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USS STOUT DDG-55

Home » Ships » DDG-55

Hull Number: DDG-55

Launch Date: 10/16/1992

Commissioned Date: 08/13/1994

Call Sign: NSDT


Class: ARLEIGH BURKE

ARLEIGH BURKE Class

Namesake: HERALD FRANKLIN STOUT

HERALD FRANKLIN STOUT

Wikipedia (as of 2024)

Herald Franklin Stout (June 6, 1903 – March 23, 1987) was an admiral in the United States Navy who served in World War II and Korea.

Herald F. Stout was born June 15, 1903, in Dover, Ohio to Franklin Lee and Jemima Mae Tong Stout. After graduating as valedictorian of Roosevelt High School, he entered the United States Naval Academy on appointment from the Sixteenth District of Ohio in 1922. Stout graduated and was commissioned an ensign on June 3, 1926. On the same day, he married his hometown sweetheart, Louise Frederica Finley. They were the parents of three sons.

Following graduation, Stout joined the USS Cincinnati as a main engine division officer, communications officer, radio officer, ship’s secretary, and then finally as a gun division officer. Upon detachment from the Cincinnati in June 1931 and subsequent to promotion to lieutenant, Stout had a year’s duty as a torpedo and communications Officer aboard the destroyer USS Breckenridge. In June 1932, he was transferred to the destroyer USS Hatfield to serve as torpedo officer and first lieutenant until April 1933.[1]

In September 1942, Stout became commissioning commanding officer of the destroyer USS Claxton, which operated with Destroyer Squadron 23 (“Little Beaver” Squadron) in the Solomon Islands. For outstanding service in command of the Claxton, he was awarded two Navy Crosses.[1]

In January 1952, he became Commander, Mine Squadron THREE, Commander, Western Pacific Minesweeping Force and Commander, Task Group 95.6, operating in the Korean area of hostilities.[1]

After Naval retirement, Rear Admiral Stout was a senior Reliability Design Engineer with Convair Corporation, who produced the Atlas missile, and later a Reliability Engineer with Astronautics, both Divisions of General Dynamics Corporation. Ten years following the death of Louise Frederica Stout, he married Zoe E. Anderson on July 25, 1976, in the church where they met and worked together. Rear Admiral Stout was a Brother of the Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons. He was a charter and continuing member of the United Church of Christ of La Mesa, California when he died on March 23, 1987.[1]

Awards

In addition to the Navy Cross with gold star, the Distinguished Service Medal, the Silver Star Medal, and the Presidential Unit Citation Ribbon, Rear Admiral Stout was awarded the Second Nicaraguan Campaign Medal, the Yangtze Service Medal, the American Defense Service Medal with star, the American Campaign Medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with one silver star and two bronze stars (seven engagements), the World War II Victory Medal, the Navy Occupation Service Medal with Asia Clasp, the China Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal with one bronze star, the Pearl Harbor Commemorative Medal, the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, the Philippine Liberation Ribbon, and the Korean Presidential Unit Citation.[1]

Navy Cross Citation

The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to Commander Herald Franklin Stout (NSN: 0-60265), United States Navy, for extraordinary heroism and distinguished service in the line of his profession as Commanding Officer of the Destroyer U.S.S. CLAXTON (DD-571), during an engagement with Japanese naval forces at Empress Augusta Bay, off Bougainville, Solomon Islands, on the night of 1 – 2 November 1943. With his Task Force engaging a Japanese surface force of superior fire power, Commander Stout hurled the full fighting strength of his ship against the enemy and, by his inspiring leadership and skilled combat tactics, aided his Task Force in sinking five hostile warships, in damaging four others and in completely routing the enemy, thereby contributing materially to the successful establishment of our beachhead on Bougainville Island. His determination, relentless fighting spirit and gallant devotion to duty upheld the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.[2]



Ship History

USS STOUT DDG-55 Ship History

Wikipedia (as of 2024)

USS Stout (DDG-55) is the fifth Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer. Built for the United States Navy by Ingalls Shipbuilding, she was commissioned on 13 August 1994 and she is currently home-ported in Naval Station Norfolk. She is part of Destroyer Squadron 28.[4] Stout is named for Rear Admiral Herald F. Stout, who distinguished himself as the commanding officer of the destroyer USS Claxton during World War II. In November 1943, Commander Stout received two Navy Crosses in the span of three weeks for his actions in the Pacific. Stout aided Destroyer Squadron 23 in sinking five heavily armed Japanese warships and damaging four others during the Solomon Islands campaign as well as sinking four more Japanese warships and damaging two others to establish a beachhead on Bougainville Island. Stout was ordered on 13 December 1988, the keel was laid down on 8 August 1991, she was launched on 16 October 1992 and commissioned on 13 August 1994. As of January 2024 the ship is part of Destroyer Squadron 28 based out of Naval Station Norfolk.

In April 2008, the ship comprehensively failed her Board of Inspection and Survey examination and was declared “unfit for sustained combat operations.”[5][6][7] The ship has since passed 13 of 13 rigorous unit level training inspections. Stout deployed in March 2009 on routine security operations in the Sixth Fleet operational area. On 15 July 2009, Fox News Channel reported Stout was in the Black Sea cooperating with Georgian forces in training exercises.

On 1 March 2011 while on deployment to the Mediterranean Sea in support of the crisis in Libya, Stout‘s commanding officer, Command Master Chief, and eight other junior officers and non-commissioned officers were relieved by the Commander Sixth Fleet. The cited cause was a “pervasive pattern of unprofessional behavior” among the ship’s crew including “fraternization, orders violations and disregard for naval standards of conduct and behavior which contributed to poor crew morale and a hostile command climate.”[8][9]

On 19 March 2011, in conjunction with other US Navy ships, the destroyer launched Tomahawk cruise missiles at Libyan air defenses as part of Operation Odyssey Dawn.[10]

On 28 August 2013, the US Navy announced that Stout, was en route to join four other Arleigh Burke-class destroyers deployed in the eastern Mediterranean Sea amid allegations that the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad used chemical weapons during the ongoing Syrian civil war, including the 2013 Ghouta attacks.[11]

On 3 October 2020, Stout moored in Rota, Spain, after 215 days consecutively at sea, surpassing the Navy’s known record of 206 days at sea previously held by carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) and cruiser USS San Jacinto (CG-56). The unusually long deployment was as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and operational requirements.[12][13]

On 16 February 2007, Stout was awarded the 2006 Battle “E”.[14]