USS ''Sampson'' (DDG-102) 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 ...

. Funding for the Flight IIA (5"/62, one 20mm CIWS variant) ship was authorized in 2002 and her

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element on a vessel. On some sailboats, it may have a hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose, as well. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in the construction of a ship, in Br ...

was laid on 20 March 2005. She is the fourth US Navy ship named to honor Rear Admiral

William T. Sampson William Thomas Sampson (February 9, 1840 – May 6, 1902) was a United States Navy rear admiral known for his victory in the Battle of Santiago de Cuba during the Spanish–American War. Biography He was born in Palmyra, New York, and entered ...

. She was built by

Bath Iron Works Bath Iron Works (BIW) is a major United States shipyard located on the Kennebec River in Bath, Maine, founded in 1884 as Bath Iron Works, Limited. Since 1995, Bath Iron Works has been a subsidiary of General Dynamics. It is the fifth-largest ...

Bath, Maine Bath is a city in Sagadahoc County, Maine, in the United States. The population was 8,766 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Sagadahoc County, which includes one city and 10 towns. The city is popular with tourists, many drawn by its ...

. At her christening on 16 September 2006, the principal address was delivered by Senator

Susan Collins Susan Margaret Collins (born December 7, 1952) is an American politician serving as the senior United States senator from Maine. A member of the Republican Party, she has held her seat since 1997 and is Maine's longest-serving member of Con ...

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and ...

, and the vessel was christened by Clara Parsons, great-granddaughter of Rear Admiral Sampson and daughter of

William Sterling Parsons Rear Admiral William Sterling "Deak" Parsons (26 November 1901 – 5 December 1953) was an American naval officer who worked as an ordnance expert on the Manhattan Project during World War II. He is best known for being the weaponeer on the ''En ...

, as the ship's sponsor.

History

She was commissioned in Boston, Massachusetts on 3 November 2007 and home ported in

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 eighth most populous city in the United State ...

. Her maiden deployment was from October 2009 to May 2010 to the Western Pacific and Persian Gulf as 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 ...

(CSG). After ''Sampson'' returned from an 8-month maiden deployment, she was back underway from May to August with port visits to the 103rd

Portland Rose Festival The Portland Rose Festival is an annual civic festival held during the month of June in Portland, Oregon. It is organized by the volunteer non-profit Portland Rose Festival Association with the purpose of promoting the Portland region. It inclu ...

and

Esquimalt, British Columbia The Township of Esquimalt is a municipality at the southern tip of Vancouver Island, in British Columbia, Canada. It is bordered to the east by the provincial capital, Victoria, to the south by the Strait of Juan de Fuca, to the west by Esquim ...

to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the

Royal Canadian Navy The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN; french: Marine royale canadienne, ''MRC'') is the naval force of Canada. The RCN is one of three environmental commands within the Canadian Armed Forces. As of 2021, the RCN operates 12 frigates, four attack submar ...

. She then participated in

Exercise RIMPAC RIMPAC, the Rim of the Pacific Exercise, is the world's largest international maritime warfare exercise. RIMPAC is held biennially during June and July of even-numbered years from Honolulu, Hawaii, with the exception of 2020 where it was held ...

off the coast of

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 state ...

. ''Sampson''s crew was awarded two

Sea Service Ribbon A Sea Service Ribbon is an award of the United States Navy, U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Coast Guard, the U.S. Army, and the NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps which recognizes those service members who have performed military duty while stationed on a Un ...

s in 12 months. In August 2011 ''Sampson'' pulled into South Harbor in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region ...

, to participate in Seattle's

Seafair Seafair is a summer festival in Seattle, Washington, that encompasses a wide variety of small neighborhood events leading up to several major citywide celebrations. While many small block parties and local parades occur under the auspices of S ...

celebration. In September, ''Sampson'' dispatched an inflatable boat and swimmers to retrieve about 60 bales of assorted drugs from the ocean after a small boat dumped them overboard. After that the ship participated in 's Composite Training Unit Exercise (COMPTUEX), in preparation for an independent deployment. In February 2012 ''Sampson'' departed San Diego for a scheduled deployment to the western Pacific and Middle East. In July, ''Sampson'' participated in at-sea phase of Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT)

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

. On 29 December 2014, ''Sampson'' was dispatched to the Java Sea to search for

Indonesia AirAsia Flight 8501 Indonesia AirAsia Flight 8501 was a scheduled international passenger flight operated by Indonesia AirAsia from Surabaya, Java, Indonesia, to Singapore. On 28 December 2014, the Airbus A320 flying the route crashed into the Java Sea, killing ...

that disappeared the day before. In 2016 the ship remained assigned to

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 ...

, working with Carrier Strike Group 11. She arrived at her new homeport,

Naval Station Everett Naval Station Everett (NAVSTA Everett) is a military installation located in the city of Everett, Washington, north of Seattle. The naval station, located on the city's waterfront on the northeastern end of Puget Sound, was designed as a homepor ...

in Washington, on 26 September 2016. The

Royal New Zealand Navy The Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN; mi, Te Taua Moana o Aotearoa, , Sea Warriors of New Zealand) is the maritime arm of the New Zealand Defence Force. The fleet currently consists of nine ships. The Navy had its origins in the Naval Defence Act ...

(RNZN) invited the United States Navy to send a vessel to participate in the RNZN's 75th Birthday Celebrations in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

over the weekend of 19–21 November 2016. ''Sampson'' was the first US warship to visit

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 ...

in 33 years since the

New Zealand nuclear-free zone In 1984, Prime Minister David Lange banned nuclear-powered or nuclear-armed ships from using New Zealand ports or entering New Zealand waters. Under the New Zealand Nuclear Free Zone, Disarmament, and Arms Control Act 1987, territorial sea, la ...

came into effect and the US suspended its obligations to New Zealand under the

ANZUS The Australia, New Zealand, United States Security Treaty (ANZUS or ANZUS Treaty) is a 1951 non-binding collective security agreement between Australia and New Zealand and, separately, Australia and the United States, to co-operate on militar ...

treaty. New Zealand Prime Minister

John Key Sir John Phillip Key (born 9 August 1961) is a New Zealand retired politician who served as the 38th Prime Minister of New Zealand from 2008 to 2016 and as Leader of the New Zealand National Party from 2006 to 2016. After resigning from bo ...

granted approval for the ship's visit under the New Zealand's anti-nuclear law, which requires that the Prime Minister has to be satisfied that any visiting ship is not nuclear armed or powered. Soon after arriving in New Zealand, a magnitude 7.8

earthquake An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, fr ...

struck Kaikoura. ''Sampson'' along with other navy ships from Australia, Canada, Japan and Singapore were dispatched directly to the area to provide humanitarian assistance. On 3 October 2017, ''Sampson'' departed her homeport for a scheduled deployment with the CSG. She returned 9 May 2018 after seven months. In January 2022, ''Sampson'' responded to

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

to provide assistance following the Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha'apai eruption and tsunami. In May 2022, ''Sampson'' was a part of

Destroyer Squadron 2 Destroyer Squadron 2 is a destroyer squadron of the United States Navy. It is administratively part of Commander, Naval Surface Forces Atlantic. , the following destroyers are assigned to this squadron: , , , , , , . Destroyer Squadron ...

, along with Carrier Strike Group 3 led by the . ''Sampson'' participated in

RIMPAC RIMPAC, the Rim of the Pacific Exercise, is the world's largest international maritime warfare exercise. RIMPAC is held biennially during June and July of even-numbered years from Honolulu, Hawaii, with the exception of 2020 where it was held ...

2022.

Awards

* Navy Unit Commendation – (July 2009 – March 2010) * Battle "E" – (2010, 2011, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018) *

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 ...

– (17–20 November 2016)

2016 Kaikoura earthquake Sixteen or 16 may refer to: *16 (number), the natural number following 15 and preceding 17 *one of the years 16 BC, AD 16, 1916, 2016 Films * ''Pathinaaru'' or ''Sixteen'', a 2010 Tamil film * ''Sixteen'' (1943 film), a 1943 Argentine film d ...

* Spokane Trophy Award – (2010) * Arizona Memorial Trophy – (2011–2012) *

Retention Excellence Award The Retention Excellence Award (previously known as the Golden Anchor Award) is an award given by the United States Department of the Navy for sustaining superior levels of military retention. The award was established by the United States Fleet ...

– (2008, 2014, 2017) * Vice Admiral Thomas H. Copeman III Material Readiness Award – (2014) * Safety Excellence Award – (2010, 2011, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019)

In popular culture

* The ship is featured in the 2012 film '' Battleship'' where she is destroyed and sunk by aliens during the intense combat in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Hawaii with its sister ship .

Gallery

USS Sampson (DDG-102) at sea.jpg, ''Sampson'' during sea trials, 2007 USS Sampson Christening.jpg, The commissioning of USS ''Sampson'' Guided-missile destroyer USS Sampson (DDG 102) arrives to celebrate Portland Fleet Week during the 103rd annual Rose Festival.jpg, Sailors man the rails of ''Sampson'' as she arrives to celebrate Portland Fleet Week festivities during the city's 103rd annual Rose Festival. USS Sampson - Port Quarter View.jpg, Stern view of ''Sampson''

References

External links