USS Michael Murphy Joins Fleet

The USS Michael Murphy(DDG 112),the US Navy's newest warship,was commissioned Saturday in New York City.The Arleigh Burke class destroyer is named in honor of a Navy SEAL and posthumous Medal of Honor recipient who was killed in action during Operation Redwing in Afghanistan on 28 June,2005.
Among dignitaries attending the traditional ceremony were New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg;Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Johnathan Greenert;and Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus.Secretary Mabus said the ship honors the courage,service and sacrifice of Lieutenant Michael Murphy.It is designed to counter threats from above and below the surface of the oceans,in the air and on land.
Lieutenant Murphy's mother,ship's sponsor Maureen Murphy,gave the order to man the ship and bring her to life,at which the crew of 279 ran up the gangways and lined up along the rails.The ship's first commanding officer is Commander Thomas E. Shultz of El Cajon,California.
Armed with missiles,a 5-inch gun and torpedoes,the warship is homeported at Pearl Harbor,Hawaii.Lieutenant Michael P. Murphy was a New York native.

The Pacific Fleet Today

The U.S. Pacific Fleet epitomizes the Navy's combat power.Its 180 ships and their aircraft patrol more than half of the planet.Admiral Robert F. Willard is Commander of the Fleet's more than 125,000 personnel,including sailors,Marines and civilians,who make it one of the most exceptional military groups in the world.The Pacific Fleet is based at Pearl Harbor,Hawaii,even as it was during World War II.Now as then,USPACFLT is a shield for democracy and its free markets.San Diego,California and Sasebo,Japan are also centers of the Fleet's operations.Admiral Timothy J. Keating is Commander,U.S. Pacific Command,one of the unified combatant commands,which oversees all U.S. forces in the vast region.

Houston Being Repaired

The USS Houston(SSN713),a Los Angeles class attack submarine,is being repaired at its home port of Pearl Harbor,Hawaii.The Houston's nuclear reactor leaked a small amount of radiation over a two year period.The reactor has been shut down for the repairs.Most of the radiation leakage occurred in Pearl Harbor,but only amounted to as much radiation as is found in about eight smoke detectors.Another smoke detector's worth of radiation leaked in Japanese waters.The Japanese government dismissed the incident,saying it found no abnormality during its monitoring.The aircraft carrier USS George Washington(CVN 73)will still replace the USS Kitty Hawk(CVN 63)at Yokosuka,Japan in a matter of weeks.The George Washington is nuclear-powered,while the Kitty Hawk is the last of the non-nuclear carriers.About 50,000 American service members are based in Japan,which has generated controversy from time to time.