Search the Site with

General Characteristics

Crew List

Memorabilia

Cruise Books

USS O'Kane History

Homeports of USS O'Kane

About the Ship's Name

Image Gallery

to end of page

USS O'Kane (DDG 77)

USS O'KANE is the 27^th ship in the ARLEIGH BURKE - class of guided missile destroyers and the first ship in the Navy named after Rear Admiral Richard H. O’Kane.

back to top

go to the end of the page

back to top

go to the end of the page

Crew List:

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

• Click here to view the list.

back to top

go to the end of the page

• Click here to see which USS O'KANE memorabilia are currently for sale on ebay.

back to top

go to the end of the page

USS O'KANE Cruise Books:

• Arabian Sea Cruise Book 2012

back to top

go to the end of the page

History of USS O'KANE:

USS O'KANE was laid down at Bath Iron Works in Bath, Maine, on May 8, 1997, launched on March 28, 1998, and christened on April 17, 1998. After builder's and acceptance trials and a 50-day transit from Maine to Hawaii, she arrived at Pearl Harbor in mid-October 1999 and was commissioned at Pearl Harbor on October 23, 1999, with Mrs. Leslie Allen Berry as ship's sponsor.

Through 2000, the destroyer completed shakedown events and fleet integration, including participation in RIMPAC 2000 and a Fleet Week visit to San Diego in October 2000, then settled into an early rhythm of workups from her Pearl Harbor homeport. On August 1, 2001, O'KANE got underway on her maiden Western Pacific deployment with the CARL VINSON (CVN 70) group. The September 11 attacks transformed that first cruise: the ship shifted to intensive maritime interdiction operations in the Northern Persian Gulf in support of the opening phases of Operation Enduring Freedom, boarding and monitoring traffic as coalition forces sought to cut terrorist financing and materiel flows. She returned to Pearl Harbor in late January 2002 and accelerated straight into advanced training later that year to be available for contingency tasking as tensions over Iraq grew.

O'KANE departed Pearl Harbor on January 17, 2003, for an independent deployment that bridged the transition from Enduring Freedom enforcement to the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom. In March 2003, as the air war opened, the destroyer launched Tomahawk Land-Attack Missiles against regime targets and provided early warning and cueing for joint and coalition defenses against potential missile launches, then shifted into maritime security duties to keep Iraqi coastal waters, approaches to Umm Qasr, and offshore infrastructure secure as combat operations wound down. She was back in Hawaii by late July 2003. The following year was spent in post-deployment maintenance and basic phase training around Hawaii, preparing to rejoin a carrier strike group.

In February 2005, O'KANE deployed with the CARL VINSON Carrier Strike Group, supporting maritime security operations from the Indian Ocean to the Arabian Gulf before returning to Pearl Harbor in July 2005. During 2006, she again operated from Hawaii, participating in RIMPAC 2006 and a Composite Training Unit Exercise as she aligned with what became JOHN C. STENNIS (CVN 74) Carrier Strike Group 3. On January 2007, she deployed with that group, transited to U.S. 5th Fleet for maritime security operations, and in August 2007 participated in VALIANT SHIELD before returning to Hawaii later that month. In 2008, she executed a short surge to the Western Pacific, then took part in RIMPAC 2008, rounding out a year of high-tempo training and readiness.

By early 2009, O'KANE completed a four-and-a-half-month underway period that included ANNUALEX 20G with the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force and security missions around Iraq's offshore oil platforms - key infrastructure later transferred to Iraqi naval responsibility. In September 2009, she again headed west for a fall Western Pacific deployment that included ANNUALEX 21G in November. She returned to Pearl Harbor in December 2009.

O'KANE departed again in July 2010 for the Middle East, joining Commander, Task Force-Iraqi Maritime to help secure the Al Basrah and Khor al Amaya oil terminals and sustain theater security cooperation in U.S. 5th Fleet through the end of 2010. She arrived home on February 8, 2011, closing a seven-month deployment at a moment when the Navy's sea-based ballistic missile defense program was accelerating.

Two months later, on April 14, 2011, O'KANE served as the firing ship for Flight Test Maritime-15, launching a Standard Missile-3 Block IA to intercept a separating intermediate-range ballistic missile target over the Pacific. The event, driven by remote sensor data and BMDS network integration, marked a program milestone and underscored the destroyer's growing role in regional missile defense. After a short workup cycle, O'KANE departed Pearl Harbor on March 23, 2012, for a Middle East deployment focused on ballistic-missile-defense and maritime security duties, returning in November 2012. In 2014, she deployed again from March 7 through early December to the Arabian Gulf and Western Pacific. Alongside routine presence and security tasks, she made a port visit to Goa, India, in early July - part of a broader sequence of theater engagement events that year.

From February 2015 to February 2016, O'KANE entered a major docking selected restricted availability at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard, a life-extension and modernization period described at the time as the largest DSRA there to date for a destroyer. Post-availability trials and basic training carried the ship into 2017, when she first headed north in the spring for NORTHERN EDGE 2017, making port calls at Port Hueneme, San Diego, and Juneau, Alaska, before returning to Hawaii on June 15. On November 3, 2017, she departed Pearl Harbor for an independent Western Pacific deployment centered on ballistic-missile defense of Guam. Over seven months she remained on station as the ready BMD asset during a period of elevated North Korea missile activity, with brief logistics and rest stops at Guam, Saipan, and Yokosuka. O'KANE returned to Pearl Harbor on June 4, 2018, then participated in RIMPAC 2018 in July, where she conducted live-fire events including a Standard Missile-2 engagement during the multinational exercise.

In September 2019, O'KANE closed a two-decade Hawaii chapter and shifted homeport to San Diego, arriving on September 21 and integrating into the Southern California operations cycle. The pandemic year of 2020 kept much of the Navy focused on at-sea readiness. O'KANE maintained her certification and strike group interoperability from the SOCAL ranges and Eastern Pacific. She deployed again in mid-2021, sailing in early August as part of Carrier Strike Group 1's broader movements. Through late 2021 and early 2022, she operated across the U.S. 7th and 5th Fleet theaters, serving as ballistic-missile-defense commander while conducting presence, escort, and maritime security tasks from the Western Pacific into the Middle East. She returned to Naval Base San Diego on February 6, 2022, completing roughly eight months away.

After 2023 training and workups from San Diego, O'KANE departed again on July 17, 2024, initially with the ABRAHAM LINCOLN (CVN 72) Carrier Strike Group. As regional tensions escalated - particularly Houthi attacks on shipping in and around the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden - O'KANE and other destroyers supported the surge of naval presence and layered defense in U.S. Central Command waters. When the carrier and several escorts redeployed stateside in December 2024, O'KANE remained in 5th Fleet alongside STOCKDALE (DDG 106) to continue maritime security. During this extended period she made a brief replenishment visit to Colombo, Sri Lanka, on August 21-22, 2024, one of the few in-port opportunities during an otherwise high-tempo patrol. She returned to San Diego on February 7, 2025, closing a seven-month deployment that had ranged across 3rd, 7th, and 5th Fleet areas, and rejoined the Pacific Fleet readiness cycle with the experience of multiple long, BMD-centric cruises behind her.

back to top

go to the end of the page

Homeports of USS O'KANE:

back to top

go to the end of the page

About the Destroyer's Name, about Rear Admiral Richard H. O’Kane:

Richard H. O'Kane was born in Dover, New Hampshire, on February 2, 1911. He attended Phillips Academy, Andover, and the University of New Hampshire before entering the United States Naval Academy in 1930.

Upon graduation in 1934, O'Kane was commissioned as an Ensign and served on USS CHESTER and USS PRUITT before reporting for instruction in submarines at the Submarine Base, New London, Connecticut, in January 1938. After completing his training, O'Kane served on the submarine USS ARGONAUT until 1942, when he reported for duty as Executive Officer of USS WAHOO. For outstanding service on WAHOO, O'Kane was awarded the Silver Star Medal with two Gold Stars, and a Letter of Commendation from the Secretary of the Navy.

In August 1943, O'Kane returned to the Mare Island Navy Yard where he assumed command of USS TANG upon her commissioning on October 15, 1943. After intensive training exercises in the San Diego area, TANG left for the Pacific, arriving in Pearl Harbor on January 8, 1944. Under Commander O'Kane, TANG went on five war patrols, sinking a total of 31 ships, totaling more than 227,000 tons, and damaging two other ships, a record unsurpassed by any American submarine.

During its fifth and final war patrol, which began on September 24 and ended on October 25, 1944, TANG sank 13 enemy ships. In what was to be her final battle, the TANG encountered a heavily escorted enemy convoy. Engaged in a fierce surface battle, Commander O'Kane directed TANG to fire her last two torpedoes at a crippled transport ship. The first torpedo went straight and true and struck its target. The second torpedo was faulty and turned around almost immediatley, heading directly for TANG. Ordering emergency speed, TANG tried to pull out of its path, but it struck the submarine in the stern, causing a violent explosion. Of the entire crew, only nine were able to escape the sinking submarine. They swam through the night until they were picked up by a Japanese destroyer escort eight hours later.

Commander O'Kane and the others from TANG were imprisoned on Formosa. He was later transferred to a secret prison camp near Tokyo where he was not registered and was therefore listed as "missing in action" until the camp's liberation two weeks after V-J Day. During his imprisonment, he and the other prisoners sruvived on a diet of less than 300 calories a day, eating mostly rice or barley, without fruit, vegetables or protein. Upon his release, O'Kane was suffering from scurvy and beriberi. He was evacuated by air to Pearl Harbor and, after a short hospitalization there, was transferred to the Naval Hospital in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

After his recovery, O'Kane's commands included USS PELIAS and USS SPERRY, as well as the Submarine School in New London, Connecticut, Submarine Division THIRTY-TWO and Submarine Squadron SEVEN. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for his exemplary service on TANG on March 27, 1947. Rear Admiral O'Kanes other military decoration include the Navy Cross with two Gold Stars, the Legion of Merit with Combat "V", the Purple Heart and the Prisoner of War Medal. He also wrote two books based on his experiences in World War II, Clear the Bridge and WAHOO.

Rear Admiral O'Kane passed away in February 1994. He is survived by his wife, Ernestine, two children, four grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

back to top

go to the end of the page

back to top

go to the end of the page

USS O'KANE Image Gallery:

The photos below were taken by Stefan Karpinski and show the O'KANE underway in Middle East waters in 2003.

The photo below was taken by me and show the O'KANE in Pearl Harbor, Hi., on March 14, 2008.

The photos below were taken by me and show the O'KANE undergoing maintenance at Naval Station Pearl Harbor, Hi., on March 8, 2012.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the O'KANE during a visit to Naval Base San Diego, Calif., on October 6, 2016.

The photo below was taken by Michael Jenning and shows the O'KANE at Naval Base Pearl Harbor, Hi., on October 14, 2017.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the O'KANE at Naval Base San Diego, Calif., on September 28, 2018. The O'KANE arrived at her new homeport of San Diego on September 21 after a week-long transit from her old homeport Pearl Harbor, Hi.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the O'KANE undergoing an Extended Selected Restricted Availability (E-SRA) at Continental Maritime Shipyard in San Diego, Calif., on March 2, 2019.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the O'KANE undergoing an Extended Selected Restricted Availability (E-SRA) at Continental Maritime Shipyard in San Diego, Calif., on October 10, 2022.

back to top

Back to Destroyers list.

Back to ships list.

Back to selection page.

Back to 1^st page.