John Paul Jones (DDG-53) was ordered 25 September 1987, laid down as an ARLEIGH BURKE (DDG-51) class Destroyer on 8 August 1990 by Bath Iron Works Corp., Bath, ME; launched 26 October 1991; commissioned 18 December 1993.  USS John Paul Jones is the third Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer and the first ship of the class home ported on the west coast.

Specifications:

The mission of John Paul Jones is to conduct prompt and sustained operations at sea in support of U.S. national interests. John Paul Jones is capable of operating independently, as an element of a coordinated force, or as the nucleus of a surface action group, and to direct and coordinate anti-air, surface, undersea, and strike warfare operations. The ship is named in honor of Naval hero, John Paul Jones, and derives her motto from a famous quote of his, "I wish to have no connection with any ship that does not sail fast, for I intend to go in harm's way."

In order to successfully conduct this mission, John Paul Jones has been fitted with the latest weapons, engineering, and damage control systems. The AEGIS Weapons system is the most advanced air defense network in the world. John Paul Jones is capable of conducting both offensive and defensive operations using Tomahawk and Harpoon cruise missiles, standard missiles, CIWS, and 5 inch (127 mm) gun. The ARLEIGH BURKE Class is the first class of U.S. warships to be fitted with an integrated Chemical, Biological and Radiological defense system.

USS John Paul Jones was selected as the Shock Trial platform for the DDG-51 Class. The ship was subjected to a series of close range explosions in order for the Navy to obtain critical information concerning the survivability of the DDG-51 class in a shock environment. The crew prepared the ship for the most demanding and complex surface ship shock trial test in the history of the Navy. The ship has completed four deployments to the Persian Gulf.

One of the first to participate in the "Sea swap" program, the crewmembers of the JOHN PAUL JONES assumed their posts after participating in OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM/ENDURING FREEDOM aboard the USS HIGGINS. After a well-deserved stand-down period, the crew began to prepare the JOHN PAUL JONES for the training cycle and her next deployment.

Preparations for the training cycle began with a number of equipment installations, which significantly improved the ship's war fighting capabilities. The JOHN PAUL JONES simultaneously received enhanced AEGIS capabilities through the Track Initiation Processor (TIP), expanded the ship's network with a Gigabyte Ethernet Local Area Network, and improved the ship's crew capacity with the Women at Sea module. All the while the ship became the first Arleigh Burke destroyer to have her shafts removed and replaced. Throughout the maintenance period, the JOHN PAUL JONES maintained exceptional material readiness in all facets of shipboard operations from engineering to safety to supply management. The tremendous efforts of the crew meant that the JOHN PAUL JONES was able to meet the challenges of a condensed training cycle while preserving 100% material readiness.

After a busy time in the docks, JOHN PAUL JONES began the training cycle with an unparalleled performance during its Initial Assessment. Even with her shortened and exhaustive training period, the engineering team recorded the third highest Initial Assessment score ever achieved in the previous three years. Furthermore, JOHN PAUL JONES' exceptional combat capabilities were proven shortly thereafter in her superlative performance during the Command Assessment of Readiness and Training Part 2 (CART II).

Finally, the JOHN PAUL JONES demonstrated her war fighting proficiency during the multi-national RIMPAC exercise. In a scenario coordinated between the Japanese, South Koreans, Australians, Canadians, and Chileans, JOHN PAUL JONES displayed Undersea Warfare proficiency by tracking Chilean and South Korean diesel submarines for an unprecedented twenty hours, during which the ship held continuous track for over three hours. She also became the lead ship for a live, 17-ship, multi-national 5" Mark 54 gun firing exercise, which was executed flawlessly.

At the end of her RIMPAC performance, JOHN PAUL JONES returned to San Diego to participate in both the Trident Warrior Experiment and San Francisco's Fleet Week. The Trident Warrior Experiment was the premier sea trials event for the Navy's network-centric initiatives and during this event JOHN PAUL JONES met or surpassed all expectations.

After her stellar performance JOHN PAUL JONES entered an extended pier side availability period to be outfitted with the newest technology for her upcoming deployment.

In 2005 USS JOHN PAUL JONES prepared for and executed a demanding Western Pacific Deployment under the command of Commander Andrew F. Cully. Though JOHN PAUL JONES sailed with USS BOXER, as well as the KITTY HAWK strike group, her voyage was as an independent deployer. As such she participated in a wide variety of exercises, including the TALISMAN SABER Exercise with the Australian Navy, the PROLIFERATION SECURITY INITIATIVE Exercise, multiple Tomahawk training exercises, and a COUNTER SPECIAL OPERATIONS FORCES Exercise with the South Korean Navy. In all the crew saw fifteen different ports all over the Pacific Rim. The deployment demonstrated the ability of the crew and of independent deployers to meet important tasking in a variety of capacities over a six month period. The ship gained valuable training by exercising with various units but these units also gained an important asset to help perform in several high visibility, joint exercises. Furthermore, JOHN PAUL JONES contributed to national defense directly when she assumed the duties as Ballistic Missile Defense ready ship. On 2 December, CDR Cully turned over command of JOHN PAUL JONES to CDR James J. Housinger, who has since overseen the start of a successful training cycle and the installation of major system upgrades to the ship's AEGIS Weapons System.

On March 13th, 2006, the John Paul Jones was named an honorary flagship for the upcoming search for the remains of the original Bonhomme Richard. The current amphibious assault ship Bonhomme Richard was also named an honorary flagship.

CDR Housinger was relieved as CO on 20 July 2007 by CDR Christopher Barnes. Shortly after taking command, the ship participated in VALIANT SHIELD 2007, which consisted of 28 naval vessels, more than 300 aircraft, and approximately 20,000 service members from the Navy, Army, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard.

CDR Barnes was relieved as CO on 7 November 2008 by CDR Sam Hancock, Jr. On 17 November 2009 John Paul Jones' Combat Systems Officer (CSO), LCDR Jeffrey Tamulevich, was presented with the Surface Warfare Officer of the Year award aboard the ship by VADM D. C. Curtis, Commander, Naval Surface Forces. LCDR Tamulevich was selected from 25 CSO nominees as the first-ever recipient of this award.

CDR Hancock was relieved as CO on 29 April 2010 by CDR Christopher Ciglieski.

CDR Ciglieski was relieved as CO on 1 March 2012 by CDR Jonathan Duffy.

CDR Duffy was relieved as CO on 21 June 2013 by CDR Andrew Thomson. On 8 February 2014, John Paul Jones participated in a live-fire test of the ship's AEGIS weapons system. During this exercise, John Paul Jones, equipped with the latest-generation AEGIS Baseline 9C weapon system, developed a fire control solution and launched SM-2 missiles, which resulted in the successful destruction of two AQM-37C targets. Also in 2014, John Paul Jones executed a change of home port from Naval Base San Diego to Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam.

CDR Thomson was relieved as CO on 17 December 2014 by CDR Matthew Hall.

In June 2015, John Paul Jones executed Multi-Mission Warfare Live Fire "Stellar War Axe" which demonstrated successful intercepts of both a short-range ballistic missile and a cruise missile targets using SM-6 Dual I and SM-2 Block IV missiles.

In October 2015, John Paul Jones conducted Flight Test Operational-02 Event 2 (FTO-02 E2) "Campaign Fierce Sentry," an operational test to validate the Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) Aegis Baseline 9.C1 Systems ability to respond against multiple ballistic missile and anti-air threats.

In January 2016, John Paul Jones conducted Tactical Demonstration-1 (TACDEMO-1) — the first over-the-horizon surface-to-surface engagement capability demonstration with an SM-6 missile. CDR Hall was relieved as CO on 21 April 2016 by CDR Scott Rosetti. In June 2016, John Paul Jones participated in Exercise "Pacific Dragon," alongside the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force and the Republic of Korea Navy. This biennial and trilateral BMD tracking event focused on improving coordination for detecting, tracking, and reporting ballistic targets. In December 2016, John Paul Jones conducted Flight Test Standard Missile-27 (FTM-27) "Stellar Crossbow," the first successful demonstration of Aegis Baseline 9.C1 capability to engage a complex medium-range ballistic missile target with a dual-salvo of SM-6 Dual I missiles.

In January 2017, John Paul Jones conducted SM-3 Block IIA Cooperative Development (SCD) Project Flight Test Maritime-01 (SFTM-01) Live Fire "Stellar Fujin." The SCD Project is a joint developmental project between Japan and the United States that produced the newest version of the SM-3. The event was the first shipboard launch and intercept using the SM-3 Blk IIA interceptor and the first successful BMD intercept using Aegis Baseline 9.C2.

In August 2017, John Paul Jones conducted Flight Test Standard Missile-27 Event 2 (FTM-27 E2), successfully demonstrating an upgraded Aegis Baseline 9.C2 capability to engage a highly complex medium-range ballistic missile target with a dual-salvo of SM-6 Dual I missiles.

In September 2017, John Paul Jones entered an extended Selected Restricted Availability to conduct repairs and system upgrades.

CDR Rosetti was relieved as CO on 12 October 2017 by CDR Jesse Mink.

In January 2019, John Paul Jones successfully completed Contractor and Type Commander Sea Trials before entering the Basic Phase.

In March 2019, John Paul Jones participated in Flight Test Ground-Based Interceptor-11 (FTG-11), demonstrating a Ground Based Interceptor (GBI) dual-salvo engagement against an ICBM.

CDR Mink was relieved as CO on 26 April 2019 by CDR John Loomis.

In January 2020, USS JOHN PAUL JONES, assigned to the NIMITZ Strike group (CSG 11) completed SWATT, GRUSAIL, and COMTUEX in preparation for their first deployment in eight years.

USS JOHN PAUL JONES returned to her homeport following a deployment to 5th and 7th Fleets, April 30 2021. During their time in the 5th Fleet area of operations, the crew of John Paul Jones conducted maritime security operations alongside regional and coalition partners. They participated in multi-lateral exercises Nautical Defender 21 with the UK and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and Iron Defender 21 with the United Arab Emirates. They provided over watch for commercial and military vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz as part of Coalition Task Force (CTF) Sentinel, and while operating in direct support to the Combined Maritime Forces.


Ship's Official Web Site: Click here

Homeport: Everett, WA

Crew: 22 Officers, 23 Chief Petty Officers, 295 Enlisted

CREW MAILING ADDRESS:

(Name)
USS JOHN PAUL JONES (DDG 53)
Unit 100158 Box 1
FPO AP 96669

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Some material taken from the Wikipedia article "USS John Paul Jones (DDG-53)".
Other material contributed by the PAO of USS JOHN PAUL JONES (DDG-53).