Seal Beach Daily

1 | Sea Links « New Wars

October 30th, 2009 at 5:02 am

[...] to commission USS Dewey DDG-105 in Seal [...]

2 | Seth

October 30th, 2009 at 6:35 pm

The Seal Beach Chamber of Commerce is an active partner in the commissioning events and in coordinating sponsorship. We have already met with officers of the Navy and City Staff to work together to make this an amazing series of events for our community and the Navy. Here is the offical press release I received from the Chairman of the Commissioning Committee Captain Jon Kurtz:

SEAL BEACH, CALIF. Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus has approved Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach, Calif., as the commissioning location of Pre-commissioning Unit (PCU) Dewey, the Navy’s newest and most technologically advanced guided missile destroyer.

It will be the first time a U.S. Navy warship has been commissioned at Seal Beach.

Deborah Mullen, wife of Adm. Mike G. Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is the ship’s sponsor. She had previously christened the ship during a ceremony at Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Miss., on Jan. 26, 2008.

The new destroyer honors Adm. George Dewey, most famous for leading his squadron of warships into Manila Bay on April 30, 1898, and destroying the Spanish fleet in only two hours without a single American loss. A popular hero of his day, Dewey was commissioned admiral of the Navy, a rank created for him, in March 1903.

Dewey, designated DDG 105, is the 55th of 62 Arleigh Burke class destroyers either in commission, under construction or on order. The ship will be able to conduct a variety of operations, from peacetime presence and crisis management to sea control and power projection. Dewey will be capable of fighting air, surface and subsurface battles simultaneously and contains a myriad of offensive and defensive weapons designed to support maritime defense.

Commencing operations in 1944 as a U.S. Naval Ammunition and Net Depot, Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach is the Pacific Fleet’s premier ordnance loading, storage and maintenance installation. The base services approximately 50 United States Navy vessels annually.

3 | Bob

October 31st, 2009 at 1:06 pm

Hopefully, the Commissioning Committee, the city, and the media remember to invite our wartime naval veterans and allied veterans who now live here.

They keep a low profile or live alone and, given their years, are in and out of hospitals and VA facilities. They are hard to find. They shun public attention. Start looking now!

Many commissioning ceremonies were held in my hometown — site of the Kittery-Portsmouth Naval Shipyard & home of Scottsman John Paul Jones. The local media always doted on the Naval officers, their wives and the social activities of the sponsoring committee and local politicians. Little was heard (or seen) of the rest of the crew. It’s the entire CREW who ‘bring the ship to life’.

To the media and PR folks:
Please see to it that the ratio of officer/enlisted articles give fair voice to the enlisted crewmembers. It would be nice to read the stories & reactions of brand new sailors, new non-commissioned officers and career NCOs to events leading up to and including the final ceremony. Be sure to forward the articles to their hometown newspapers.

NOW is the time to get a reporter aboard the Dewey.

NOW is the time for the community to make sure every crewmember gets their ‘five-minutes’ of fame and a warm welcome in Seal Beach. They’ll never forget it!