The newest guided missile destroyer in the United States Navy, the USS Dewey (DDG 105) entered active service this past Saturday at the Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station in a historic commissioning ceremony heavily supported by Beverly Hills community members.
The Beverly Hills contingent was led by Paula Kent Meehan, who was recognized as an "honorary admiral" and "honorary plankholder" at the commissioning. She was joined by Lili and Jon Bosse with son Adam, Lisa and Igor Korbatov, Douglas and Janis Warner and Clif and Candace Smith with son Clifton. Pre-commissioning events included a private tour of the ship, a reception hosted at the nearby Boeing factory and a private breakfast for dignitaries and escorted guests.
The ceremonies were led by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen, who is a graduate of Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks. His wife, Deborah, is the sponsor of the warship. Heading the commissioning team was Capt. Jon Kurtz, USN (ret.) assisted by Maria-Isabel Soto of the Navy League of the United States. Assistant Secretary of the Navy Sean J. Stackley spoke, as did Congressman Dana Rohrabacher (R-California 46) in whose district the Seal Beach facility is located. Mullen called forcefully for increasing the Navy from its current strength of 280 warships to 313.
The Beverly Hills representatives breakfasted with Adm. Mullen, Mrs. Mullen, Cong. Rohrabacher, Capt. Kurtz and his wife, Gila, the ship's skipper Cdr. Warren Buller II and his wife, Rebecca, and many other senior Navy officers, shipbuilders and ship supporters before being escorted to the commissioning pier, where they entered through a row of saluting sailors.
Dewey, built in Mississippi, was the first U.S. warship to be commissioned in Orange County.
The ship, the 55th Arleigh Burke Class destroyer, is the third Navy vessel to carry the name of the country's most famous admiral, George E. Dewey, who led the U.S. Asiatic Squadron against the Royal Spanish Navy's fleet in Manila Bay in 1898. Dewey's ships destroyed the Spanish fleet and captured the Philippine Islands for the U.S. Dewey, then a commodore, was promoted to a special rank, Admiral of the Navy, created by Congress just for him. No other person has held that rank before or since. The first Dewey, built in 1934, was in Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, and fought back against attacking Japanese forces. The second Dewey, was the first U.S. frigate built especially to carry guided missiles.
The ship carries Dewey's personal battle sword and bible, which Dewey bought in Jerusalem in 1894. The destroyer, 580 feet long with a crew of approximately 300 officers and crew, has a top speed of over 30 knots. It is armed with the Aegis missile system, America's most sophisticated seaborne system.
Rep. Rohrabacher was the senior ranking official. He received the musical "ruffles and flourishes" tribute followed by the theme of the U.S. Congress and a 19-gun salute. The ship will be home-ported in San Diego before deployment overseas. Over 8,000 people attended the commissioning.
