USS Rafael Peralta

Last updated

USS Rafael Peralta Coronado Bridge.jpg
USS Rafael Peralta on 30 June 2017
History
Flag of the United States.svgUnited States
NameRafael Peralta
Namesake Rafael Peralta
Ordered26 September 2011
Builder Bath Iron Works
Laid down30 October 2014 [1]
Launched31 October 2015
Sponsored byRosa Maria Peralta
Christened31 October 2015 [2]
Acquired3 February 2017 [3]
Commissioned29 July 2017 [4]
Homeport Yokosuka [5]
Identification
Motto
  • Fortis ad Finem
  • (Courageous to the End)
Statusin active service
Badge USS Rafael Peralta DDG-115 Crest.png
General characteristics
Class and type Arleigh Burke-class destroyer
Displacement9,217 tons (full load) [6]
Length513 feet (156 m) [6]
Beam66 feet (20 m) [6]
Propulsion4 × General Electric LM2500 gas turbines 100,000 shp (75,000 kW) [6]
Speed30  kn (56 km/h; 35 mph)
Complement380 officers and enlisted
Armament
Aircraft carried2 × MH-60R Seahawk helicopters
Aviation facilities Double hangar and helipad

USS Rafael Peralta (DDG-115) is an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer in the United States Navy. The destroyer can operate with a Carrier Strike Group (CSG), Expeditionary Strike Group (ESG), as an element of a Surface Action Group (SAG), or independently. The ship can conduct a variety of missions in support of national military strategy. From peacetime presence and crisis management to sea control and power projection, 115 will be capable of carrying out Integrated Air and Missile Defense (IAMD), Undersea Warfare (USW), Surface Warfare (SW), and Strike Warfare (STW) in multi-threat environments. [7]

Contents

The $679.6 million contract to build her was awarded on 26 September 2011 to Bath Iron Works of Bath, Maine. [8] [9] On 15 February 2012, Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus announced the ship's named to be Rafael Peralta in honor of Marine Rafael Peralta, who was petitioned for the Medal of Honor for shielding several Marines from a grenade in November 2004 during the Iraq War; however, he was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross instead. [10] [11]

Namesake

Rafael Peralta was born in Mexico City and immigrated to the United States as a child. Peralta joined the United States Marine Corps when he received his green card in 2000 and became a U.S. citizen while serving in the Marine Corps. Peralta was killed during the Second Battle of Fallujah in Iraq when he was wounded by small arms fire while clearing houses with his fellow Marines. The insurgents threw a hand grenade into the room. Despite being injured, Peralta pulled the grenade underneath his body (thus absorbing most of the blast), killing him instantly and saving his fellow Marines. For his actions, Peralta was recommended for the Medal of Honor but was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross instead.

Design

Rafael Peralta is the 65th ship of the Arleigh Burke class of destroyers, the first of which, USS Arleigh Burke, was commissioned in July 1991. [12] With 75 ships planned to be built in total, the class has the longest production run for any U.S. Navy surface combatant warship. [13] As an Arleigh Burke-class ship, Rafael Peralta's roles will include anti-aircraft, anti-submarine, and anti-surface warfare, as well as strike operations. [6] During its long production run, the class was built in three flights—Flight I (DDG-51 to DDG-76), Flight II (DDG-72 to DDG-78), and Flight IIA (DDG-79 onward). [14] Rafael Peralta is a Flight IIA ship, and as such, features several improvements in terms of ballistic missile defense, an embarked air wing, and the inclusion of mine-detecting ability. [6]

Construction and career

By January 2014, the aft portion of the ship had been completed and had begun outfitting [15] and she was laid down on 30 October 2014. [1] [16]

The ship was christened on 31 October 2015 at Bath Iron Works. [2] [17] In February 2017, the ship was accepted by the United States Navy. [3]

Rafael Peralta was commissioned in San Diego, California on 29 July 2017 [4] and was homeported at Naval Base San Diego [18] before moving to Japan in 2021.

The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers Rafael Peralta and USS Russell (DDG-59) arrived in Sasebo for a port visit on 8 February 2020. [19]

Rafael Peralta joined HMAS Stuart, HMAS Sirius, KDB Darulehsan and RSS Supreme on their way to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii in preparation for RIMPAC 2020 on 6 August 2020. [20]

Deployments

Awards

Rafael Peralta was used in the Amazon Prime Video series Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan , season 3 episode 8 in November 2019. [22]

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References

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  19. Isaacs, Jason, MC2 (10 February 2020). "USS Rafael Peralta, Russell Visit Sasebo, Japan". U.S. Indo-Pacific Command. US DOD . Retrieved 2 June 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  20. Milne, Sandy (5 August 2020). "RAN commences exercises with warships from Singapore, Brunei". defenceconnect.com.au. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  21. "USS Rafael Peralta (DDG 115) Earns Bloodhound Award".
  22. O'Brien, Kathleen (22 November 2019). "Bath-built destroyer featured in television series". Portland Press Herald . Retrieved 2 June 2020.

Further reading