CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARBULLETIN.COM Perry White and Cmdr. Kenny Williams stand in front of the USS Paul Hamilton, a destroyer in the same class as the USS Chung-Hoon. White is the stepson of Adm. Chung-Hoon, and Williams will be in charge of the new ship.

Fresh crew to staff
new Navy destroyer

70% serving on the USS Chung-Hoon
have never been out to sea

When the new guided-missile destroyer USS Chung-Hoon pulls into a berth at Ford Island on Friday, it will be loaded with the Navy's latest technology, but it also will have an untested crew.

Cmdr. Kenny Williams, who has been involved in the commissioning of the $1 billion Chung-Hoon since October 2002, said 70 percent of his crew of 35 officers and 295 enlisted sailors "have never been out to sea." And 20 percent have been in the Navy less than a year.

"Only two of the officers have served on destroyers," said Williams, 45.

Williams himself has served on two aircraft carriers -- USS Constellation and Kitty Hawk -- and the frigate USS Kirk. He also commanded the minesweeper USS Champion and was commander of Mine Countermeasures Division 3 in Bahrain from November 2001 to December 2002. He assumed command of the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Chung-Hoon in March.

But those who spent time with Williams' crew, whose average age is 23, say the sailors are "tremendously focused."

That was the assessment of Perry White, who is the stepson of Rear Adm. Gordon P. Chung-Hoon, whom the 510-foot warship honors.

Perry, president of Planning Solutions, and eight other family members were invited in July to spend four days on the Chung-Hoon in the Gulf of Mexico as it underwent final preparations for the trip to Pearl Harbor.

"I had gone expecting to see all the new mechanisms and technology," White said, "but what impressed me the most was the crew.

"I was really struck by the tremendous learning environment on the ship. The sailors were tremendously focused and ready to learn and I know what that means since I taught for five years.

"I saw a lot of evolving leadership among the young sailors."

The Chung-Hoon will be commissioned at Pearl Harbor on Sept. 18 and should be ready for its first Western Pacific deployment by September 2005, Williams said. U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye and Gov. Linda Lingle will be the featured speakers. It will be the first U.S. naval warship named after a Chinese American.

It will be the 43rd member of the Arleigh Burke-class of destroyers, with a total of 62 planned.

As the newest Arleigh Burke destroyer, the Chung-Hoon has the latest Navy gadgetry, including a drone that can be deployed unattached six to 20 miles ahead of the warship to probe for mines.

The destroyer also can carry two SH-60 helicopters and is equipped with improved sonar and radar systems and digital modular radios. The Phalanx Close-In Weapons System, a modern-day Gatling gun that can fire 4,500 20 mm rounds a minute, has been replaced by a Sea Sparrow surface-to-air missile system.

The Chung-Hoon will join five other Arleigh Burke destroyers at Pearl Harbor -- USS Hopper, USS O'Kane, USS Paul Hamilton, USS Russell and USS Chafee -- raising the number of Pacific Fleet warships stationed there to 12.

The last ship to be commissioned at Pearl Harbor was the O'Kane in 1999.

Vessel honors WWII hero Rear Adm. Gordon P. Chung-Hoon Rear Adm. Gordon P. Chung-Hoon attended Punahou School, but graduated from Severn Academy in Maryland. Chung-Hoon was accepted at the Naval Academy and graduated in 1934. He was aboard the battleship USS Arizona on Dec. 7, 1941, when it was bombed and sank at Pearl Harbor. In 1944, Chung-Hoon assumed command of the destroyer USS Sigsbee. A year later, the Sigsbee assisted in shooting down 20 Japanese planes while screening an aircraft carrier strike force off the Japanese island of Kyushu. On April 14, 1945, off Okinawa, a kamikaze crashed into the Sigsbee, cutting her starboard engine to 5 knots and knocking out the ship's port engine and steering control. Despite the damage, Chung-Hoon kept his antiaircraft batteries delivering fire against the continuing enemy air attack while simultaneously directing the damage control efforts that allowed his ship to make port under her own power. He received the Navy Cross and Silver Star medals for those actions. Chung-Hoon retired in October 1959. He was appointed by Gov. William Quinn to serve as director of the state Department of Agriculture. Among the festivities surrounding the Chung-Hoon's commissioning will be a reunion on Sept. 15 of 19 veterans who served on the Sigsbee when its commander was awarded the Silver Star. Williams will host a Sept. 17 reception on the Battleship Missouri and the Chinese Chamber of Commerce plans a major Chinatown celebration on for the ship's crew.