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By George Joseph, Jr.
July 31, 1988 marked a milestone in American naval
history. In a bustling Maine seacoast town, justly famous for the
quality of the vessels she spawns, a legendary naval officer assisted in
laying the keel of the nation’s newest destroyer. Admiral Arleigh A.
Burke, USN (Ret) seemed at home in a tasteful dark suit and hard hat,
comfortable in the controlled clutter of Bath Iron Works. He was
officiating at yet another historic moment in a life filled with
remarkable service. DDG-51 would be the first warship to be commissioned
with the name of a living American. The U.S. Navy could not have chosen
a more appropriate recipient for that distinct honor than the admiral.
Arleigh Burke was born in Boulder, CO on October 19,
1901, the oldest child of Oscar and Clara Burke. In the early years of
the Twentieth Century, Boulder was very much a farming community and the
traditional values of duty, honor, responsibility, and patriotism were
ingrained in the Burke children early in life. Arleigh learned the
importance of hard work and the value of a job well done.
Much has been written about Arleigh’s decision to
enter naval service. One biographer attributes it to a
"Viking" heritage, another to the influence of a teacher.
Whatever the true reason, Midshipman Burke entered the United States
Naval Academy in June 1919. The Academy years provided Arleigh with a
strong general education for his future career; perhaps more
importantly, it presented him with the chance to meet Roberta Gorsuch.
The Burkes were married in June 1923, the month of Arleigh’s
graduation.
The Navy Mr. Burke entered as an ensign was in many
ways like the Navy of today. World War I had been over for more than
four years, the international temperament sought arms reduction and
Washington planned cutbacks. The nation’s enemies had been vanquished;
the need for a large, expensive Navy was questioned. The environment,
especially for a young man embarking on a naval career, seemed hostile.
Ensign Burke was not, however, the ordinary man.
It has been suggested that naval officers are not
born, they are made, then rebuilt on a daily basis. Ensign Burke’s
first assignment was aboard the six year old USS ARIZONA (BB-39). Five
years of service on the battleship acclimated the young officer to the
great variety of challenges found on a large warship; subsequent service
on USS PROCYON (AF-11), flagship of the Commander, Fleet Base Force,
U.S. Battlefleet enhanced his reputation for courage and won him his
first decoration for rescuing a group of fishermen. A return to the
University of Michigan culminated in a master’s degree in engineering.
Tours of duty in USS CHESTER (CA-27) and USS MUGFORD (DD-389) were
included with assignment in the Bureau of Ordinance. By the beginning of
World War II in Europe, Burke, by then a lieutenant commander, had
commanded MUGFORD and served as ordinance inspector at the Washington
Navy Yard.
Arleigh Burke’s exploits in World War II have become
legendary. By 1943, the Japanese were reeling back from Guadalcanal and
the Solomons had become a cauldron of torpedo wakes and muzzle blasts
off Vila, Commander Burke’s flagship, USS WALLER (DD-466) of DESDIV
43, was credited with sinking the Japanese SHIRATSUYU-class destroyer
MURASAME in a wild night action while in the van of a cruiser-destroyer
force. A new command, DESDIV 44, in May had him shepherding convoys
through the Solomons chain. By August, he was a captain commanding a
full squadron, DESRON 12.
The "Little Beavers" of DESRON 23, Captain
Burke’s next command, rank among the finest naval fighting units in
history. Burke’s standards were high, but his orders were brief and to
the point; their job was to sink Japanese ships, anything which did not
lead to that end was secondary. The "Beavers" were VERY good
at their job. During Burke’s sixteen weeks of command, DESRON 23
fought twenty-two engagements, was credited with sinking one cruiser,
nine destroyers, one submarine, numerous small craft, and downing more
than thirty enemy aircraft. From Empress Augusta Bay to the classic
battle of Cape St. George, the "Little Beavers" burned their
way into the Japanese subconscious. The captain became "31-knot
Burke" in the Navy’s folklore.
By the time the "Little Beavers" joined
Admiral Marc Mitscher’s TF-58 in 1944, Arleigh Burke had seen his last
tour in a destroyer. Commodore Burke’s early association with the
acerbic Mitscher was not always easy, but Arleigh’s dedication,
professionalism, and courage marked him as a valuable asset to any
commander. As the admiral’s chief of staff, Commodore Burke served
with the fast carrier force from Hollandia through Okinawa. Arleigh’s
Silver Star was awarded when the future admiral personally rescued
several USS BUNKER HILL seamen from fire-swept compartments hit by a
Kamikaze off Okinawa.
Within the next fifteen years, Arleigh Burke rose to
the highest rank in his profession. From staff assignments with the
Atlantic Fleet and the Chief of Naval Operations, Burke, a rear admiral
by 1950, became commander of Cruiser Division Five. He also served as a
United Nations representative at the Korean truce talks.
President Dwight D. Eisenhower elevated the admiral to
Chief of Naval Operations in 1955, over eighty-seven active duty
officers on the seniority list. For the next six years, Admiral Burke
directed the birth of the new American navy. Nuclear-powered carriers,
submarine-launched Polaris missiles, fleet air defense based on jet
aircraft and missiles, and nuclear-powered cruisers and destroyers all
became standard under "3-knot Burke."
Admiral Arleigh Albert Burke retired in August, 1961
and currently lives with "Bobbie," his wife of sixty-eight
years, in Virginia. The admiral, an active member of Tin Can Sailors,
serves as honorary chairman of the board of directors and officiated at
the dedication of the Admiral Arleigh Burke Destroyermen’s Museum on
USS JOSEPH P. KENNEDY, JR. (DD-850) at Battleship Cove, Fall River,
Massachusetts in 1986. The ship that was to bear the Burke name began as
a Navy design study in 1980. The DDGX project was to produce a destroyer
capable of effectively answering the bewildering number of threats in
the hostile sea environment of the Twenty-first century. In short, the
Navy wanted a fast, agile, "sea boat" with the punch of a
World War II battleship, an air defense ‘capability close to that of
the newest cruisers, state-of-the- art anti-submarine weaponry and
sensors, equipped with Kevlar composite armor and able to survive in
chemical, biological and even nuclear "environments." Not
included in the list of requirements was "able to leap tall
buildings in a single bound," but it was implied.
Naval architects know that any ship represents a
series of compromises. The power plant needed to make her fast will
either consume prodigious quantities of fuel or, if nuclear, add many
tons to the displacement for needed shielding. Great length with a
narrow beam sacrifices maneuverability for speed. Extensive radar
outfits add top weight. An impressive inventory of weapons is possible,
provided the crew is willing to sleep in tents on deck! That any capable
modern naval vessel is even launched is a tribute to the brilliance of
the men and women who design and build them.
The contract to build the first of the "super
destroyers" was awarded to Bath Iron Works on April 2, 1984. For
the ninth time in BIW’s history, the firm was chosen to build the
prototype of a surface combatant. Great things were expected, and BIW
certainly disappointed no one.
From her impressive launching in 1989 to her emotional
commissioning in Norfolk last Independence Day, DDG-51 has been seen as
a special vessel by those who know her. Her clean lines, clipper bow and
raked mast suggest the sailing frigates of an earlier Navy, but there,
the similarity ends.
In a shorter but wider hull than the thirty-one
SPRUANCE-class destroyers in service since 1983, the ARLEIGH BURKE packs
four 25,000 shaft horse-power gas turbines, providing a sustained speed
undoubtedly well above her "published" 31 knots. Her twin
rudders and controllable, reversible pitch screws mean exceptional
maneuverability, while her wider beam forms a highly stable platform.
With all-steel construction and a Kevlar armored "box" around
her vital command and control areas, DDG-51 is a very different
"tin can."
ARLEIGH BURKE’s "sensor suite" seems
designed around the old adage, "you can’t shoot what you can’t
see." Her Aegis Weapon system can track and engage more than 120
targets simultaneously. Four "fixed array" panels arranged on
the forward superstructure feed a complex computer system with data.
On-board systems supply a compact, Kevlar-armored CIC with missile
tracks, anchorage diagrams, formation plans, boat lanes for amphibious
landings, and a lightning-fast analysis of all potential threats within
more than 150, square miles around DDG-51. Submarines are no safer with
BURKE in the area, either.
The thirty ton rubber sonar dome at BURKE’ s bow is
one element of the finest anti-submarine sensor system afloat. Coupled
with the destroyer’s phenomenal computer system and a SQR-19
"towed array" which can be streamed to depths of 1200 feet,
DDG-51’s ability to "sniff out" underwater threats is light
years beyond the search capacity of an entire squadron of GEARINGS. She
can also access data from sensors on other escorts in her screen and
LAMPS helicopters operated by the group. While BURKE herself has no helo
hanger, later versions of the vessel, called "Third Flight"
modifications, will operate two LAMPS III choppers each. The
destroyer’s electronic gadgetry seems to sprout from every available
surface on the vessel.
To the casual observer familiar with the firepower of
yesteryear, DDG-51 seems under-armed. A single 5" gun can be
identified forward of the superstructure; little else is obvious.
Unfriendly observers should be warned, however, that USS ARLEIGH BURKE
packs a world-class punch. Stored in vertical cells forward and aft of
the superstructure are NINETY Standard SM-2 and Tomahawk missiles,
allowing the ship’s commander to select the appropriate weapon for the
job. The Tomahawk cruise missile, made famous by Operation Desert Storm,
can extend BURKE’s "reach" up to 1300 nautical miles. ASROC
missiles, which may also be stored in the vertical launch system, may
also be embarked at this writing. Eight Harpoon ship-killer missiles
angle from the quarterdeck, forward of DDG-51’s two sets of Mark 32
torpedo tubes.
Phalanx "Gatling gun" close-in weapons
systems sport their white "hats" below the bridge and aft of
the Mark 99 radar "illuminators." Chaff projectors stand ready
to decoy sea-skimming missiles able to penetrate BURKE’s other
defenses. Even the ship’s 5" gun mount is a state-of-the-art,
remotely-controlled, radar-directed super gun. The gun crew of six is
below deck and the gun captain can "call up" any combination
of four different projectiles, blasting them toward targets fourteen
miles away at a rate of twenty rounds per minute. USS ARLEIGH BURKE is
truly a pocket battleship.
The crew of DDG-51 are state-of-the-art as well;
fortunately, the "art" is as old as the destroyer Navy.
Everyone privileged to attend BURKE’s commissioning in Norfolk on July
4, 1991 was impressed by the emotion and professionalism of the officers
and crew of the new destroyer. Among the ship’s company are a high
percentage of technical ratings, many unfamiliar to "old" Navy
men.
The swagger, the pride, and the courage of the
"old time destroyer Navy" still can’t be hidden beneath the
high tech training and finer-tailored uniforms. In another time and
another place, the officers and crew of USS ARLEIGH BURKE would feel
right at home on four-pipers chasing the Kaiser’s U-Boats, or combing
torpedo wakes in the Solomons, or searching freighters for Russian
missiles off Cuba. They have taken their place in an unbroken line of
destroyermen; one of our often undervalued national treasures. Admiral
Arleigh Burke has written, "This ship is built to fight. You had
better know how." No monument or decoration could better represent
this premier destroyer sailor than DDG-1, her officers and crew.
To the men of ARLEIGH BURKE, Tin Can Sailors wish
peace, a warm, gentle wind, and a following sea.
This ship dedication would not have been possible
without the kind support of Commander John G. Morgan, Jr., commanding
officer of USS ARLEIGH BURKE, along with his superb officers and crew.
To the men and women of Bath Iron Works who provided extensive data and
many of the beautiful photos of this epitome of the ship-builders skill,
we also express our thanks for a job well done.
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