USS ''McFaul'' (DDG-74) is an in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

. She is named for U.S.

Navy SEAL The United States Navy Sea, Air, and Land (SEAL) Teams, commonly known as Navy SEALs, are the U.S. Navy's primary special operations force and a component of the Naval Special Warfare Command. Among the SEALs' main functions are conducting s ...

Chief Petty Officer

Donald L. McFaul Donald Lewis McFaul (20 September 1957 – 20 December 1989) was a United States Navy SEAL killed in action at Paitilla Airfield during Operation Just Cause, the 1989 United States invasion of Panama. He was posthumously awarded the Purple Hea ...

. This ship is the 24th destroyer of her class. USS ''McFaul'' was the 11th ship of this class to be built at

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

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 2 ...

, and construction began on 26 January 1996. She was launched on 18 January 1997 and was christened on 12 April 1997. On 25 April 1998 she had her commissioning ceremony at the Garden City Terminal in

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the British colonial capital of the Province of Georgia and later t ...

. As of July 2020 the ship is part of

Destroyer Squadron 26 Destroyer Squadron 26 (DESRON-26) is a destroyer squadron of the United States Navy. It was first created in 1950. It has seen action in the Korean War, service in the Atlantic, in the Vietnam War. From 1974 for a period it became the 'Mod Squad', ...

based out of

Naval Station Norfolk Naval Station Norfolk is a United States Navy base in Norfolk, Virginia, that is the headquarters and home port of the U.S. Navy's Fleet Forces Command. The installation occupies about of waterfront space and of pier and wharf space of the Hampt ...

Service history

On 22 August 2005, ''McFaul'' was involved in a minor collision with the destroyer off the coast of

Jacksonville Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

, Florida. Both ships suffered minor damage, and no injuries were reported. Both ships returned to their homeport at

under their own power. On 16 February 2007, ''McFaul'' was awarded the 2006 Battle "E" award. Loading bottled water on the USS McFaul (DDG 74)

On 24 August 2008, ''McFaul'' arrived in

Batumi Batumi (; ka, ბათუმი ) is the second largest city of Georgia and the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara, located on the coast of the Black Sea in Georgia's southwest. It is situated in a subtropical zone at the foot of t ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, as part of Operation Assured Delivery to "deliver humanitarian relief supplies ... as part of the larger United States response to the government of Georgia request for humanitarian assistance" in the wake of the 2008

Russo-Georgian war The 2008 Russo-Georgian WarThe war is known by a variety of other names, including Five-Day War, August War and Russian invasion of Georgia. was a war between Georgia, on one side, and Russia and the Russian-backed self-proclaimed republics of Sou ...

. ''McFaul'' offloaded nearly of supplies—including hygiene items, baby food and care supplies, bottled water, and milk—donated by the

United States Agency for International Development The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government that is primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance. With a budget of over $27 b ...

On 5 April 2010, ''McFaul'' responded to a distress call from the merchant vessel MV ''Rising Sun'' after she was attacked by pirates. ''McFaul'' was able to neutralize the threat, and captured ten suspected pirates and successfully rescued eight crewmembers from on board a

dhow Dhow ( ar, داو, translit=dāwa; mr, script=Latn, dāw) is the generic name of a number of traditional sailing vessels with one or more masts with settee or sometimes lateen sails, used in the Red Sea and Indian Ocean region. Typically spo ...

near

Salalah Salalah ( ar, صَلَالَة, Ṣalālah) is the capital and largest city of the southern Omani governorate of Dhofar. Its population in 2009 was about 197,169. Salalah is the third-largest city in the Sultanate of Oman, and the largest city ...

, Oman. The pirates were then transferred to the destroyer for a week before they were transferred back to ''McFaul'' where 30 days later they were turned over to the Somali

Transitional Federal Government The Transitional Federal Government (TFG) ( so, Dowladda Federaalka Kumeelgaarka, ar, الحكومة الاتحادية الانتقالية) was internationally recognized as a provisional government of the Republic of Somalia from 14 October ...

for subsequent prosecution. On 12 September 2012, ''McFaul'' was ordered to the coast of

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Suda ...

in what

the Pentagon The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense. It was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As a symbol of the U.S. military, the phrase ''The Pentagon'' is often used as a meton ...

called a "contingency" in case a strike was ordered. This was in response to the 2012 diplomatic missions attacks.

Awards

* Navy Unit Commendation – (Sep – Nov 2001, Mar – Aug 2004, Feb – Sep 2012) *

Navy 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 ...

– (Jan 1999 – Sep 2001, Jul – Sep 2001, May – Nov 2006) * Battle "E" – (2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019) *

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 (includ ...

– (Sep – Oct 1998) *

Captain Edward F. Ney Memorial Award The Captain Edward F. Ney Award for food-service excellence is given to the best US Navy galleys among those that earn a five-star rating from a Navy evaluation team. The Secretary of the Navy and the International Food Service Executives Associ ...

Small-Medium Afloat Category - (2021)

Upgrade

On 12 November 2009, the

Missile Defense Agency The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) is the section of the United States government's Department of Defense responsible for developing a layered defense against ballistic missiles. It had its origins in the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) which w ...

announced that ''McFaul'' would be upgraded during fiscal 2013 to

RIM-161 Standard Missile 3 The RIM-161 Standard Missile 3 (SM-3) is a ship-based surface-to-air missile system used by the United States Navy to intercept short- and intermediate-range ballistic missiles as a part of Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System. Although primari ...

(SM-3) capability in order to function as part of the

Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System The Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System (Aegis BMD or ABMD), also known as ''Sea-Based Midcourse'', is a United States Department of Defense Missile Defense Agency program developed to provide missile defense against short to intermediat ...

Coat of arms

Shield

The shield has background of dark blue with Neptune being pulled by seahorses in a chariot over sea waves.

The traditional Navy colors were chosen for the shield because dark blue and gold represents the sea and excellence respectively. Neptune, God of the Sea, symbolizes maritime prowess and swift mobilization. Waves represent the coastline and highlight Chief Petty Officer McFaul's enclosure from sea by rubber raiding craft to block General Noriega's escape from Panama.

Crest

The crest consists of the shape of an array with a gold cross center. The array is split into quarters with palm leaves surrounding.

The crests AEGIS shape highlights the USS McFAUL's modern multi-mission warfare operations. The cross honors the Navy Cross awarded to Platoon Chief Petty Officer Donald L. McFaul for extraordinary heroism in action under fire and saving his teammate's life. The quarter colored crest are adapted from the Panamanian flag to represent operation "Just Cause" in the Republic of Panama. The quartered sections also honor McFaul's SEAL team, SEAL Team Four. The laurel symbolizes achievement and honor. The palm indicates to the location of Panama while symbolizing victory.

Motto

The motto is written on a scroll of blue that has a gold reverse side.

The ships motto is "Courage Honor Sacrifice".

Seal

The coat of arms in full color as in the blazon, upon a white background enclosed within a dark blue oval border edged on the outside with a gold rope and bearing the inscription "USS McFAUL" at the top and "DDG 74" in the base all gold.

References

External links

Official site
* {{DEFAULTSORT:McFaul (DDG-74) Arleigh Burke-class destroyers Destroyers of the United States Ships built in Pascagoula, Mississippi 1997 ships