USS Ross DDG 71 / Captain Donald Kirby Ross / Arleigh Burke class Guided Missile Destroyer – US Navy
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Guided Missile Destroyer

DDG 71   -   USS Ross

USS Ross (DDG 71)

US Navy photo

Type, Class:

 

Guided Missile Destroyer; Arleigh Burke – class / Flight I;

planned and built as DDG 71;

Builder:

 

Ingalls Shipbuilding, Pascagoula, Mississippi, USA

STATUS:

 

Awarded: April 8, 1992;

Laid down: April 10, 1995;

Launched: April 20, 1996;

Commissioned: July 30, 1997;

ACTIVE UNIT/ in commission (Atlantic Fleet)

Homeport:

 

Norfolk, Virginia, USA

Namesake:

 

Named after and in honor of Captain Donald Kirby Ross (1910 – 1992);

> see history, below;

Ship's Motto:

 

> FORTUNE FAVORS VALOR <

Technical Data:

(Measures, Propulsion,

Armament, Aviation, etc.)

 

see: INFO > Guided Missile Destroyer / Arleigh Burke - class.

 

Pictures, photos & more ...

 

Donald Kirby Ross

Photo credits: US Navy, US Naval Historical Center,

 

Namesake & History:

Captain Donald Kirby Ross (December 8, 1910 – May 27, 1992);

 

Donald Kirby Ross was born in Beverly, Kansas, on 8 December 1910. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1929 and was trained as a Machinist's Mate. He advanced in that field and became a Warrant Officer Machinist in October 1940. During the 7 December 1941 Japanese air raid on Pearl Harbor, he was serving on board USS Nevada (BB-36). When the ship was badly damaged by bombs and torpedoes, he kept the dynamo rooms operating until he was overpowered by smoke, steam, heat and exhaustion. For his courageous conduct, Machinist Ross was awarded the Medal of Honor.

 

Ross was promoted to Chief Machinist in March 1942 and was simultaneously receiving a temporary commission as an Ensign. He rose steadily in temporary rank to Lieutenant Commander by the end of the War, reverting to Lieutenant at its conclusion. He again received promotion to Lieutenant Commander in 1949 and to Commander in November 1954. Upon his retirement from active duty in July 1956, after twenty-seven years' of service, he was promoted to Captain on the basis of his combat awards.

 

Making his home in Washington State after leaving the Navy, Captain Ross was active in farm life and community affairs, and in perpetuating the memory of the Pearl Harbor attack, which he described as "not a story about a defeat. It's a story about a job well done". He attended 50th Anniversary ceremonies at Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1991, during which a memorial was dedicated to his old ship, USS Nevada. Captain Donald K. Ross died at Bremerton, Washington, on 27 May 1992.

The first USS Ross (DD 563) was a Fletcher Class Destroyer.

 

-

 

Medal of Honor citation of Lieutenant Commander Donald Kirby Ross:

(as printed in the official publication "Medal of Honor, 1861-1949, The Navy", page 252):

"For distinguished conduct in the line of his profession, extraordinary courage and disregard of his own life during the attack on the Fleet in Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii, by Japanese Forces on 7 December 1941. When his station in the forward dynamo room of the U.S.S. Nevada became almost untenable due to smoke, steam and heat, Lieutenant Commander Ross forced his men to leave that station and performed all the duties himself until blinded and unconscious. Upon being rescued and resuscitated, he returned and secured the forward dynamo room and proceeded to the after dynamo room where he was later again rendered unconscious by exhaustion. Again recovering consciousness he returned to his station where he remained until directed to abandon it."

 

USS Ross (DDG 71):

 

Ross's keel was laid on 10 April 1995 by Litton-Ingalls in Pascagoula, Mississippi and her christening was held a year later, sponsored by Helen Ross, widow of Capt. Ross. Her plankowning crew moved aboard in April 1997 and sailed her to Galveston, Texas for the commissioning on 28 June 1997.

 

Afterward, Ross set sailed for a Combat Systems Ship Qualification Trial, which lasted six weeks, and then sailed back to Pascagoula for three months for her Post Shakedown Availability (PSA). She was then returned to her homeport of Portsmouth, Virginia and completed the Basic Training Phase- Engineering Certification, CART II, TSTA I, and III, Cruise Missile Tactical Qualification, Final Evaluation Period (FEP), and Logistics Management Assessmen.

 

Ross completed her Intermediate Training Phase and set sail early in 1999 as part of the Theodore Roosevelt Battle Group which had sortied for a Joint Task Force Exercise to prepare for an upcoming six-month deployment set to commence on 26 March 1999. During this deployment to the Mediterranean and Adriatic Seas Ross participated in Operation Allied Force. On 22 September she returned to Norfolk, Va.

 

On 15 May 2000 she set sail for Northern Europe in order to participate in the Baltic Operations (BALTOPS) 2000. She served as the flagship for the Commander of Carrier Group Eight, and together with the Peterson operated with more than 50 ships from the numerous European countries. During these exercises the destroyer visited Stockholm, Sweden and Kiel in Germany before returning to the United States in late June.

 

In September 2001, Ross was deployed to the Mediterranean Sea and Persian Gulf in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, and conducting operations in support of the U.N. resolutions against Iraq. During this deployment, Ross was again part of the Theodore Roosevelt Battle Group.

 

On June 6, 2005, a .50 caliber machine gun on her deck fired while leaving a shipyard. The single bullet struck a nearby barge and two washing machines within the barge.

 

… more DDG 71 history wanted …

 

… and patches …

 

 

 

 

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