Hull Number: DDG-69
Launch Date: 08/01/1995
Commissioned Date: 11/23/1996
Call Sign: NPLM
Class: ARLEIGH BURKE
Namesake: PAUL L. MILIUS
Wikipedia (as of 2024)
She is named after Captain Paul L. Milius, a Naval Aviator presumed killed following the crash of his aircraft over Laos in February 1968.
Wikipedia (as of 2024)
USS Milius (DDG-69) is an Arleigh Burke-class Aegis guided missile destroyer of the United States Navy. It is the first United States Navy Ship named after a POW/MIA from the Vietnam War. She is named after Captain Paul L. Milius, a Naval Aviator presumed killed following the crash of his aircraft over Laos in February 1968. Captain Milius’s daughter, Annette, became the sponsor and later christened the ship named in honor of her father.
In January 2005, Milius participated in Operation Unified Assistance. On 6 December 2006, the ship successfully launched a Block IV Tomahawk cruise missile for the first time in a test of the Block IV configuration. The launch took place in the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division Sea Test Range off of California. The missile flew 869 miles before impacting its target on the land range at China Lake, California.
On 12 September 2007, the Embassy of the United States, Manila stated that the arrival of the destroyers USS Chung-Hoon and USS Milius was a goodwill visit to strengthen Philippines–United States relations.[5]
On 23 November 2021, Milius conducted a transit of the Taiwan Strait.[6]
On 9 August 2023, The Navy announced plans to extend the ship’s service life beyond the initial 35 years, intending to keep Milius in service until at least 2035.[7]