COURTESY U.S. NAVY
John Drotos stood at sentry duty on Pier Two at Pearl Harbor as guests arrived for the Oct. 11 commissioning ceremony of the Navy's newest destroyer, the USS Chafee.
New ship boasts
extra firepowerThe USS Chafee will be Pearl Harbor's
fifth Burke-class destroyer
For Christmas, the Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor will be getting one of the Navy's newest destroyers -- the 511-foot USS Chafee.
CORRECTION
Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2003>> The Pearl Harbor-bound destroyer USS Chafee was commissioned Oct. 18. A story on Page A18 Sunday incorrectly stated that the ship was commissioned Oct. 11.
The Honolulu Star-Bulletin strives to make its news report fair and accurate. If you have a question or comment about news coverage, call Editor Frank Bridgewater at 529-4791 or email him at fbridgewater@starbulletin.com.
Commissioned Oct. 11, the $1 billion Chafee will join four other Arleigh Burke-class destroyers at Pearl Harbor -- USS O'Kane, USS Hopper, USS Russell and USS Paul Hamilton.
But its skipper, Cmdr. John Ailes V, said the Chafee is longer than its sister ships by nearly 7 feet, carries its own helicopters and is equipped with Sea Sparrow missiles.
The Chafee is the 40th Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer in the Navy's fleet. It is named after Rhode Island Sen. John Chafee, who served three terms as the state's governor and three years as secretary of the Navy, as well as winning a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1956, 1958 and 1960. Chafee also served in the Marines during World War II and the Korean War. He died in 1999.
Besides being armed with the latest weaponry and housing the latest engineering and communications capabilities, the Chafee is the first pre-commissioned ship where the sailors don't need cash to shop in the ship's store for basic essentials or to plug into the vending machines for drinks and other favorites.
"It's called Navy cash," said Petty Officer Fesovaina Kaleopa, a 1995 Waipahu High School graduate. The new systems gives the sailors the financial options of using credit and debit/ATM cards to transfer funds to specific shipboard accounts such as savings, checking and payroll transactions.
"It also works whether you are at sea or ashore," said Kaleopa, who works in the crew that provides such services as laundry and supplies and manages the ship's store and vending machines.
"It also can be used as a debit/ATM card when you are ashore," said Kaleopa, 26.
The Chafee is powered by four turbine engines, which can reach speeds in excess of 30 knots. "That makes it much easier to operate and maintain than steam-type engines," said Chief Petty Officer Arthur Poopaa III, who joined the Navy after graduating from Leilehua High School in 1985.
"It's the state-of-the-art warship," said Poopaa, 36, who has been on three deployments, including a tour on the destroyer USS Luce during the 1990-91 Desert Shield and Desert Storm campaigns.
Built at Bath Iron Works in Maine, the Chafee is equipped with Tomahawk missiles, as well as anti-surface, anti-submarine, and anti-air defense systems. It can operate as part of an aircraft carrier battle group or as an independent unit, and while on deployment it will include two SH-60 Sea Hawk helicopters from Kaneohe Bay that also can perform search-and-rescue operations and other missions.
Ailes, who already has served on the Pearl Harbor-based warships USS Russell and USS Lake Erie, said that 70 percent of the crew had never been to sea before.
"The average age is 25," said Ailes, 41. Sixty-nine women make up the ship's complement of 300 enlisted sailors and 30 officers.
"It's been a lot of work, but also a lot of fun," said Ailes, who served as part of the crew that commissioned the Russell in 1995.
Ailes comes from a long line of Navy officers. His grandfather, retired Rear Adm. John Ailes III, served on the cruiser USS Honolulu when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, and went on to command the destroyer USS Cassin Young, named after a Dec. 7 Medal of Honor recipient, during the Pacific campaign.
His father, retired Capt. John Ailes IV, was the chief of staff for the Pacific Fleet's Submarine Forces from 1975 to 1980.
After arriving at Pearl Harbor in mid-December, the Chafee will spend the next couple of months "testing every system on the ship," Ailes said. "We will be testing every weapon's system and every engineering aspect."
There will be several other training cruises before the Chafee can expect go on its first western Pacific deployment next fall.
"It was an experience, starting from nothing and to be the first crew on a brand-new ship," said Petty Officer Zorahnadawn Tampon, a 1996 Hilo High School graduate who had never been off the Big Island until joining the Navy five years ago.
Because Tampon is one of the original crewmembers on the Chafee, she is now a "plankowner." Plankowners receive an officer's greeting when coming back aboard the ship, even after they leave the ship or retire from the Navy.
However, what even tops that for shipmates Kaleopa and Tampon, both single mothers, is being home for Christmas.
Both have children waiting for them.
For Tampon, it's 2-year-old son Zyrus Johnry in Papaikou on the Big Island. For Kaleopa, it's 6-year-old daughter Alexis.
