USS Stout (DDG-55) is the sixth Arleigh Burke-class

Arleigh Burke class destroyer

The Arleigh Burke class of guided missile destroyers is the United States Navy's first class of destroyer built around the Aegis combat system and the SPY-1D multi-function phased array radar. The class is named for Admiral Arleigh "31-Knot" Burke, the most famous American destroyer officer of...

 guided-missile destroyer

Destroyer

In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...

. Built by Ingalls Shipbuilding

Ingalls Shipbuilding

Ingalls Shipbuilding is a shipyard located in Pascagoula, Mississippi, USA, originally established in 1938, and is now part of Huntington Ingalls Industries...

, she was commissioned on 13 August 1994 and she is currently homeported in Norfolk

Norfolk, Virginia

Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....

, Virginia

Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

.

Etymology

Stout was named for Rear Admiral Herald F. Stout (1903–1987), who distinguished himself as the Commanding Officer of the destroyer USS Claxton

USS Claxton (DD-571)

USS Claxton , a Fletcher-class destroyer, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for Thomas Claxton, born in Baltimore, Maryland....

 during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. Then a Commander, Stout aided his task force in sinking five heavily armed, enemy warships to establish a beachhead on Bougainville Island

Bougainville Island

Bougainville Island is the main island of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville of Papua New Guinea. This region is also known as Bougainville Province or the North Solomons. The population of the province is 175,160 , which includes the adjacent island of Buka and assorted outlying islands...

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Honors and awards

On 16 February 2007, Stout was awarded the 2006 Battle "E".

In April 2008, the ship comprehensively failed its Board of Inspection and Survey

Board of Inspection and Survey

The Board of Inspection and Survey is a U.S. Navy organization whose purpose is to inspect and assess material condition of Naval vessels.The Board is currently headquartered at Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek, Virginia.- INSURV teams :...

  examination and was declared "unfit for sustained combat operations." . The ship has since passed 13 of 13 rigorous unit level training inspections. Stout deployed in March 2009 on routine security operations in the Sixth Fleet OPAREA. On 15 July 2009, Fox News Channel

Fox News Channel

Fox News Channel , often called Fox News, is a cable and satellite television news channel owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a subsidiary of News Corporation...

 reported Stout was in the Black Sea

Black Sea

The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...

 cooperating with Georgia

Georgia (country)

Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...

n forces in training exercises.

Relief of Commanding Officer and Command Master Chief

On March 1, 2011 while on deployment to the Mediterranean Sea in support of the crisis in Libya, Commander Nathan Borchers, Command Master Chief Susan Bruce-Ross, six other chiefs, one junior officer, and one petty officer of USS Stout were relieved by the Commander Sixth Fleet. The cited cause was a “pervasive pattern of unprofessional behavior” among the ships crew including “fraternization, orders violations and disregard for naval standards of conduct and behavior which contributed to poor crew morale and a hostile command climate.” The investigation found that a "gang" of five chiefs had bullied crewmembers, actively impeded communication among the ship's command channels, and forced crewmembers to work around the gang in order to get work accomplished.

Operation Odyssey Dawn

On 19 March 2011, in conjunction with other US Navy ships, the destroyer launched Tomahawk cruise missiles at Libyan air defenses as part of Operation Odyssey Dawn

Operation Odyssey Dawn

Operation Odyssey Dawn was the U.S. code name for the US part of the international military operation in Libya to enforce United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973. during the initial period of 19–31 March 2011, which continued afterwards under NATO command as Operation Unified Protector...

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External links

• Official USS Stout web site
• Navysite.de DDG-55
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5f424aKqj9A Night Tomahawk launch during Operation Odyssey Dawn.