USS Rafael Peralta (DDG 115)

DDG 115 at Naval Base San Diego, Calif., on December 30, 2017. Photo by Michael Jenning.

USS RAFAEL PERALTA is one of the ARLEIGH BURKE Flight IIA guided missile destroyers and the first ship in the Navy named after Marine Corps Sergeant Rafael Peralta.

General Characteristics:	Awarded: September 26, 2011
	Keel laid: February 17, 2012
	Launched: November 1, 2015
	Commissioned: July 29, 2017
	Builder: Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine
	Propulsion system: four General Electric LM 2500 gas turbine engines
	Propellers: two
	Length: 508,5 feet (155 meters)
	Beam: 67 feet (20.4 meters)
	Draft: 30.5 feet (9.3 meters)
	Displacement: approx. 9,200 tons full load
	Speed: 32 knots
	Aircraft: two SH-60 (LAMPS 3) helicopters
	Armament: one Mk-45 5"/62 caliber lightweight gun, two Mk-41 VLS for Standard missiles and Tomahawk ASM/LAM, one 20mm Phalanx CIWS, two Mk-32 triple torpedo tubes for Mk-50 and Mk-46 torpedoes, two Mk 38 Mod 2 25mm machine gun systems
	Homeport: Yokosuka, Japan
	Crew: approx. 320

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Crew List:

This section contains the names of sailors who served aboard USS RAFAEL PERALTA. It is no official listing but contains the names of sailors who submitted their information.

Click here to view the list.

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Click here to see which USS RAFAEL PERALTA memorabilia are currently for sale on ebay.

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About the Ship's Namesake:

The ship was named for Marine Corps Sergeant Rafael Peralta as a result of actions occurring during what is known as the Second Battle of Fallujah. While clearing houses in Fallujah, Iraq, on Nov. 15, 2004 a Marine squad, including Peralta, entered a house where the enemy silently waited. The squad was instantly barraged with intense small arms fire.

The fire knocked Peralta to the ground and mortally wounded him. As the firefight continued, the fleeing enemy threw a fragmentation grenade into the building. Peralta absorbed most of the grenade's blast with his body, thus saving the lives of two fellow marines. Sergeant Peralta died from his wounds. In 2008 Peralta was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross for his extraordinary heroism.

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USS RAFAEL PERALTA Image Gallery:

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the RAFAEL PERALTA under construction at Bath Iron Works in Bath, Maine., on May 4, 2015.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the RAFAEL PERALTA at Naval Base San Diego, Calif., on December 29 and 30, 2017.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the RAFAEL PERALTA arriving at San Diego, Calif., on September 28, 2018. The last photos show her at the Naval Base a few hours later. She's flying her impressive "Lava Dogs" flag featuring the Aztec war eagle which is referring to SGT Rafael Peralta's Aztec heritage and his US Marine Corps unit - the First Battalion, Third Marines - nicknamed the "Lava Dogs". The crew of USS RAFAEL PERALTA is also using the nickname "Lava Dogs" for the ship's personnel.