About Us
USS Ramage (DDG 61) is an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer of the United States Navy. The ship is named for Vice Admiral Lawson P. Ramage, a notable submarine commander and Medal of Honor recipient in World War II. The eleventh Arleigh Burke-class Guided Missile Destroyer.
Mission: To provide multi-mission offensive and defensive capabilities while operating independently or as part of a carrier battle group, surface action group or amphibious ready group.
Background: DDG 61’s combat systems center around the Aegis combat system and the SPY-1D phased array radar. The combination of Aegis, the Vertical Launching System, an advanced anti-submarine warfare system, advanced anti-aircraft missiles and the Tomahawk cruise missile provide USS RAMAGE with extensive warfighting capabilities.
Ramage was laid down 4 January 1993 at the Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Mississippi, launched 11 February 1994, sponsored by Barbara Ramage (wife of the admiral), and commissioned 22 July 1995.
Ramage was constructed utilizing efficient modular shipbuilding techniques pioneered by Ingalls in the 1970s and enhanced in recent years through the development of Product-Oriented Shipbuilding Technology (POST).
These innovative techniques allow a large ship, such as Ramage, to be built in three separate hull and superstructure modules and later joined to form the complete ship. Heavy machinery, such as propulsion equipment, as well as piping, duct work, and electrical cabling were installed in hundreds of sub-assemblies, which were joined to form dozens of assemblies. These assemblies were then joined to form the three hull modules. The ship's superstructure, or "deck house", was lifted atop the mid-body module early in the assembly process.
Ramage's launching was as unique as her construction. The ship was moved over land via Ingalls' wheel-on-rail transfer system and onto the shipyard's launch and recovery drydock. The drydock was ballasted down, and DDG 61 floated free on 11 February 1994. She was then moved to her outfitting dock in preparation for the traditional christening ceremony and completion of outfitting and testing.
On 21 July 1997, Ramage was an escort of the USS Constitution when she set sail in Massachusetts Bay.
On October 28, 2009 while at anchor at Gdynia, Poland after participating in a Joint Warrior exercise, a sailor on the ship conducting maintenance accidentally discharged one of the ship's M240 machine guns into the port city. Three rounds from the gun hit a warehouse, causing no injuries. Local police allowed the ship to depart as originally scheduled later that day after questioning the ship's crew. During her 2010 deployment in late January 2010, the Ramage was dispatched to the Mediterranean Sea to assist with the search-and-rescue effort in the wake of the crash of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 409.
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