also served as Maritime Action Group (MAG) Commander in October 1993, helping to develop the new MAG warfare concept. ''Hewitt'' was awarded the Meritorious Unit Commendation for the 1992–1993 Persian Gulf deployment and the U.S. 7th Fleet's USW Excellence Award for 1993. Following a brief maintenance availability in early 1994. ''Hewitt'' participated in RIMPAC '94. Directly following the exercise, ''Hewitt'' conducted live missile firings near

Barking Sands The Pacific Missile Range Facility, Barking Sands is a U.S. naval facility and airport located five nautical miles (9 km) northwest of the central business district of Kekaha, in Kauai County, Hawaii, United States. PMRF is the world's lar ...

Kauai Kauai, () anglicized as Kauai ( ), is geologically the second-oldest of the main Hawaiian Islands (after Niʻihau). With an area of 562.3 square miles (1,456.4 km2), it is the fourth-largest of these islands and the 21st largest island ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

which included a successful NATO

Sea Sparrow RIM-7 Sea Sparrow is a U.S. ship-borne short-range anti-aircraft and anti-missile weapon system, primarily intended for defense against anti-ship missiles. The system was developed in the early 1960s from the AIM-7 Sparrow air-to-air missile as a ...

engagement and the first fleet firing of the Penguin anti-ship missile with HSL 51 Detachment 6 on 25 June 1994. ''Hewitt'' again deployed to the Persian Gulf on 5 September 1994 as a primary component of the multinational Middle East peacekeeping unit, enforcing

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

sanctions against Iraq. ''Hewitt'' returned to Yokosuka, Japan 10 January 1995 and received U.S. 7th Fleet's Surface Warfare Award for 1994. On 17 March 1995, ''Hewitt'' entered the yards for an extended availability period which ended 5 September 1995. Afterwards, ''Hewitt'' participated in several multinational USW exercises and was awarded the Battle "E" for her performance in 1995. On 3 June 1996, ''Hewitt'' deployed to the Persian Gulf for Middle East Force deployment (MEF) 96-2. While supporting

U.S. 5th Fleet The Fifth Fleet is a numbered fleet of the United States Navy. It has been responsible for naval forces in the Persian Gulf, Red Sea, Arabian Sea, and parts of the Indian Ocean since 1995 after a 48-year hiatus. It shares a commander and headq ...

operations, ''Hewitt'' participated in

Operation Desert Strike The 1996 cruise missile strikes on Iraq, codenamed Operation Desert Strike, were joint United States Navy–United States Air Force strikes conducted on 3 September against air defense targets in southern Ba'athist Iraq, Iraq, in response to a ...

and launched two Tomahawk missiles on 4 September 1996 against Iraq. ''Hewitt'' received a Meritorious Unit Commendation for her actions during the deployment and returned home to Yokosuka, Japan on 30 October 1996. In March 1997, ''Hewitt'' conducted battle group exercises with and in April

for the Sharem 120B exercise in the

Yellow Sea The Yellow Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean located between mainland China and the Korean Peninsula, and can be considered the northwestern part of the East China Sea. It is one of four seas named after common colour terms ...

conducted with the

Republic of Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its east ...

Navy. In May ''Hewitt'' entered an availability and received the women at-sea modification to berth the first females permanently assigned to the ship. The first female Sailors reported on board in July. On 24 August 1997, ''Hewitt'' departed Yokosuka, Japan for a homeport change to NS San Diego, California. ''Hewitt'' joined

Destroyer Squadron 23 Destroyer Squadron 23 (DESRON 23) is a squadron of United States Navy destroyers based out of San Diego, California. The squadron is best known for its actions during World War II, most notably the Battle of Cape St. George, under the command of ...

on 29 August 1997 during her transit to San Diego. On 27 January 1999, ''Hewitt'' deployed to the Persian Gulf for Middle East Force Deployment (MEF) 99-1. In support of U.N. Sanctions against Iraq. ''Hewitt'' conducted visit, board, search and seizure of merchants in the area. ''Hewitt'' returned to San Diego on 26 July 1999 followed by a two-month Selected Restricted Availability which ended 7 November 1999. ''Hewitt'' was decommissioned 19 July 2001; she was sold for scrap to International Shipbreaking, Incorporated, of

Brownsville, Texas Brownsville () is a city in Cameron County in the U.S. state of Texas. It is on the western Gulf Coast in South Texas, adjacent to the border with Matamoros, Mexico. The city covers , and has a population of 186,738 as of the 2020 census. It ...

on 9 August 2001. She was stricken from the

Naval Vessel Register The ''Naval Vessel Register'' (NVR) is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from t ...

5 June 2002.

Awards

* Navy

– (Nov 1984-May 1985, Sep 1985-Dec 1986, Aug-Dec 1994, Dec 2000-Mar 2001) * Battle "E" – (1979, 1987, 1995) *

– (Jun-Aug 1980) *

Southwest Asia Service Medal The Southwest Asia Service Medal (SASM or SWASM) is a military award of the United States Armed Forces which was created by order of President George H.W. Bush on March 12, 1991. The award is intended to recognize those military service members ...

– (In support of Desert Storm and MIF Red Sea Ops Jun-Sep 1991 with bronze star; and Persian Gulf Sep -Dec 1994) *

– (3 September 1980) * Communications Green C Award Signalman and Communications Departments Consecutive (1991, 1992, 1993, 1994 and 1995). * Kuwait Liberation Medal (Kuwait) (1991) * National Defense Medal (1990)

Gallery

File:USS Hewitt (DD-966) at Ingalls Shipbuilding in September 1974.jpg, USS ''Hewitt'' under construction in September 1974 File:USS Hewitt (DD-966) underway at sea in 1980.jpg, USS ''Hewitt'' in 1980 File:USS Hewitt (DD-966) underway off San Diego 1981.jpg, USS ''Hewitt'' off

1981 File:USS Hewitt (DD-966) and USS Sides (FFG-14) underway, circa in 1984.jpg, USS ''Hewitt'' alongside USS Sides in 1984

External links

*
navsource.org: USS ''Hewitt''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hewitt (DD-966) Spruance-class destroyers Cold War destroyers of the United States 1974 ships

History

Awards

Gallery

See also

External links