USS McCampbell (DDG 85)

Sponsored by the former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, USS McCAMPBELL is the seventh Flight IIA ARLEIGH BURKE-class guided missile destroyer and the first ship in the Navy named after Captain David McCampbell. In June 2007, the McCAMPBELL shifted her homeport from San Diego, Calif., to Yokosuka, Japan, where she relieved the USS GARY (FFG 51). In mid-2020, McCAMPBELL left Japan after 13 years and changed her homeport to Everett, Wash.

General Characteristics:	Awarded: December 13, 1996
	Keel laid: July 15, 1999
	Launched: July 2, 2000
	Commissioned: August 17, 2002
	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 McCAMPBELL. 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 McCAMPBELL memorabilia are currently for sale on ebay.

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Accidents aboard USS McCAMPBELL:

Date	Where	Events
March 25, 2006	Persian Gulf, 30nm southeast off the Iraqi coast	USS McCAMPBELL and the Kiribati-flagged merchant vessel MV ROKYA collide at approx. 11:09 pm local time, slightly injuring two McCAMPBELL sailors and two from the crew of MV ROKYA. All four were treated on-scene by McCAMBELL's independent duty corpsman. Both ships suffered on the bow.

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Homeports of USS McCAMPBELL:

Period	Homeport
commissioned at San Francisco, Calif.
2002 - 2007	San Diego, Calif.
2007 - 2020	Yokosuka, Japan
2020 - 2024	Everett, Wash.
2024 - present	Yokosuka, Japan

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USS McCAMPBELL in the News:

May 30, 2003 - USS McCampbell Makes Successful Drug Bust on First Deployment

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USS McCAMPBELL's Commanding Officers:

Period	Name
May 2001 - December 19, 2003	Commander Mark C. Montgomery, USN
December 19, 2003 - July 2005	Commander Russell E. Haas, USN
July 2005 - May 2007	Commander Vincent D. McBeth, USN
May 2007 - December 2008	Commander William M. Triplett, USN
December 2008 - October 2010	Commander Charles A. Johnson, USN
October 2010 - April 2012	Commander Steven H. DeMoss, USN
April 2012 - July 2013	Commander Thomas J. Dixon, USN
July 2013 - December 2014	Commander Sharif H. Calfee, USN
December 2014 - May 2016	Commander Edward D. Sundberg, USN
May 2016 - October 2017	Commander Edward A. Angelinas, USN
October 2017 - May 2019	Commander Allison N. Christy, USN
May 2019 - September 2020	Commander Patrick J. Sullivan, USN
September 2020 - January 2022	Commander David C. Sandomir, USN
January 2022 - July 2023	Commander Steven Zielechowski, USN
July 2023 - 2024	Commander James D. Pierce III, USN
2024 - present	Commander Jordan J. Stutzman, USN

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About the Ship's Name:

David McCampbell was born in Bessemer, Alabama, on January 16, 1910 and raised in West Palm Beach Florida. He attended Staunton (Virginia) Military Academy and one year at Georgia School of Technology before his appointment to the United States Naval Academy, where he graduated with the class of 1933.

From September 1943 to September 1944 Captain McCampbell was commander of Air Group 15, in charge of fighters, bombers, and torpedo bombers aboard the aircraft carrier ESSEX. From April to November 1944, his group saw six months of continuous combat and participated in two major air-sea battles, the First and Second Battles of the Philippine Sea. During the more than 20,000 hours of air combat operations before it returned to the United States for a rest period, Air Group 15 destroyed more enemy planes (315 airborne and 348 on the ground) and sank more enemy shipping than any other Air Group in the Pacific War. Air Group 15 s attacks on the Japanese in the Marianas and at Iwo Jima, Formosa, and Okinawa were key to the success of the "island hopping" campaign.

In addition to his duties as commander of the "Fabled Fifteen," Captain McCampbell became the Navy s "Ace of Aces" during the missions he flew in 1944. In October 1944 Captain McCampbell and his wingman attacked a Japanese force of 60 aircraft. During the mission, Captain McCampbell shot down nine enemy planes, setting a single mission aerial combat record. When he landed his Grumman F6F Hellcat, his six machine guns had two rounds remaining and the plane had only enough fuel to keep it aloft for 10 more minutes. Captain McCampbell received the Medal of Honor for that action, becoming the only fast carrier task force pilot to do so. During a similarly courageous mission in June 1944, Air Group 15 s planes routed a large enemy force and Captain McCampbell earned seven kills.

For his brilliant record in command of Air Group 15, Captain McCampbell was awarded the Medal of Honor, the Navy Cross, the Silver Star Medal, Legion of Merit with Combat "V", the Distinguished Flying Cross with two Gold Stars in lieu of the second and third awards, and the Air Medal. After the war, his assignments included command of the carrier BON HOMME RICHARD (CVA 31) and service as plans division chief of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He retired from active duty in 1964 and was interred at Arlington National Cemetery after his death on June 30, 1996.

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USS McCAMPBELL History:

USS McCAMPBELL was laid down on July 16, 1999, at Bath Iron Works in Maine, launched and christened on July 2, 2000, and commissioned on August 17, 2002 at Pier 30 in San Francisco. After commissioning she shifted to the Pacific Fleet, completing post-delivery shakedown, combat-systems trials, and early task-group integration from San Diego. In the spring of 2003, she undertook counter-drug operations, then resumed West Coast workups through 2004. That summer she crossed the Pacific and visited Hong Kong from August 7-11, 2004, a typical liberty and logistics pause during a Western Pacific patrol that mixed air-defense training and multinational exercises.

In 2005 and 2006, the destroyer maintained the basic-to-advanced training rhythm in the Southern California and Hawaii ranges while preparing for forward deployment, alternating certifications with independent steaming in the Eastern and Western Pacific. In 2007, she arrived at Yokosuka, Japan, to join Seventh Fleet as a permanently forward-deployed unit, beginning a high-tempo cycle of Western Pacific patrols, ballistic-missile defense (BMD) alert windows in the Sea of Japan during North Korean launch periods, and frequent strait transits across the East and South China Seas with port calls that included Sasebo, Singapore, and Hong Kong.

During 2009, the ship figured in regional sanctions enforcement when she took over shadowing the North Korean freighter KANG NAM 1 on June 23 as it sailed south from Nampo - an early, visible test of UNSCR 1874 maritime interdiction procedures after Pyongyang's nuclear test that spring. McCAMPBELL's BMD, maritime security, and theater-security-cooperation patrols continued into 2010, interleaving Yokosuka maintenance with underway periods in the Philippine Sea and South China Sea.

In 2011, the ship pivoted to humanitarian relief after the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. She was among the earliest U.S. surface units on station off northeastern Honshu during Operation Tomodachi, delivering relief supplies and coordinating movements as Seventh Fleet surged ships and aircraft to devastated coastal areas. She remained engaged as carrier and amphibious assets turned the region into a logistics hub through late March. That summer, as UN sanctions enforcement tightened, McCAMPBELL participated in interdiction and monitoring tasks in the East China Sea sea lanes leading toward Myanmar.

Across 2012 and 2013, she sustained forward presence with DESRON 15, coupling carrier-escort periods with independent patrols. In early 2014, she began a Western Pacific patrol, executing ammunition on-loads and readiness events at sea and making regional port calls (e.g., Hong Kong and Singapore) consistent with Seventh Fleet's security-cooperation pattern. Through 2015, she continued the Yokosuka-based cycle of BMD alerts, carrier integration with RONALD REAGAN (CVN 76) - group rotations, and bilateral training with Japan, Korea, and other partners.

In 2016, McCAMPBELL remained embedded with Carrier Strike Group Five and took part in the joint exercise Valiant Shield 2016 as the strike group patrolled the Western Pacific. When the carrier and most escorts returned to Yokosuka on November 21, 2016, McCAMPBELL extended her patrol, reflecting Seventh Fleet's demand for a persistent air-defense and sea-control destroyer in contested waters. Through 2017, she kept up this cadence of patrols and exercises across the Philippine Sea, East China Sea, and approaches to the South China Sea.

In 2018 and 2019, the ship was visible in freedom-of-navigation and waterway-access operations tied to international-law assertions. On January 7, 2019, she conducted a Freedom of Navigation Operation in the Paracel Islands, challenging excessive maritime claims, and on January 24, 2019, she transited the Taiwan Strait with oiler USNS WALTER S. DIEHL (T-AO 193), part of an intensified sequence of lawful U.S. transits. As political tensions rose, Chinese authorities in August 2019 denied slated U.S. Navy port calls to Hong Kong, and McCAMPBELL later featured in reporting on the broader suspension of U.S. Navy Hong Kong visits that winter.

In 2020, she again transited the Taiwan Strait on May 13 and then closed a major chapter: after 13 years forward-deployed, she departed Yokosuka on July 2, 2020, to begin a 17-month Depot Modernization Period at Vigor in Portland, Oregon, with plans to homeport at Naval Station Everett, Washington, post-modernization. The deep availability replaced and upgraded combat-systems suites and refreshed hull-mechanical-electrical systems, preparing the destroyer for another forward cycle.

During 2021 and 2022, the ship remained in the yard, progressing through modernization milestones. In May 2022, the shipbuilder announced completion of the largest repair project in its history on a U.S. Navy vessel, and McCAMPBELL subsequently conducted post-availability trials and training on the U.S. West Coast while aligning manning and logistics for a return to forward status.

In 2023, she continued readiness events from the Pacific Northwest, then in early 2024, the Navy slated her to re-enter the forward-deployed force in Japan. On March 2, 2024, she returned to Yokosuka, rejoining DESRON 15 as a Seventh Fleet destroyer after the Depot Modernization Period. That month she resumed theater operations in the Philippine and East China seas, and on February 18, 2024, she called at Ishinomaki, Japan, a commemorative visit connecting the crew back to communities aided during Operation Tomodachi. Through the remainder of 2024 she appeared in fleet imagery conducting drills in the Philippine Sea and South China Sea as alliance and partner exercises intensified.

By 2025, McCAMPBELL was again fully embedded in the forward-deployed pattern from Yokosuka - BMD standby as regional missile activity ebbed and surged, integrated air-maritime events with Japan and allied navies, and periodic logistics calls across Northeast and Southeast Asia.

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USS McCAMPBELL Image Gallery:

The photos below were taken by Charles Barton and show the McCAMPBELL at San Diego, Calif, on August 19, 2005.

The photos below were taken by Shiu On Yee during USS McCAMPBELL's port visit to Hong Kong July 10 - 15, 2012, while the ship was assigned to the USS GEORGE WASHINGTON (CVN 73) Strike Group.