USS Truxtun Joins US Navy Fleet – Predecessor Had Interesting Connection to Iceland and Newfoundland
The US Navy’s newest Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, USS Truxtun (DDG 103), was commissioned Saturday, April 25, during a ceremony at Naval Weapons Station Charleston, S.C.
Designated DDG 103, the destroyer honors Commodore Thomas Truxtun (1755-1822) who embarked upon a seafaring career at age 12. When the U.S. Navy was initially organized, he was selected as one of its first six captains on June 4, 1798. He was assigned command of USS Constellation, one of the nation’s new frigates. Truxtun put to sea to prosecute the undeclared naval war with revolutionary France. On Feb. 9, 1799, Truxtun achieved one of his most famous victories when Constellation battered the French warship L’Insurgente into submission in one of the most illustrious sea battles with France.
The newest ship in the fleet shares its namesake with five previous Navy ships: a brig launched in 1842, two destroyers DD 14 and DD 229, a high speed transport APD 98 (initially designated as destroyer escort DE 282), and a nuclear-powered frigate (DLGN) later re-designated cruiser CGN 35.
The 53rd Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, Truxtun, is able to conduct a variety of operations, from peacetime presence and crisis management to sea control and power projection. Truxtun can also fight air, surface and subsurface battles simultaneously and she contains a myriad of offensive and defensive weapons designed to apply maritime power to protect U.S. vital interests in an increasingly interconnected and uncertain world.
The 9,200-ton Truxtun was built by Northrop Grumman Ship Systems and has a crew of 276 officers and enlisted personnel. The ship is 510 ft in length, has a waterline beam of 59 ft, and a navigational draft of 31 ft. Four gas turbine engines can power the ship to speeds in excess of 30 knots and push her wherever her country needs her next.
The third USS Truxton – DD229 – has an interesting connection to both Iceland and Newfoundland. On Christmas Day 1941, USS Truxtun departed Boston, Massachusetts in the screen of Convoy HX-168. She arrived at Reykjavík on 13 January 1942 and, six days later, headed back to Argentia, Newfoundland with Convoy ON-57.
At 0415 on 18 February while acting as escort to USS Pollux in Placentia Bay, Newfoundland, Truxtun ran aground between the outport communities of Lawn and St. Lawrence, near Chambers Cove. She broke up almost immediately after grounding and, in spite of the heroic efforts of the local people, lost 110 members of her crew to the elements. Pollux was also wrecked with 93 fatalities.
