USS John S. McCain DDG 56 / Admiral John Sidney McCain / Arleigh Burke class Guided Missile Destroyer – US Navy

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Guided Missile Destroyer
DDG 56 - USS John S. McCain
		USS John S. McCain (DDG 56)						US Navy photo
Type, Class:		Guided Missile Destroyer; Arleigh Burke – class / Flight I; planned and built as DDG 56;
Builder:		Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine, USA
STATUS:		Awarded: December 13, 1988; Laid down: September 3, 1991; Launched: September 26, 1992; Commissioned: July 2, 1994; ACTIVE UNIT/ in commission (Pacific Fleet)
Homeport:		forward deployed at Yokosuka, Japan
Namesake:		Named after and in honor of Admirals John Sidney McCain, Sr. and John S. McCain, Jr. > see history, below;
Ship's Motto:		> FORTUNE FAVORS THE BRAVE <
Technical Data: (Measures, Propulsion, Armament, Aviation, etc.)		see: INFO > Guided Missile Destroyer / Arleigh Burke - class. … see also: USS John S. McCain (DDG 36);
Pictures, photos & more ...
John S. McCain – senior and junior
John S. McCain, sr.			John S. McCain, sr.			John S. McCain, jr.
Photo credits: US Navy, US Naval Historical Center,
Namesake & History:
John Sidney McCain, Sr. (9 August 1884 - 6 September 1945); John Sidney McCain, Jr. (January 17, 1911 - March 22, 1981);
John Sidney McCain, Sr. was an Admiral in the United States Navy, notable as a commander of the Fast Carrier Task Force in World War II. His son John S. McCain, Jr. was also an admiral (the only father-son pair of full admirals in US history), and his grandson John McCain III a senator from Arizona. McCain was born in Teoc, Mississippi , and graduated from the Naval Academy in 1906 after attending a few years at the University of Mississippi. His first assignments were ships of the Asiatic Squadron. During the American occupation of Veracruz in the Mexican revolution he served in San Diego, and remained on the ship during 1918 while she performed Atlantic escort duty. In the years between the world wars, McCain served in many ships, including Maryland, New Mexico, and Nitro . His first command was the Sirius . In 1936, at the age of 51, he was designated a Naval Aviator, and from 1937 to 1939 he commanded the aircraft carrier Ranger, contributing much to the development of carrier tactics for the war to come. For the first year of World War II he served as Commander of Air Forces for Western Sea Frontier and the South Pacific Force. In October 1942 McCain became Chief of the Bureau of Aeronautics and in August 1943 rose to the rank of Vice Admiral as Deputy Chief of Naval Operations (Air). In 1944 he returned to the Pacific Theater, succeeding Marc Mitscher as commander of the Fast Carrier Task Force, which for over a year operated almost continuously in support of the great amphibious operations. McCain's exceedingly skillful tactics protecting Canberra (CA-70) and Houston (CA-81) in October 1944 earned him the Navy Cross, and the daring forays of his mobile force had much to do with the eventual victory. Vice Admiral McCain died in September 1945, just after arriving back in the United States, and was posthumously appointed Admiral effective that date. For his outstanding performance as an air planner and carrier task force commander he was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal with two Gold Stars; Secretary James Forrestal commented: "He was a fighting man all the way through." John Sidney McCain, Jr. Born at Council Bluffs, Iowa, the son of John Sidney and Katherine Valux McCain. He graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1931. He married Roberta Wright, January 21, 1933. He was commissioned Ensign, 1931, and was advanced through the grades to Admiral. He served as Commander of the USS Gunnell, 1942-44; USS Dentuda, 1944-45; Office of the Chief of Naval Personnel, 1945-48; Submarine Division 71, Pacific, 1949-50; Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, 1950-53, 1955-57, 1958; Chief, Legislative Affairs Office, Secretary of the Navy, 1958-60; Commander, Amphibious Group 2, 1960-61; Commander, Amphibious Training (Atlantic), 1961-62; Chief of Naval Information, 1962-63; Commander of Amphibious Forces, Atlantic, 1963-65; Commander, Eastern Sea Frontier, 1965-67; Commander in Chief, U.S. Naval Forces in Europe, 1967-68; Commander in Chief, U.S. Forces in the Pacific, 1968-72. It was during this period that his son, Commander John S. McCain III, USN, was a prisoner of war in Vietnam after being shot down while on an air mission over North Vietnam. His son is presently a United States Senator from Arizona. He retired in 1972. He resided in Washington, D. C. until his death there on March 22, 1981. He was buried in Section 3 (Grave 4001) of Arlington National Cemetery among other family members.
USS John S. McCain (DDG 56):
John S. McCain (DDG-56) was laid down 3 September 1991 at Bath Iron Works, Bath ME; launched 26 September 1992; and commissioned 2 July 1994. She was assigned to the Pacific Fleet and homeported at Pearl Harbor HI. She took part in Operation Southern Watch in the Persian Gulf in late 1996 performing maritime interdictions and returned there in early 1998 to perform the same mission. In 2000, she became the first USN ship to do community relations work in Dili, the capital of war torm East Timor. John S. McCain took part in Exercise Tandem Thrust in May 2001 which involved 18,000 U.S., Australian, and Canadian military forces training in crisis action planning and execution of contingency response operations. She participated in CSOFEX in July 2001, with the South Korean military and US Army and Naval forces. Several members of the Korean Navy and the US 6th Cavalry were brought about the destroyer to simultaneously execute a joint exercise while conducting training. John S. McCain is forward deployed to Yokosuka, Japan, as part of the U.S. 7th Fleet. In early April 2004, it was announced that she would be one of fifteen destroyers and three cruisers which would be deployed to counter ballistic missile threats worldwide. … more DDG 56 history wanted …
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