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Accidents aboard the Ship

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About the Ship's Name

History

Homeports of USS Preble

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USS Preble (DDG 88)

USS PREBLE is a Flight IIA ARLEIGH BURKE-class guided missile destroyer and the sixth ship in the Navy to bear the name.

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Crew List:

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

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• Click here to see which USS PREBLE memorabilia are currently for sale on ebay.

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USS PREBLE Cruise Books:

• WestPac Cruise Book 2012-13

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About the Ship's Coat of Arms:

The Shield:

Gold and dark blue are the traditional colors associated with the Navy. Commodore Preble s attack and bombardment of the harbor at Tripoli in 1803 during his campaign against Barbary pirates is recalled by the embattlement and rayonny scarlet chief representing the fire and destruction he rained on the port. Scarlet symbolizes courage and Commodore Preble s fiery resolve and determination to end attacks upon American trading vessels in the region. The ship s sail further recalls his successful attack and blockade of Tripoli and refers to his other distinguished U.S. Navy commands, particularly of the USS CONSTITUTION and the frigate ESSEX. The head of the lion is derived from the Preble family coat of arms and symbolizes courage and strength. The crossed cutlass and sword represent combat and the readiness, past and present, to defend United States interests. Argent, or silver, signifies integrity, gold denotes excellence.

The Crest:

The eight battle stars earned by USS PREBLE (DD 345) for World War II service are recalled by the points of the compass rose and by the laurel wreath, which signifies honor. The compass rose indicates worldwide capabilities and service of the new Preble and it s predecessors. The blue escutcheon, in the shape of the radar cover panel used on Aegis vessels, represents the advanced technology and weapons systems of the new ship. It is charged with a cinquefoil, recalling the five previous ships to honorably bear the name Preble. Argent, or silver, denotes integrity and valor, gold signifies excellence.

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Accidents aboard USS PREBLE:

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USS PREBLE's Commanding Officers:

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About the Ship's Name:

Edward Preble was born at Falmouth, Maine on August 15, 1761 and began his career at the age of sixteen when he ran away to sea on a privateer. Two years later, he was appointed a midshipman on the frigate PROTECTOR and fought two engagements before being captured in 1781. The following year, after his release, he became First Lieutenant on the cruiser WINTHROP. While on this ship Preble earned a reputation for undaunted courage and presence of mind. In one mission he led a boarding party in the capture of an anchored British brig at Castine, Maine, and escaped with her under hostile shore fire.

After the Revolutionary War, Preble remained in the merchant service. He was appointed a First Lieutenant in the United States Navy in April of 1798, and ordered the following January to command the brig PICKERING of the U.S. Revenue Marine. The PICKERING sailed in the squadron of Commodore Barry, protecting American commerce against French privateers in the West Indies.

Commissioned a Captain on 7 June 1799, he took command of the new frigate ESSEX in December, and sailed from New York in January 1800 to afford protection to American vessels engaged in China and Eastern trade. During this cruise Preble had the honor of being the first naval officer to fly the American flag east of the Cape of Good Hope.

In 1803 on board his flagship, USS CONSTITUTION, Preble sailed against the Barbary pirates as Commodore of a seven-ship, thousand-man squadron. In October of that year he established a peace treaty with the Emperor of Morocco, and then effected a blockade of the harbor of Tripoli. Preble and his Tripolitan campaign became one of the focal points for the development of the fighting tradition of the U.S. Navy. Not satisfied with a passive blockade, Preble attacked the harbor, which was well-fortified and defended by 25,000 men. In a series of daring raids, Preble's men caused severe damage and inflicted heavy causalities, a direct result of strenuous training and bold thinking. Preble's influence extended not only to events of his time, but also to the later successes of Stephen Decatur, William Bainbridge, Charles Stewart, Isaac Hull, and David Porter, all of whom served under his command at Tripoli. In 1804, Preble returned to the United States to supervise the construction of gunboats. He died a few years later on August 25, 1807.

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USS PREBLE History:

USS PREBLE (DDG 88), an ARLEIGH BURKE - class Flight IIA destroyer built at Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, was laid down on June 22, 2000, launched on June 1, 2001, christened on June 9, 2001, and commissioned at Boston's Commonwealth Pier on November 9, 2002. After delivery she shifted to the Pacific Fleet, completed shakedown and combat-systems qualifications from San Diego, and entered the basic and integrated training cycle that prepared her for initial Western Pacific employment.

PREBLE's first long deployment began in the summer of 2004, when she sortied with the BELLEAU WOOD (LHA 3) Expeditionary Strike Group. By June 17, 2004 the formation was underway from San Diego, and PREBLE spent roughly six months in Seventh Fleet waters supporting amphibious flight operations, maritime security, and coalition exercises before returning December 17, 2004. The deployment reflected the Navy's early-2000s emphasis on expeditionary strike groups - mixing amphibious ships, cruisers, destroyers, and submarines - to provide distributed combat power and flexible crisis response across the Western Pacific.

Following sustainment and inspections through 2005-2006, PREBLE departed January 20, 2007, with JOHN C. STENNIS (CVN 74) Carrier Strike Group for a seven-month cruise that included VALIANT SHIELD 2007 in the Marianas and Guam operating areas. She returned to her homeport August 29, 2007, after air-defense screening, strike-group maneuver, and large-force integration events that tied together carrier air wings, submarines, and joint air assets. In 2008, she completed an accelerated training cycle and a rigorous INSURV material inspection, setting conditions for the next deployment.

PREBLE sailed again on January 17, 2009, with the STENNIS group for a five-month period in the Seventh Fleet area. She participated in Foal Eagle with the Republic of Korea and concluded the cruise with a diplomatic port visit to Tahiti before returning June 15, 2009. Back on the West Coast in 2010, she aligned to the RONALD REAGAN (CVN 76) strike group, executed a Mark 54 torpedo technical evaluation, and on September 2010 conducted an operational test of Tomahawk Block 3C and Block 4E rounds off San Nicolas Island - part of the continual improvements to strike and ASW capability on Flight IIA destroyers.

PREBLE deployed with CARRIER STRIKE GROUP SEVEN on February 2011 and within weeks became a first responder to the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami (March 11, 2011), delivering humanitarian support off northeastern Honshu during Operation Tomodachi before resuming tasking westward. Through late spring 2011, she shifted to counter-piracy and maritime security under CTF-151 and operated across Fifth Fleet sea lanes prior to returning to the Pacific. Shore side, a BAE Systems availability awarded on August 25, 2011, covered upgrades and repairs that folded into her maintenance cycle.

From 2012 into 2013, PREBLE alternated DESRON patrols and strike-group integration while preparing for a homeport transition to Hawaii. She completed multiple Indo-Pacific exercises and WestPac port calls consistent with U.S. security-cooperation patterns of the era. On August 14, 2014, she arrived at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam to make Hawaii her new homeport, joining the 3rd Fleet destroyer contingent that routinely surges into 7th Fleet. A change of command on the waterfront later that year underscored the unit's embedded role in the Pearl Harbor surface force.

Hawaii basing set the stage for repeated long Western Pacific sorties. PREBLE took part in RIMPAC 2018 (June 27-August 2, 2018) around Hawaii and Southern California - replenishing at sea, working multinational air-maritime command and control, and even winning the RIMPAC basketball tournament as a bit of crew-level esprit de corps. The following year she left Pearl Harbor in January 2019, executed numerous bilateral events across the Indo-Pacific, and returned to Pearl Harbor on June 13, 2019, the second such homecoming in as many years. These cycles emphasized the 3rd/7th Fleet "seam", with 3rd Fleet-led training complementing forward operations west of the International Date Line.

In 2020, PREBLE surged south for enhanced counter-narcotics operations in U.S. 4th Fleet, returning to Pearl Harbor on June 25, 2020. The deployment reflected a broader, interagency maritime push that used Pacific destroyers as fast, long-range platforms for law enforcement support alongside embarked Coast Guard teams. The Navy announced in 2019 that PREBLE would receive the HELIOS high-energy laser. By 2021-2022, the directed-energy fit and associated combat-system upgrades were in focus as the ship cycled through maintenance and training while the fleet refined tactics for counter-UAS defense.

PREBLE's directed-energy role came into full view in 2024. On March 28-29, 2024, operating off PMRF Kauai, she launched SM-6 Dual II (SWUP) and successfully intercepted a medium-range ballistic missile in Flight Test Aegis Weapon System-32 (FTM-32) - a complex event conducted with the Missile Defense Agency, the U.S. Navy, and Australian partners, validating Aegis/SM-6 performance against advanced terminal threats. The same year the Navy confirmed PREBLE had demonstrated the HELIOS laser against a target drone, part of the service's directed-energy maturation for counter-UAS and small-boat defense.

As part of a planned rotation of forward-deployed naval forces, PREBLE departed San Diego on September 22, 2024, to shift homeport to Yokosuka, Japan. She arrived in mid-October 2024, joined DESRON 15/CTF-71, and became the tenth destroyer assigned to the 7th Fleet's principal forward squadron - now notably a laser-equipped Flight IIA unit stationed close to contested waters of the East and South China Seas. The forward move placed her alongside carrier and amphibious formations that support deterrence, crisis response, and alliance integration across the Western Pacific.

Through 2025, PREBLE has continued the forward-deployed cadence from Yokosuka: multi-week patrols in the Philippine Sea, East China Sea, and approaches to the South China Sea; bilateral and multilateral events with the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force and regional partners; and periodic logistics calls in Japan and U.S. territories.

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Homeports of USS PREBLE:

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USS PREBLE Image Gallery:

The photos below were taken by Brian Barton and show the USS LASSEN (DDG 82) moored alongside the USS PREBLE at San Diego, Calif., on December 6, 2003.

The photo below was taken by Shiu On Yee and shows the PREBLE anchored at Hong Kong. The ship visited Hong Kong along with the RONALD REAGAN (CVN 76) Strike Group from August 12-15, 2011.

The photos below were taken by me and show the PREBLE at Naval Base San Diego, Calif., on September 29, 2011. 20 days earlier, on September 9, 2011, the PREBLE had returned from a 7-month cruise to the western Pacific and Middle East. She's still wearing her homecoming garland on the bow.

The photos below were taken by me and show the PREBLE being modernized at BAE Systems Ship Repair in San Diego, Calif., on March 15, 2012. PREBLE entered drydock in October 2011 as part of the DDG modernization upgrade.

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

The photos below were taken by me and show the PREBLE leading the Parade of Ships through San Francisco Bay during San Francisco Fleet Week 2012. The photos were taken on October 6, 2012, and show the PREBLE south of the Bay Bridge shortly before reaching Pier 80 where she was moored throughout the event. PREBLE originally arrived in San Francisco on October 3 and left for San Diego, Calif., on October 9.

The photos below were taken by me on October 8, 2012, during a public tour of the PREBLE as part of the San Francisco Fleet Week.

			Click here for more photos.

The photos below were all taken by me on October 11, 2012, and show the PREBLE arriving at the Bravo Pier (the Ammunition Pier) in San Diego, Calif. There, she remained for a few hours and offloaded 5-inch shells before she continued to the Naval Base (the last five photos).

The photo below was taken by Michael Jenning and shows the PREBLE at the ammunition depot at Pearl Harbor, Hi., on October 20, 2014.

The photos below were taken by Sebastian Thoma and show the PREBLE at BAE Systems San Diego, Calif., during her Depot Maintenance Period (DMP) on November 28 and November 29 (aerial photo), 2021. PREBLE entered the shipyard on November 2, 2020.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the PREBLE at BAE Systems San Diego, Calif., during her Depot Maintenance Period (DMP) on December 28, 2021. PREBLE entered the shipyard on November 2, 2020.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the PREBLE at BAE Systems San Diego, Calif., during her Depot Maintenance Period (DMP) on May 29, 2022. Note that USS PREBLE has now received a High-Energy Laser and Integrated Optical-Dazzler system (HELIOS) in front of the bridge. PREBLE is the first ship in the Navy equipped with the system. HELIOS is a 60-kilowatt laser CIWS but can also be used for surveillance and as a counter-unmanned aerial system dazzler.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the PREBLE at Naval Base San Diego, Calif., on October 10, 2022.

The photos below were taken by me and show USS PREBLE at Naval Base San Diego, Calif., on July 26, 2024.

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