USS ''Nathan James'' is a fictional

guided missile destroyer A guided-missile destroyer (DDG) is a destroyer whose primary armament is guided missiles so they can provide anti-aircraft warfare screening for the fleet. The NATO standard designation for these vessels is DDG, while destroyers who have a prim ...

of 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 ...

, used as the setting for the 1988

post-apocalyptic Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction is a subgenre of speculative fiction in which the Earth's (or another planet's) civilization is collapsing or has collapsed. The apocalypse event may be climatic, such as runaway climate change; ast ...

novel '' The Last Ship'' and the television series of the same name

Book

USS ''Nathan James'' (DDG-80) is the lead ship of her class. The ship has a beam of , a

draft Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vesse ...

of , and a length of , with a rated speed of . The number at the end of the hull code stands for the ship's position in the series, while the letters "DD" stand for "Destroyer" and the "G" for "Guided Missile". The ship was named after a U.S. Navy ensign who was awarded the

Navy Cross The Navy Cross is the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps' second-highest military decoration awarded for sailors and marines who distinguish themselves for extraordinary heroism in combat with an armed enemy force. The medal is eq ...

for his actions during the Battle of Leyte Gulf in World War II.

Weaponry

''Nathan James'' is armed with two 61-cell Mk 41 Vertical Launching Systems and carries a payload of 28 nuclear-tipped

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 Eur ...

land-attack cruise missiles (each rated at 200 kilotons) for each Vertical Launching System, for a total of 56 nuclear-tipped Tomahawk cruise missiles.

Television series

In the television series, USS ''Nathan James'' is an '' Arleigh Burke-class'' guided-missile destroyer homeported at

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

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 ...

, rather than in

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, as in the book. Its hull code is DDG-151, where in the book it is DDG-80, likely because was christened after the release of the novel. In the canon of the show, it is named after a U.S. naval captain from World War II and was authorized in September 2001,

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one o ...

in June 2002, and launched in January 2004. The ship's motto is "The Spear of the Navy". In the pilot, "Phase Six", it is mentioned that ''Nathan James'' has a crew complement of 217. By the season 2 finale, "A More Perfect Union", CDR Chandler mentions that there are 204 crewmen on ''Nathan James''. In the season 2 finale, "A More Perfect Union", ''Nathan James'' arrives in

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

after defeating the Immunes and is scheduled to spend the next few months in drydock. In "The Scott Effect", CAPT Slattery, CDR Garnett, CMDCM Jeter, LTJG Mason, Dr. Rios, GM2 Miller, and SA Diaz are taken prisoner from a Vietnamese nightclub by Asian pirates. In "Shanzhai", CAPT Chandler, as ranking officer, retakes command of ''Nathan James'' and names LT Granderson acting executive officer over LT Cameron Burk, a senior lieutenant who held the conn while CAPT Slattery was off-ship. Upon the rescue of the prisoners of war in "Dog Day", CAPT Chandler returns command of the ship to CAPT Slattery. In "Casus Belli", ''Nathan James'' is under the command of CDR Kara Green and her executive officer is CDR Carlton Burk. In the series finale, "Commitment", ''Nathan James'' is severely damaged and eventually sinks after ramming an enemy vessel, which also sinks. , a real Flight IIA ''Arleigh Burke''-class destroyer, stood in for ''Nathan James'' during filming.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:USS Nathan James Nathan James, USS The Last Ship (TV series)

Book

Weaponry

Television series

See also

References