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USS Decatur (DDG 73)

USS DECATUR is the 23^rd destroyer in the ARLEIGH BURKE - class and the 5^th ship in the Navy named after Commodore Stephen Decatur.

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Crew List:

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

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USS DECATUR Cruise Books:

• WestPac Cruise Book 2001-02

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About the Ship's Coat of Arms:

( Click on the Coat of Arms for a larger version )

The Shield:

Dark blue represents the Navy and the oceans, it's realm. The seax recalls a series of victories by Stephen Decatur over sea forces of North African terorist nations including his daring destruction of the captured frigate, PHILADELPHIA. The English officer's sword symbolizes Decatur's brilliant victory over HMS MACEDONIAN during the War of 1812 in one of the greatest single-ship actions of naval history. The celestial crown represents anti-air warfare capabilities and bears five mullets, one for each of the ships named "Decatur" up to and including the newest ship. It also recalls Stephen Decatur's engagements against the British during the War of 1812. Scarlet denotes courage, gold symbolizes excellence.

The Crest:

The heritage of the name "Decatur" is recalled by the ship's mast and sail, recalling the Navy of Stephen Decatur's time and the first vessel to bear his name, a sloop-of-war built in 1838. The mast also refers to the traditional pine construction of the vessels of Decatur's navy. The pennant symbolizes the senior naval authority earned by the ship's namesake, Commodore Stephen Decatur.

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About the Destroyer's Name, about Commodore Stephen Decatur:

Born in Maryland and raised in Philadelphia, Decatur showed evidence of the bold and courageous man he would become: he was known to dive from the tips of jib booms and, at the age of 14, defended his mother against a drunken ruffian. Commissioned a midshipman in 1798, within a year he was promoted to acting lieutenant of the UNITED STATES.

Praised for a decisive style of leadership during the encounter with the PHILADELPHIA, Decatur became the most striking figure of the Tripolitan Wars. He subsequently received the commission of captain, commanding the CONSTITUTION and later the CONGRESS. Responsibility for the gunboat flotilla in the Chesapeake, management of the Norfolk Navy Yard, and command of all U.S. Naval forces on the Southeast coast followed. He also presided over various courts of inquiry for naval affairs.

During the War of 1812, Decatur fought and defeated the MACEDONIAN, the second of his three famous frigate encounters. Other notable encounters include the battle between the PRESIDENT and a British blockade of New York harbor, where Decatur was able to destroy the enemy frigate ENDYMION. The PRESIDENT was later captured and Decatur wounded, but the victory over ENDYMION earned him high praise.

In 1815, Decatur commanded a nine-ship squadron headed for Algiers to settle conflicts which had persisted since 1812. Decatur's abilities as a negotiator were recognized after he secured a treaty with the Algerians and extracted compensation from the Tripolitans. During celebration of the truce with the North African States, Decatur declared his famous line: "Our country! In her intercourse with foreign nations may she always be in the right; but our country right or wrong."

From November 1815 until his death, Decatur served on the Board of Navy Commissioners. Successful Naval leaders of Decatur's time were rewarded financially for their exploits; Decatur invested his ample prize money in the Washington, D.C. area, building Decatur House which still stands today in Lafayette Square.

Decatur's death was predictably both heroic and tragic. As Navy Commissioner, he opposed the reinstatement of Captain John Barron whom he had suspended from service much earlier while serving on an inquiry board. Barron responded with a challenge to duel with the much younger Decatur. Ever the honorable warrior, Decatur allowed only a short distance of eight paces out of respect for Barron's faulty eyesight and claimed he would not fire to kill. At the first exchange, Barron was shot in the thigh, Decatur received a fatal shot. All of Washington turned out to mourn the hero who remains today a prominent figure in U.S. Naval history.

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USS DECATUR History:

USS DECATUR was built by Bath Iron Works in Maine, laid down on January 11, 1996, launched in early November 1996, and formally entered service at a public commissioning in Portland, Oregon, on August 29, 1998. Four days later, on September 4, 1998, she reached her new homeport of San Diego and spent the remainder of the year in acoustic trials, combat-systems evaluations, and a post-shakedown availability that set the baseline for her West Coast operating life. In 1999, she ranged the Pacific Northwest on a goodwill and training swing - including a namesake call at Decatur Island and a visit to Vancouver - before resuming workups in Southern California Operating Areas.

Her first Western Pacific cruise began on January 7, 2000, and immediately mixed high-end and diplomatic tasks. After a weapons load at Pearl Harbor, she moved to the Yellow Sea for SHAREM 2000, then called at Chinae, South Korea, on January 30, followed by Yokosuka and Nagasaki in Japan. She transited the Taiwan Strait, made a three-day port visit to Hong Kong, and conducted a South China Sea exercise with Philippine Navy units before returning to San Diego later that year. Through 2001, she cycled through battle group and missile training on the West Coast. When the United States came under attack on September 11, she put to sea for Operation Noble Eagle, providing presence and maritime security off the San Francisco approaches before preparing for deployment. From December 17, 2001 to April 16, 2002, she escorted the PELELIU (LHA 5) Amphibious Ready Group during heightened post-9/11 maritime interdiction operations, conducting compliant and non-compliant boardings - including a non-compliant boarding of the merchant vessel FRANCISCO DAGOHOY on April 10 - in the Arabian Sea and Persian Gulf. She returned to San Diego on June 8, 2002.

In August 2003, DECATUR deployed again toward the Persian Gulf as coalition naval operations expanded around Iraq and counter-terrorism at sea. After stops in Pearl Harbor and Singapore, she entered the Gulf. On December 15, 2003, her crew interdicted a 40-foot dhow carrying roughly two tons of narcotics, a case publicly linked by U.S. officials to al-Qaeda financing. Post-deployment, she entered dry dock in May 2004 - her first since construction - for maintenance and modernization to keep pace with evolving air and missile defense demands.

DECATUR sailed west in January 2006 with a carrier strike group for maritime security operations across the North Arabian Sea and Persian Gulf, while also joining major anti-submarine warfare exercises. That spring she integrated into the French-led Task Force 473 centered on FS CHARLES DE GAULLE (R 91), a combined operation providing air support to coalition forces in Afghanistan and showcasing close U.S.-French naval interoperability in the Arabian Sea. She returned to San Diego in July. In 2007, she capped her 2006 performance with a Battle "E" award and then made AEGIS BMD history: on June 22, 2007, operating off Hawaii, DECATUR launched an SM-3 that intercepted a separating ballistic-missile target - marking the first successful exo-atmospheric intercept from a U.S. destroyer. The test also featured information sharing with the THAAD system and participation by the Spanish frigate MENDEZ NUNEZ, signaling the growth of coalition ballistic-missile defense at sea.

From May to November 2008, she completed another 7th/5th Fleet cruise, with port visits in Hong Kong, Japan, and Singapore before shifting to CENTCOM waters for maritime security. She deployed again from May to November 2009 on her sixth overseas cruise, reflecting the high operational tempo of surface forces in the final years of major ground operations in Iraq. On March 9, 2010, she returned from a six-and-a-half-month deployment that had included integration with regional partners - among them a visit to Darwin, Australia - then pivoted back into 3rd Fleet workups. A seven-month 2010–2011 deployment followed, and on April 21, 2011, she returned to San Diego from extended operations in the Western Pacific and CENTCOM areas. That summer she joined the large Alaska-based joint exercise NORTHERN EDGE, shifting from warm-water routines to cold-weather operations in the Gulf of Alaska.

On August 17, 2012, DECATUR departed on an independent eight-month deployment oriented to maritime security and ballistic-missile defense across the 7th and 5th Fleet theaters. As tensions spiked on the Korean Peninsula in early 2013, she was directed to the Western Pacific in April to join USS JOHN S. McCAIN (DDG 56) and USS FITZGERALD (DDG 62) for contingency ballistic-missile defense options near Korea. The moves coincided with allied airpower demonstrations and reinforced deterrence messaging toward Pyongyang.

After a stateside training and maintenance cycle in 2014-2015, DECATUR took on a prominent role in 2016 as part of the PACIFIC SURFACE ACTION GROUP with USS MOMSON (DDG 92) and USS SPRUANCE (DDG 111). The trio departed San Diego on April 19, 2016, to operate forward in the Western Pacific. In May, DECATUR and MOMSON conducted bilateral drills with the Republic of Korea Navy. On September 11, 2016, while east of the Korean Peninsula, DECATUR coordinated with South Korean forces to execute an urgent MEDEVAC for a sailor - an episode that underscored alliance readiness. On October 21, 2016, she conducted a high-visibility freedom-of-navigation operation in the Paracel Islands, challenging the legality of claimed straight baselines and restrictions on innocent passage. The PAC SAG made a final port call at Pearl Harbor on November 3 and returned to San Diego on November 14, 2016.

In the years that followed, DECATUR continued routine patrols and certifications punctuated by a hazardous encounter on September 30, 2018, when PLAN destroyer LANZHOU closed to within yards of DECATUR near Gaven Reef in the South China Sea during a U.S. operation asserting high-seas freedoms - an episode widely cited by the U.S. Navy as unsafe and unprofessional. She deployed again across the 7th and 5th Fleet regions and returned to San Diego on April 1, 2019. Later that year, she executed a short-notice surge and entered an industrial availability in San Diego focused on hull, mechanical, electrical, and combat-system upgrades to sustain her relevance. Amid the pandemic, DECATUR held a socially distanced change of command on April 30, 2020, conducted on a berthing barge while the ship remained in maintenance.

After local operations through 2021-2022, DECATUR joined CARRIER STRIKE GROUP 11 for the 2022-2023 deployment. The NIMITZ (CVN 68)-led group departed in early December 2022, and on January 12, 2023, began operations in the South China Sea. Through the spring the strike group worked across the Philippine Sea and South China Sea, conducted a port visit in Sasebo, Japan, on May 19, and completed a broad slate of integrated operations with allied and joint partners. DECATUR returned to San Diego on June 28, 2023, and held a change of command aboard on June 30.

In 2024, she remained a San Diego-based destroyer, cycling through maintenance, certifications, and regional training under U.S. 3rd Fleet. In late summer 2025, DECATUR shifted to Hawaii to support commemoration activities around the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. From August 30 to September 2 she hosted public tours at Pearl Harbor and engaged with local organizations, highlighting contemporary surface warfare while honoring the Pacific War generation.

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Homeports of USS DECATUR:

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USS DECATUR Image Gallery:

The photos below were taken by me and show the DECATUR at Naval Base San Diego, Calif., on March 23, 2010.

The photos below were taken by me and show the DECATUR at the Huntington Ingalls Industries Continental Maritime of San Diego shipyard at San Diego, Calif. The photos were taken on September 29 and 30, 2011.

The photos below were taken by me and show the DECATUR at Naval Base San Diego, Calif., on May 10, 2012.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the DECATUR at BAE Systems San Diego Ship Repair during her Drydocking Selected Restricted Availability. The photos were taken on December 27, 2014.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the DECATUR passing Harbor Island in San Diego on her way back to Naval Base San Diego, Calif., early in the morning on October 5, 2015.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the DECATUR at Naval Base San Diego, Calif., on April 18, 2016 - one day before departing for a WestPac deployment as part of a surface action group.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the DECATUR departing San Diego for a western Pacific deployment as part of a surface action group on April 19, 2016. After departure, the DECATUR made a brief stop at the Bravo Pier before heading for the open sea.

The photos below were taken by Shiu On Yee and show the DECATUR in Victoria Harbour at Hong Kong on October 8, 2016. The DECATUR is presently on a WestPac deployment as part of a surface action group.

The photo below was taken by Sebastian Thoma and shows the DECATUR at Naval Base San Diego, Calif., on December 20, 2016.

The photo below was taken by Michael Jenning and shows the DECATUR at Naval Base San Diego, Calif., on October 11, 2017.

The photo below was taken by Sebastian Thoma and shows the DECATUR at Naval Base San Diego, Calif., on November 10, 2017.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the DECATUR undergoing an Extended Drydocking Selected Restricted Availability (E-DSRA) at BAE Systems San Diego Ship Repair on October 12, 2019.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the DECATUR at Naval Base San Diego, Calif., on December 28, 2021.

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