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Accidents aboard the Ship

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USS Gonzalez (DDG 66)

USS GONZALEZ is the 16^th ARLEIGH BURKE - class guided missile destroyer. In 1999 she participated in Operation Allied Force during which she fired Tomahawk cruise missiles on Yugoslav ground targets. (Images at the end of this site.) One missile was damaged and splashed into the water, some meters next to the destroyer.

General Characteristics:	Keel Laid: February 3, 1994
	Launched: December 12, 1994
	Commissioned: October 12, 1996
	Builder: Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine
	Propulsion system: four General Electric LM 2500 gas turbine engines
	Propellers: two
	Blades on each Propeller: five
	Length: 505,25 feet (154 meters)
	Beam: 67 feet (20.4 meters)
	Draft: 30,5 feet (9.3 meters)
	Displacement: approx. 8.300 tons full load
	Speed: 30+ knots
	Aircraft: None. But LAMPS 3 electronics installed on landing deck for coordinated DDG/helicopter ASW operations.
	Armament: two MK 41 VLS for Standard missiles, Tomahawk; Harpoon missile launchers, one Mk 45 5-inch/54 caliber lightweight gun, two Phalanx CIWS, Mk 46 torpedoes (from two triple tube mounts)
	Homeport: Norfolk, Va.
	Crew: 23 Officers, 24 Chief Petty Officers and 291 Enlisted

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Crew List:

This section contains the names of sailors who served aboard USS GONZALEZ. 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 GONZALEZ memorabilia are currently for sale on ebay.

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USS GONZALEZ Cruise Books:

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About the Destroyer’s Name, about Sergeant Alfredo Cantu Gonzalez:

Alfredo Gonzalez was born May 23, 1946, in Edinburg, Texas. He graduated from Lamar Grammar School in 1955, and from Edinburg High School in 1965.

Enlisting in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve at San Antonio, Texas, June 3, 1965, he completed Recruit Training with 3rd Recruit Training Battalion, Marine Corps Recruit Dept, San Diego, Calif., the following September, and Individual Combat Training 2nd Battalion, 2nd Infantry training regiment, Marine Corps Base, Camp Pendleton, California, that October.

After completing Individual Combat Training, he became a rifleman with Headquarters and Service Company, 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division (Rein), FMF, and served in that capacity until January 1966. He next saw a one year Battalion, 4th Marines, 3rd Marine Division (Rein), FMF. He was promoted to Private First Class, January 1, 1966; to Lance Corporal, October 1, 1966, and to Corporal, December 1, 1966.

Upon his return to the United States in February 1967, he reported for duty as a rifleman with 2nd Battalion, Marine Corps Base, Camp Pendleton, California, for transfer to the Far East.

On July 1, 1967, he was promoted to Sergeant, and later that month, arrived in the Republic of Vietnam. He served as Squad Leader and Platoon Sergeant with 3rd Platoon Company "A", 1st Battalion, 1st Marines, 1st Marine Division (Rein), FMF.

While participating in the initial phase of Operation HUE CITY in the vicinity of Thua Thien, Vietnam, on February 4, 1968, Sergeant Gonzalez was mortally wounded from hostile rocket fire.

A complete list of medals and decorations include: the Congressional Medal of Honor; the Purple Heart; the Presidential Unit Citation; the National Defense Service Medal; the Vietnam Service Medal with two bronze stars; the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry with palm; the Military Merit Medal; and the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal.

Sergeant Gonzalez is survived by his mother, Mrs. Dolia Gonzalez and his grandmother, Mrs. Herminia Gonzalez.

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Accidents aboard USS GONZALEZ:

Date	Where	Events
November 12, 1996	off Saint Maarten	While on post commissioning shakedown, GONZALEZ ran aground off Saint Maarten on a coral reef causing extensive damage. GONZALEZ was towed back to Bath Iron Works for repair. Estimated damage was $50 - 60 million and 9 - 12 months for repair. GONZALEZ returned to service in September 1997, repair costs were much lower than estimated. It took only $10 million and 9 months to repair the ship. These repairs included the replacement of one shaft and both propellers and the addition of a new sonar dome. In addition the time was used to retrofit the ship for female berthings and to install a new reverse osmossis water system.

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USS GONZALEZ History:

USS GONZALEZ commissioned on October 12, 1996, began her post-shakedown period in early 1997 with a lengthy dry-dock repair and modernization at Bath Iron Works, Portland, Maine, before resuming training out of Norfolk, Virginia. Through 1998, she worked up for first deployment - COMPTUEX and a JTFEX - then on December 28, 1998, got underway for the Mediterranean with the USS ENTERPRISE (CVN 65) battle group and the NASSAU (LHA 4) amphibious ready group. After a Gibraltar logistics stop the destroyer integrated with NATO's Standing Naval Force Mediterranean (SNFM), drilled extensively, and visited ports including Trieste and Gaeta (Italy), Marseille (France), Málaga (Spain), Haifa (Israel), and others. When NATO’s air campaign against Yugoslavia began, GONZALEZ operated in the Adriatic and launched TOMAHAWK Land-Attack Missiles on March 31 and again in early April 1999 in support of Operation Allied Force. She completed the cruise and returned to Norfolk on June 25, 1999.

After post-deployment maintenance and training in 2000, GONZALEZ took part in the multinational exercise Linked Seas - an Atlantic/Mediterranean series that integrated allied surface, subsurface, and air forces - then prepared for another Med deployment. She sailed on April 25, 2001, for six months with SNFM, making calls at Haifa, Cannes, and Malaga. While moored in Plymouth, England on September 11, 2001, the crew and allies marked the attacks in the United States. The ship increased her operational tempo and exercised with destroyers STOUT (DDG 55), NICHOLSON (DD 982), and THORN (DD 988) before returning to Norfolk on October 25, 2001. An allied frigate turnover on October 2, 2001, recorded GONZALEZ assuming SNFM duties during this period, tying the deployment to the immediate maritime posture changes following 9/11. In early 2002, she executed anti-submarine exercises off Rhode Island, participated in JTFEX 02-1, and received the Advanced Tomahawk Weapons Control System during a maintenance availability that also included inspections and certifications for a rigorous INSURV.

In 2003-2004, the destroyer again deployed to the Mediterranean and Persian Gulf and in April 2004, took part in the PSI-linked CLEVER SENTINEL maritime interdiction exercise led by Italy in the Mediterranean. These events bookended a period of steady coalition operations that emphasized embargo enforcement skill sets later applied in the Arabian Sea.

GONZALEZ departed Norfolk on March 25, 2005, for extended operations across 6th and 5th Fleet waters. Maritime security operations and maritime interception (visit-board-search-seizure) dominated the schedule. On July 6 she made a port call at Mombasa, Kenya, the first U.S. Navy visit there since 1999. During this long forward period the ship was used in the Navy's "Sea Swap" experiment, with crews rotating from USS STOUT (DDG 55) and LABOON (DDG 58). The first crew swap took place in September 2005, followed by another swap at Manama, Bahrain in February 2006.

On March 18, 2006, while operating with cruiser CAPE ST. GEORGE (CG 71) under Combined Task Force 150 off central Somalia, boarding teams from both ships came under fire from pirate skiffs. The U.S. ships returned fire at close range with crew-served weapons, destroying one skiff, capturing two, and detaining 12 pirates. CAPE ST. GEORGE suffered only superficial damage. Later that summer, as the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war triggered a U.S. non-combatant evacuation from Lebanon, GONZALEZ was among the first units on scene, escorting the chartered cruise ship ORIENT QUEEN on July 18-19 and then working alongside BARRY (DDG 52) and the IWO JIMA (LHD 7) expeditionary group as part of Task Force 59. After the 18-month stretch abroad, the destroyer returned to Norfolk on August 17, 2006. GONZALEZ subsequently completed a much-needed dry-dock availability and passed a major five-year INSURV.

Beginning on February 19, 2008, GONZALEZ departed Norfolk for the Mediterranean and, on March 6, joined STANDING NATO MARITIME GROUP TWO (SNMG-2) south of Crete. As part of the NATO Response Force rotation, she acted as the group's air-defense asset while conducting presence and escort tasks in the Eastern Mediterranean. In March, she participated in the Turkish-hosted anti-submarine warfare exercise "Mavi Balina 2008", operating alongside TCG SALIHREIS and HN HYDRA and exercising with the Israeli Navy's INS LAHAV and INS KESHET. A four-day port visit to Haifa followed before the task group resumed patrols. Through April the destroyer continued SNMG-2 evolutions tied to Alliance maritime security efforts in the region, including the NATO umbrella for counter-terrorism patrols in the Mediterranean, before wrapping up the deployment later that summer. During the cruise GONZALEZ made calls at Rota (Spain), Aksaz and Antalya (Turkey), Volos (Greece), Haifa (Israel), Trieste (Italy), Koper (Slovenia), and Palermo (Italy), underscoring NATO's maritime engagement from the Adriatic to the Levant.

In 2009, the ship remained stateside through the summer turnover, highlighted by a change of command at Naval Station Norfolk on August 14, when CDR Lynn Acheson relieved CDR Brian Fort. The remainder of the year focused on basic phase training, certifications, and pre-deployment preparations.

On June 5, 2010, GONZALEZ left Norfolk for a scheduled deployment spanning the U.S. Sixth and Fifth Fleet areas. The ship conducted maritime security operations during the summer and fall transit cycles linking the Mediterranean and the Middle East, consistent with routine carrier-escort and sea-lane protection tasking in those theaters. She returned to Norfolk on November 29, 2010, closing the deployment.

On January 26, 2011, while operating off the U.S. Southeast coast, the destroyer assisted the fishing vessel KELLY ANN after a reported leak, coordinating with shore authorities and rendering aid in accordance with standard safety-of-life-at-sea procedures. Later that year, she continued Atlantic training and work-ups as U.S. and NATO naval forces elsewhere enforced United Nations Security Council resolutions during the Libya crisis. GONZALEZ's role in 2011 remained oriented to Atlantic commitments and readiness.

Entering 2012, GONZALEZ underwent a Selected Restricted Availability at BAE Systems in Norfolk beginning in early February to complete maintenance and targeted modernization work. Following the yard period she re-entered the training pipeline to prepare for independent forward presence and counter-piracy tasking.

GONZALEZ deployed independently on January 4, 2013, to support NATO's Operation Ocean Shield and associated maritime security operations along the key sea lines through the Gulf of Aden and Arabian Sea. After transiting the Mediterranean she conducted theater security cooperation and logistics stops, including a documented call at NSA Souda Bay, Crete, in mid-July, before continuing scheduled patrols and barrier operations tied to counter-piracy and regional maritime stability. She completed the deployment later that year and returned to homeport.

In early 2014, the ship's program centered on sustainment and leadership turnover. On February 21, 2014, a change-of-command ceremony took place in Portsmouth, Virginia, as the crew reset for the ensuing readiness cycle that would place the destroyer back with a carrier strike group. Subsequent months were devoted to basic and integrated training ahead of a major work-up with her future strike group.

Through, 2015 GONZALEZ advanced through the composite training phase with the HARRY S. TRUMAN (CVN 75) Carrier Strike Group. During COMPTUEX in the western Atlantic in mid-September, she executed underway replenishment, strike-group air-defense and surface-warfare scenarios, and composite tracking events with other group units. With certification complete, she continued final preparations for deployment. On November 16, 2015, the HARRY S. TRUMAN strike group departed Norfolk for operations spanning the Mediterranean and the Middle East amid the international campaign against ISIS. GONZALEZ sailed as one of the group's escorts, a deployment that would extend into 2016. She supported the carrier group's Operation Inherent Resolve tasking and allied maritime security. During the homeward leg she stopped at Souda Bay on June 11, 2016. The strike group's return that July closed an extended period of high operational tempo tied to coalition strikes against ISIS. In September 2016, GONZALEZ participated in CUTLASS FURY, the Canadian-led Atlantic exercise designed to sharpen allied anti-submarine and integrated maritime warfare.

In 2018, the ship operated with European partners in the Atlantic - including events with Italian frigate ITS ALPINO (F 594) - and conducted a precautionary sortie from Norfolk ahead of Hurricane Florence in September. She deployed again in early 2019: after entering the 6th Fleet area on March 18, she visited Rota, Spain on March 23, then Souda Bay, Crete on April 1 for logistics, maintenance, and parts, before a long deployment that ultimately covered 2nd, 5th, and 6th Fleet waters. The cruise included coalition exercises with Greece, France, Albania, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, plus nine country port visits - among them Spain, Albania (where the crew marked Albania's 10th year in NATO), Greece, Egypt, Oman, Bahrain, the UAE, Qatar, and Cyprus - before returning to Norfolk on October 26, 2019.

After pandemic-era sustainment at home, GONZALEZ embarked with the HARRY S. TRUMAN Carrier Strike Group during the 2021-2022 extended Sixth Fleet posture - part of the carrier's dynamic employment in support of European deterrence - operating widely in the Mediterranean. The destroyer re-entered Norfolk on September 28, 2022, following roughly nine months away.

Back in port, the ship entered an eight-month Selected Restricted Availability that wrapped up on September 26, 2023, followed by contractor sea trials. A January 3, 2024, change-of-command release noted those milestones and also recorded GONZALEZ's participation in the 2022 Black Widow anti-submarine exercise in the North Atlantic. In mid-2025 the Navy announced another change of command, confirming the destroyer's assignment under Destroyer Squadron 22 and association with CARRIER STRIKE GROUP 10 while homeported at Norfolk.

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Homeports of USS GONZALEZ:

Period	Homeport
commissioned at Ingleside, Tx.
1996 - present	Norfolk, Va.

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USS GONZALEZ Image Gallery:

The photo below was taken by Michael Jenning and shows the GONZALEZ at Naval Base Norfolk, Va., on October 28, 2013.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the GONZALEZ undergoing a Selected Restricted Availability (SRA) at MHI Ship Repair & Services, Norfolk, Va. The photos were taken on May 8, 2014.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the GONZALEZ at Naval Base Norfolk, Va., on April 29, 2015.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the GONZALEZ at Naval Base Norfolk, Va., on October 12, 2016.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the GONZALEZ at General Dynamics NASSCO-Norfolk at Norfolk, Va., undergoing an Extended Drydocking Selected Restricted Availability (E-DSRA) on October 4, 2017.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the GONZALEZ at Naval Base Norfolk, Va., on September 21, 2018.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the GONZALEZ shortly after arriving at Naval Base Norfolk, Va., on December 7, 2019, following a 5-day ammunition offload at Naval Weapons Station Yorktown, Va.