USS John Paul Jones (DDG-53)

History of the USS John Paul Jones (DDG-53)

USS John Paul Jones (DDG-53) is a guided missile destroyer currently in service with the United States Navy, the third of 75 planned Arleigh Burke-class surface ships ("DD" stands for simple US Navy classification destroyers, add "G" to missile weapon design). To date (2012) 62 have been completed, of which 61 are in service. Ordered by John Paul Jones on September 25, 1987 and laid by Bath Iron Works on August 8, 1990.

She was officially launched on October 26, 1991, and officially commissioned on December 18, 1993. The USS John Paul Jones was homeported from Naval Station San Diego and fought under the motto "Do the Harmful Way." The ship made several tours in the waters of the Persian Gulf and participated in Operation Enduring Freedom, which is believed to have launched the first Tomahawk cruise missile of the war.

The design of the USS John Paul Jones follows the basic design of the Arleigh Burke-class battleships. She had a streamlined hull with a raised pointed bow, which mounted the deck gun on a powered turret. The bridge superstructure is located directly behind the deck guns and offers stunning views of the bow, port and starboard sides. The superstructure is crowned by a tall mast containing various antennas and sensors.

One of the two smoke funnels is visible directly behind the mast. There is a clear gap between the bridge structure and the stern structure. The stern structure accommodates a second smoke funnel. Behind this superstructure is the helipad.

The landing deck can retrieve or launch a Sikorsky SH-60 Seahawk Navy helicopter. John Paul Jones is powered by 4 General Electric LM2500-30 gas turbines delivering over 100,000 shaft horsepower on dual shafts. The maximum speed in ideal conditions is around 30 knots and the range is up to 4,400 nautical miles.

The USS John Paul Jones has a crew of 280, including at least 70 officers and more than 200 soldiers.

As a destroyer, the aircraft carrier USS John Paul Jones is a ship designed for open water cruising in support of the main fleet or capable of independent search and destroy missions. Historically, destroyers have been used to hunt down enemy submarines (as in World War II), but can also be used against air and surface threats due to the wide range of weapon options available to commanders.

The vessel is protected from chemical, biological and radiological (CBR) threats.

As such, John Paul Jones was equipped with a Mark 45 127mm deck gun for short to medium range strikes on surface targets, digitally controlled by the fire station. For close range threats, crews can deploy 2 x 25mm chain cannons for automatic, repetitive fire. John Paul Jones' 2 x 20mm Phalanx Close-In Weapon System (CIWS) also had to deal with short-range aerial threats.

Most of John Paul Jones' weapons consisted of a two-row vertical firing system of 29 cells and 61 cells. These tubes can hold RIM-156 SM-2 surface-to-air/anti-ship missiles, BGM-109 Tomahawk cruise missiles, RGM-84 Harpoon anti-ship missiles or RUM-139 VL-ASROC anti-ship missiles to be armed - submarine missile. In total, up to 90 rockets can be stored in these launch cells.

John Paul Jones is also equipped with 2 x Mk 32 triple torpedo tubes for surface and underground threats.

The aircraft carrier USS John Paul Jones is designed to pose a threat to the enemy, but it is also equipped with an array of sensors and processing systems, electronic warfare gear and decoys for self-protection. The ship is equipped with AN/SPY-1D 3D radar system, multiple surface search radars, AN/SQS-53C sonar array, AN/SQQ-19 tactical towed array sonar system and AN/SQQ-28 LAMPS III shipboard system. LAMPS III allows airborne helicopters to work with ships to identify, track and combat underwater threats (as is the case with the Sikorsky SH-60 Seahawk).

The electronic warfare suite consists of AN/SLQ-32(V)2 series systems. The ship is also equipped with torpedo countermeasures, decoy launch systems and AN/SLQ-39 CHAFF buoy dispensers.

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