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General Characteristics Crew List Memorabilia Cruise Books About the Name Howard About the Christening Ceremony History Homeports of USS Howard Image Gallery to end of page |  |  |
USS HOWARD is the fifth OSCAR AUSTIN class guided missile destroyer and the first ship in the Navy named after Marine Corps Gunnery Sgt. Jimmie E. Howard.
| General Characteristics: | Keel laid: December 9, 1998 |
| Launched and christened: November 20, 1999 | |
| Commissioned: October 20, 2001 | |
| 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 | |
| Armament: one | |
| Homeport: Yokosuka, Japan | |
| Crew: approx. 320 |
back to top go to the end of the pageback to top go to the end of the pageCrew List:
This section contains the names of sailors who served aboard USS HOWARD. It is no official listing but contains the names of sailors who submitted their information.
back to top go to the end of the pageback to top go to the end of the pageUSS HOWARD Cruise Books:
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About the Ship's Name:
The ship is named in honor of Gunnery Sgt. Jimmie E. Howard, USMC, (1929-1993), recipient of the Medal of Honor for his leadership of a platoon against repeated attacks by a battalion-sized Viet Cong force. After receiving severe wounds from an enemy grenade, he distributed ammunition to his men and directed air strikes on the enemy. By dawn, his beleaguered platoon still held their position. Howard also received the Silver Star Medal for service in Korea. A previous HOWARD (DD 179) (1920-1945), named for Charles W. Howard, a U.S. Navy hero from the Civil War, earned six battle stars in World War II.
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About the Christening Ceremony:
The ARLEIGH BURKE class guided missile destroyer, HOWARD was christened November 20, 1999, during a 9 a.m. (EST) ceremony at Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine.
Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps Alford L. McMichael delivered the ceremony s principal address. Mrs. Theresa M. Howard, served as ship s sponsor in honor of her late husband. Joining Mrs. Howard as co-sponsor was Mrs. Jill Hultin, wife of Under Secretary of the Navy Jerry Hultin. In the time-honored Navy tradition, Mrs. Howard and Mrs. Hult broke a bottle of champagne across the bow and formally christened HOWARD.
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USS HOWARD History:
USS HOWARD was built at Bath Iron Works - laid down on December 9, 1998, launched and christened on November 20, 1999, and commissioned on October 20, 2001. Following commissioning she settled in San Diego and spent late 2001 and all of 2002 completing post-delivery trials, combat-systems qualifications, and carrier-integration events in the Southern California operating areas, establishing the baseline air-defense and sea-control routines expected of a new Flight IIA ship. In 2003, she remained in the Pacific Fleet basic/advanced phases and large-force exercises as the Navy surged to meet post-9/11 tasking, then entered her first long Western Pacific itinerary in 2004, when she sailed with the JOHN C. STENNIS (CVN 74) strike group beginning May 24, 2004, moving via Pearl Harbor into the Western Pacific for a summer of strike-group flight operations and multinational exercises (including Northern Edge 2004 and RIMPAC 2004) before returning to San Diego that autumn.
Through 2005, HOWARD continued readiness and workups while the Pacific Fleet introduced the Expeditionary Strike Group (ESG) model, and in 2006, she departed September 13 with ESG 5 for a six-month deployment supporting global maritime security in the Western Pacific and Indian Ocean. That cycle culminated in early 2007 recognition for overall readiness when, on February 16, 2007, she received the 2006 Battle Efficiency "E".
In 2008, HOWARD's profile shifted toward counter-piracy and maritime interdiction during an Indian Ocean/Red Sea rotation. On September 28, 2008, she closed and monitored the hijacked arms freighter MV FAINA at anchor off Hobyo, Somalia, keeping the ship under observation to deter offload of its cargo while additional U.S. and foreign warships converged. The incident remained a touchpoint of coalition counter-piracy through FAINA's eventual release in early 2009. Later that year, HOWARD was cited for humanitarian assistance work in the Philippines, reflecting how Seventh and Fifth Fleet surface combatants often balanced security missions with disaster response.
During 2009, she stayed tied to the piracy fight and sanctions enforcement posture around the Horn of Africa and western Indian Ocean while maintaining WestPac links. On the home-front side of the calendar she also handled routine harbor events at Yokosuka and San Diego between patrol legs. In 2010, HOWARD continued Western Pacific patrols and periodic Arabian Sea tasking typical of the era, mixing ballistic-missile-defense (BMD) availability, maritime security, and partner-navy exercises across the Philippine Sea and South China Sea. In 2011, with Japan hit by the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami and the fleet surging north for Operation Tomodachi, HOWARD's schedule reflected the theater's shifting logistics and maintenance puzzle, while broader Indo-Pacific stability operations absorbed much of the surface force's attention.
From 2012 through 2014, the destroyer sustained a steady WestPac rhythm: BMD alert windows, escort duty with carrier groups, and repeated port calls that underpinned security cooperation (for example Busan, Manila/Subic, Hong Kong, and Singapore), capped by a high-visibility Pacific summer in 2014 that included Seattle Fleet Week and a Pacific Northwest swing before joining a multinational group sail toward Hawaii as the RIMPAC armada formed up.
In 2015, HOWARD kept to the Western Pacific circuit during a period of rising regional tension over maritime claims. The ship's air-defense and surface-action routines supported presence and allied integration even as other U.S. destroyers conducted headline-grabbing FONOPs elsewhere in the South China Sea. The following year, 2016, she featured prominently in the RIMPAC cycle - arriving June 28, 2016, to Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam and later steaming in the classic RIMPAC close-formation photo events on July 28, 2016, after weeks of gunnery, ASW, and air-maritime integration drills across the Hawaiian and Southern California ranges.
In 2017, HOWARD deployed with NIMITZ (CVN 68) CSG for a six-month swing through Seventh Fleet and the U.S. Fifth Fleet area, returning to Naval Base San Diego on December 5, 2017. The itinerary matched the era's emphasis on chokepoint presence (Bab-el-Mandeb, Hormuz) and coalition operations across the Arabian Sea and Gulf. She reset in 2018 with basic/advanced training and intermittent West Coast public-outreach appearances.
HOWARD began a major transition in 2021: she departed San Diego in June and arrived to her new forward-deployed homeport at Fleet Activities Yokosuka on August 16, 2021, joining DESRON 15 as part of the Seventh Fleet's principal surface force. That autumn she ranged deep into the South Pacific: on November 26, 2021, she made a rare U.S. Navy port call at Wellington, New Zealand - the first U.S. warship visit to the country since 2016 - before resuming Western Pacific patrols.
Across 2022 and into 2023, the destroyer's tempo reflected forward-deployed employment: South and East China Seas, Philippine Sea, and Southeast Asian approaches with recurring combined training. On August 10, 2023, en route to a planned port call near Bali, HOWARD experienced a minor "soft grounding" that led to a command investigation. On August 19 Seventh Fleet announced the relief of the commanding officer. Later in December 2023, a small engine-room electrical fire prompted precautionary medical evaluation for several sailors at Naval Hospital Yokosuka; the ship returned to service after checks.
By 2024, HOWARD was again visible in theater reporting and imagery - conducting drills in the Philippine Sea in March and executing deck and crash-and-salvage drills in the South China Sea in October 2024 - as Seventh Fleet surface forces emphasized sustained presence amid periodic tensions around Taiwan and in the Spratly/Paracel regions.
In 2025, the destroyer remained forward-deployed out of Yokosuka, continuing integrated patrols, multilateral exercises, and routine logistics port calls tied to the Seventh Fleet's Indo-Pacific posture; regional exercise cycles (including CARAT with Southeast Asian partners) and recurring allied operations in the Philippine Sea and South China Sea framed the year's employment while HOWARD maintained DESRON-level certifications.
back to top go to the end of the pageHomeports of USS HOWARD:
| Period | Homeport |
|---|---|
| commissioned at Galveston, Tx. | |
| 2001 - 2021 | San Diego, Calif. |
| 2021 - present | Yokosuka, Japan |
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USS HOWARD Image Gallery:
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The photos below were taken by Ian Johnson and show the HOWARD at Fremantle, Australia, on September 28, 2004 (the first three photos), September 29, 2004, and October 3, 2004 (the last photo). At the time, HOWARD was assigned to the USS JOHN C. STENNIS (CVN 74) Strike Group and was the first Flight II ARLEIGH BURKE - class DDG to visit Western Australia.
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The photo below was taken by me and shows the HOWARD at Naval Base San Diego, Calif., on March 10, 2008.
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The photos below were taken by me and show the HOWARD at Naval Base San Diego, Calif., on March 23, 2010.
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The photos below were taken by me and show the HOWARD at Naval Base San Diego, Calif., on May 10, 2012.
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The photos below were taken by me and show the HOWARD dry-docked at BAE Ship Repair in San Diego, Calif. The HOWARD entered the shipyard on June 17, 2012, and is undergoing the DDG Modernization Upgrade. The photos were taken on October 3, 2012.
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The photo below was taken by Henry Schnutz and shows the HOWARD at Naval Base San Diego, Calif., on August 27, 2013.
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The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the HOWARD at BAE Systems San Diego Ship Repair undergoing a Selected Restricted Availability. The photos were taken on December 27, 2014.
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The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the HOWARD at Naval Base San Diego, Calif., on October 2, 2015.
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The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the HOWARD at Naval Base San Diego, Calif., on April 18, 2016.
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The photos below were taken by Sebastian Thoma and show the HOWARD moored at Pier 10 at Naval Base San Diego, Calif., on December 20, 2016.
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The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the HOWARD undergoing a modernization availability at BAE Systems San Diego Ship Repair on September 28, 2018.
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The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the HOWARD undergoing a modernization availability at BAE Systems San Diego Ship Repair on March 2, 2019.
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