USS ''James E. Williams'' (DDG-95) 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 ...

. The ship was named for Boatswain's mate

Petty officer first class Petty officer first class (PO1) is a rank found in some navies and maritime organizations. Canada Petty officer, 1st class, PO1, is a Naval non-commissioned member rank of the Canadian Forces. It is senior to the rank of petty officer 2nd-clas ...

James Eliott Williams (1930–1999), a

River Patrol Boat A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wat ...

commander and

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valo ...

recipient from the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...

who is considered to be the most decorated

enlisted man An enlisted rank (also known as an enlisted grade or enlisted rate) is, in some armed services, any rank below that of a commissioned officer. The term can be inclusive of non-commissioned officers or warrant officers, except in United States ...

in Navy history. 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 ...

Construction

USS ''James E. Williams'' was

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 ...

on 15 July 2002 by the

Northrop Grumman Northrop Grumman Corporation is an American multinational aerospace and defense technology company. With 90,000 employees and an annual revenue in excess of $30 billion, it is one of the world's largest weapons manufacturers and military techn ...

Ship Systems 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 launched on 25 June 2003, sponsored by Elaine Weaver Williams,

Chief Petty Officer A chief petty officer (CPO) is a senior non-commissioned officer in many navies and coast guards. Canada "Chief petty officer" refers to two ranks in the Royal Canadian Navy. A chief petty officer 2nd class (CPO2) (''premier maître de deuxi ...

Williams' widow. On 11 December 2004, ''James E. Williams'' was commissioned in Charleston, South Carolina, Commander Philip Warren Vance in command.

Service history

On 2 May 2006, ''James E. Williams'' deployed on its maiden deployment as part of the Global War on Terrorism Surface Strike Group (GWOT SSG) 06-2. ''James E. Williams'', along with the

amphibious transport dock An amphibious transport dock, also called a landing platform dock (LPD), is an amphibious warfare ship, a warship that embarks, transports, and lands elements of a landing force for expeditionary warfare missions. Several navies currently opera ...

and

guided-missile cruiser A cruiser is a type of warship. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and can usually perform several roles. The term "cruiser", which has been in use for several hu ...

, joined the Global War on Terrorism Surface Strike Group (GWOT SSG) 06-2 overseas on 18 April. On 17 October 2006, ''James E. Williams'' completed its first deployment conducting anti-piracy operations off the coast of

Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...

as part of the maritime security operations. ''James E. Williams'' deployed again on 9 July 2007 as a part of the

Carrier Strike Group A carrier strike group (CSG) is a type of carrier battle group of the United States Navy. It is an operational formation composed of roughly 7,500 personnel, usually an aircraft carrier, at least one cruiser, a destroyer squadron of at least t ...

. The strike group consisted of the aircraft carrier ''Enterprise'', the destroyers , and ; the guided-missile cruiser ; and the fast-attack submarine , and also the fast combat support ship . On the morning of 30 October 2007, Combined Maritime Forces Headquarters, in

Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...

, received a call from the International Maritime Bureau, located in

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = ''Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , sub ...

, Malaysia, providing the status of the North Korean cargo vessel ''

Dai Hong Dan Dai may refer to: Names * Dai (given name), a Welsh or Japanese masculine given name * Dai (surname) (戴), a Chinese surname Places and regimes * Dai Commandery, a commandery of the state of Zhao and in early imperial China * Dai County, in Xinz ...

'', which had been taken over 29 October by Somali pirates. The ship was approximately northeast of

Mogadishu Mogadishu (, also ; so, Muqdisho or ; ar, مقديشو ; it, Mogadiscio ), locally known as Xamar or Hamar, is the capital and most populous city of Somalia. The city has served as an important port connecting traders across the Indian Oc ...

, Somalia. At that time, ''James E. Williams'' was about from the vessel and sent a helicopter to investigate the situation. The destroyer arrived in the vicinity of the Korean ship midday local time and contacted the pirates via bridge-to-bridge radio, ordering them to give up their weapons. At that point, the Korean crew had confronted the Somali pirates, regained control of the ship and began communicating with ''James E. Williams'', requesting medical assistance. The crew said the pirates had been in control of the bridge, but the crew had retained control of the steering and engineering spaces. The crew of ''James E. Williams'' provided care and assistance for approximately 12 hours to crew members and Somali pirates aboard ''Dai Hong Dan''. Six pirates were captured and one was killed. The pirates remained aboard ''Dai Hong Dan''. In November 2007, ''James E. Williams'' aided the crew of the Taiwanese ship, M/V ''Ching Fong Hwa'' 168. After the Somali pirates returned to shore, the destroyer escorted the Taiwanese ship out of Somali waters and provided needed supplies and medical assistance. On 19 December 2007, she returned from her second deployment to the Fifth Fleet AOR in support of Operations Iraqi and

Enduring Endurance (also related to sufferance, resilience, constitution, fortitude, and hardiness) is the ability of an organism to exert itself and remain active for a long period of time, as well as its ability to resist, withstand, recover from a ...

Freedom. On 20 April 2009, ''James E. Williams'' left on her 3rd deployment in 3 years, deploying to the sixth and fifth Fleet areas of operations from

as the lead element of the Bataan Amphibious Ready Group. ''James E. Williams'' conducted maritime security operations in the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ...

and

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a mediterranean sea in Western Asia. The bod ...

regions, including working with other nations' maritime forces. She returned to her homeport at Naval Station Norfolk on 19 October 2009. 120808-N-ZZ999-021

On the evening of 8 August 2012, rescued ten mariners from a burning Iranian-flagged

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 ...

(''pictured'') while operating in the Gulf of Oman. Of the ten mariners, eight were identified as Iranians and two were Pakistanis. The rescued mariners received medical treatment and transport to the carrier ''Enterprise'' before being repatriated back to Iran on 10 August. ''James E. Williams'' reentered the

on 25 August.

Controversies

*In December 2009, months after the ship returned to Norfolk from a six-month cruise to the Mediterranean and Arabian seas, nine crewmembers were given

non-judicial punishment Non-judicial punishment (or NJP) is any form of punishment that may be applied to individual military personnel, without a need for a court martial or similar proceedings. United States In the United States Armed Forces, non-judicial punishment ...

for

fraternization Fraternization (from Latin ''frater'', brother) is "to become brothers" by conducting social relations with people who are actually unrelated and/or of a different class (especially those with whom one works) as if they were siblings, family memb ...

. Five of the nine were male chief petty officers while the other four were female junior enlisted sailors. The chiefs involved were being processed for separation from the Navy. In addition, the ship's skipper, Commander Paul Marquis, and top enlisted sailor, Command Master Chief Timothy Youell, were relieved of their positions and reassigned to shore-based administrative duties. Neither Marquis nor Youell were implicated in the fraternization cases or alleged sexual assault but were removed due to a loss of confidence in their leadership. Furthermore, one other crew member faced criminal charges for sexual assault. Marquis' executive officer, CDR Daniel Sunvold, who was serving as executive officer on ''James E. Williams'', was reassigned to the same position on the destroyer . He was not implicated in any of the allegations. In December 2009 CDR T.J. Linardi took command as commanding officer. *In September 2014, it was announced the commanding officer, CDR Curtis Calloway, and command master chief of ''James E. Williams'' were replaced pending an investigation into the command climate. At the time, ''James E. Williams'' was about midway through an eight-month deployment. At that time, CAPT Anthony L. Simmons, from the staff of Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 2, assumed command.

Ports visited

Repbyrne on USS James Williams - March 2019 05

During the 2014-2015 Deployment, ''James E. Williams'' made port calls to

Rota, Spain The town of Rota is a Spanish municipality located in the Province of Cádiz, Andalusia. Its surface area is 84 km2 and is bordered by the towns of Chipiona, Sanlúcar de Barrameda and El Puerto de Santa María. It is located near the city o ...

;

Djibouti, Djibouti Djibouti (also called Djibouti City and in many early English texts and on many early maps, Jibuti; so, Magaalada Jabuuti, french: link=no, Ville de Djibouti, ar, مدينة جيبوتي, aa, Gabuutî Magaala) is the eponymous capital of Dji ...

;

Port Victoria, Seychelles Victoria () is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Seychelles, situated on the north-eastern side of Mahé island, the archipelago's main island. The city was first established as the seat of the British colonial government. In 2010, ...

; and

Port Louis, Mauritius Port Louis (french: Port-Louis; mfe, label=Mauritian Creole, Polwi or , ) is the capital city of Mauritius. It is mainly located in the Port Louis District, with a small western part in the Black River District. Port Louis is the country's ec ...

. On 3 August 2017, the boat visited Trondheim Seilforening in Trondheim, Norway. People lined up to see the great ship. On 29 November 2017 the boat visited Odesa port in Odesa, Ukraine. During the 2017 Deployment, the ship visited

Rotterdam, Netherlands Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"Ne ...

;

Kiel, Germany Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021). Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the Jutland pe ...

(as a part of

Kiel Week The Kiel Week (german: Kieler Woche) or Kiel Regatta is an annual sailing event in Kiel, the capital of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is the largest sailing event in Europe, and also one of the largest Volksfeste in Germany, attracting ...

); Reykjavik, Iceland;

;

Trondheim, Norway Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most pop ...

; Bergen, Norway;

Riga, Latvia Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava (river), Daugava river where ...

;

Lisbon, Portugal Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administrative limits w ...

;

Souda Bay Souda Bay is a bay and natural harbour near the town of Souda on the northwest coast of the Greek island of Crete. The bay is about 15 km long and only two to four km wide, and a deep natural harbour. It is formed between the Akrotiri p ...

, Greece;

Manama, Bahrain Manama ( ar, المنامة ', Bahrani pronunciation: ) is the capital and largest city of Bahrain, with an approximate population of 200,000 people as of 2020. Long an important trading center in the Persian Gulf, Manama is home to a very d ...

;

Jeddah, Saudi Arabia Jeddah ( ), also spelled Jedda, Jiddah or Jidda ( ; ar, , Jidda, ), is a city in the Hejaz region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and the country's commercial center. Established in the 6th century BC as a fishing village, Jeddah's promi ...

; and

Odessa, Ukraine Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrative ...

prior to returning to Norfolk, VA on 23 December 2017. The ship's crew also earned their Blue Nose for crossing into the Arctic Circle. USS ''James E. Williams'' and ARC Antioquia conducted a passing exercise in the

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea ( es, Mar Caribe; french: Mer des Caraïbes; ht, Lanmè Karayib; jam, Kiaribiyan Sii; nl, Caraïbische Zee; pap, Laman Karibe) is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico ...

on 15 February 2021.

Awards

* Navy Unit Commendation - (Jul-Dec 2007, Jan-Aug 2020) *

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 2011-Nov 2012) *

Navy E Ribbon The Navy "E" Ribbon or Battle Efficiency Ribbon (informally the Battle "E" ribbon) was authorized on March 31, 1976, by Secretary of the Navy J. William Middendorf as a unit award for battle efficiency competition. The service ribbon replaced t ...

- (2011)

Gallery

File:USS James E. Williams (DDG-95) deploys.jpg, USS ''James E. Williams'' leaving

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

on 9 July 2007. File:US Navy 090607-N-6639M-046 The guided-missile destroyer USS Arleigh Burke (DDG 51), left, approaches the guided-missile destroyer USS James E. Williams (DDG 95).jpg, USS ''James E. Williams'' and on 7 June 2009. File:US Navy 120111-N-NL401-011 Sailors aboard the guided-missile destroyer USS James E. Williams (DDG 95) load equipment and parts onto the ship prior.jpg, USS ''James E. Williams'' on 11 January 2011. File:US Navy 120112-N-NL401-141 The guided-missile destroyer USS James E. Williams (DDG 95) fires the Mk-45 5-inch-62 caliber lightweight gun during a l.jpg, USS ''James E. Williams'' firing on 12 January 2012. File:Flickr - Official U.S. Navy Imagery - USS James E. Williams transits the Red Sea..jpg, USS ''James E. Williams'' underway on 25 June 2012. File:Repbyrne on USS James Williams - March 2019 02.jpg, Bradley Byrne aboard USS ''James E. Williams'' on 4 March 2019.

References

External links

*
USS ''James E. Williams'' official website
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:James E. Williams (Ddg-95) Arleigh Burke-class destroyers Destroyers of the United States Ships built in Pascagoula, Mississippi 2003 ships