USS William P. Lawrence

USS William P. Lawrence (DDG-110) is an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer built by Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding. She is the 60th ship in her class. The ship is named for Vice Admiral William P. Lawrence (1930–2005), a naval aviator, fighter pilot, test pilot, Mercury astronaut finalist, Vietnam War prisoner of war, a U.S. Third Fleet commander, a Chief of Naval Personnel, and a Superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy. Her keel was laid down on 16 September 2008,[1] at the Ingalls Shipbuilding shipyard, in Pascagoula, Mississippi. William P. Lawrence was launched on 15 December 2009,[2] and she was christened on 17 April 2010, sponsored by Vice Admiral Lawrence's widow, Diane Lawrence, and his daughters, Dr. Laurie Lawrence and Captain Wendy Lawrence (USN Ret, and former shuttle astronaut).[3] The ship was commissioned at the Port of Mobile, Alabama on 4 June 2011.[4]

For similarly named ships, see USS Lawrence.

USS William P. Lawrence
USS William P. Lawrence in 2015
History
United States
Name: USS William P. Lawrence
Namesake: Vice Admiral William P. Lawrence
Ordered: 13 September 2002
Builder: Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding
Laid down: 16 September 2008
Launched: 15 December 2009
Christened: 17 April 2010
Commissioned: 4 June 2011
Homeport: Naval Base Pearl Harbor
Identification:
Motto: "Never Give In!"
Status: in active service
Badge:
General characteristics
Class and type: Arleigh Burke-class destroyer
Displacement: 9,200 tons
Length: 509 ft 6 in (155.30 m)
Beam: 66 ft (20 m)
Draft: 31 ft (9.4 m)
Propulsion:
Speed: exceeds 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph)
Complement: 380 officers and enlisted
Armament:
Aircraft carried: 2 x SH-60 Seahawk helicopters

Ship history

William P. Lawrence departed Naval Station San Diego, California, on 14 January 2013 for her first overseas deployment as part of a four-ship surface action group from Carrier Strike Group 11.[5]

On 1 March 2013, William P. Lawrence entered the Persian Gulf for operations with Carrier Strike Group 3. On 11 March 2013, the ship rendered assistance to a burning vessel while operating in the Strait of Hormuz.[6] In April 2013, on two separate occasions, William P. Lawrence joined the French frigate Montcalm in rendering assistance to civilian mariners in distress while operating in the Gulf of Oman as part of Combined Task Force 150.[7] Starting 2 September 2013, William P. Lawrence began operating in the Red Sea as part of Carrier Strike Group 11.[8][9]

On 22 September 2013, a large wave hit a helicopter and pushed it into the Red Sea shortly after landing on William P. Lawrence, resulting in the death of two pilots. The vessel was moving at flank speeds to relieve another escort ship in a defensive screen around Carrier Strike Group 3 in U.S. Central Command. The wave came over the starboard side of the flight deck and struck the helicopter less than ten minutes after landing and being chocked and chained (red deck), with rotors still spinning. The other three aircrew members were rescued.[10]

On 10 May 2016, the US Navy reported that the ship sailed close to the Fiery Cross Reef as part of a planned series of Freedom of navigation operations (also referred to as FONOPs) in the area.[11] The operation prompted the PRC to express "dissatisfaction and opposition"; a Pentagon spokesperson said that the operation was undertaken to challenge the "excessive maritime claims by China, Taiwan, and Vietnam which were seeking to restrict navigation rights in the South China Sea."[12][13]

In 2016, the ship was part of Destroyer Squadron 21.[14]

As of October 2020, the ship was assigned to the United States Fourth Fleet supporting Joint Interagency Task Force South.[15][16] In November 2020, she served as an off-shore base for MH-60R Seahawk helicopters of HSM-37 conducting disaster relief operations in the aftermath of Hurricane Eta.[17]

Deployments
  • Maiden deployment (24 January 2013 – 8 November 2013)

Notes
  1. "WILLIAM P. LAWRENCE (DDG 110)". Naval Vessel Register. NAVSEA Shipbuilding Support Office (NAVSHIPSO). 3 December 2008. Retrieved 16 April 2010.
  2. "Photo Archive / Ship". lawrence.navy.mil (ship's official website). Retrieved 16 April 2010.
  3. "Photo Release – Northrop Grumman-Built William P. Lawrence Christened; Legacy of Former POW Honored". GlobeNewswire. 17 April 2010. Retrieved 17 April 2010.
  4. Griggs, Travis, "Destroyer Lawrence commissioned in Mobile", Military Times, 5 June 2011.
  5. Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class (SW) Carla Ocampo, USN (18 January 2012). "USS Lawrence Sets Sail for Maiden Deployment". NNS130118-18. USS Lawrence Public Affairs. Retrieved 23 January 2013.
  6. Ocampo, USN, Carla (3 March 2013). "Lawrence Conducts First Strait of Hormuz Transit". NNS130304-05. USS William P. Lawrence Public Affairs. Retrieved 14 March 2013. and Ocampo, Carla (14 March 2013). "USS William P. Lawrence encounters burning vessel". Navy Media Content Center #886966. DVIDS. Retrieved 14 May 2013. Photo taken on 11 March 2013.
  7. "Warships from CTF-150 Come to Mariners Rescue in Sea of Oman". BBC News. Muscat Daily. 20 April 2013. Retrieved 6 May 2013.
  8. "2013 History". USS William P. Lawrence DDG 110. USCarrier.net. 25 January 2013. Retrieved 25 January 2013.
  9. "USS Nimitz carrier moves into Red Sea". Reuters. 2 September 2013. Retrieved 2 September 2013.
  10. "Fatal Knighthawk Crash Partially Blamed on Destroyer Skipper, Crew". news.usni.org. 20 May 2014.
  11. Diplomat, Ankit Panda, The. "After Months of Waiting, US Finally Begins Freedom of Navigation Patrols Near China's Man-Made Islands". Retrieved 16 July 2016.
  12. AFP (10 May 2016). "US warship sails by South China Sea reef, irking Beijing". Hong Kong Free Press. Retrieved 10 May 2016.
  13. "China scrambles fighters as U.S. sails warship near Chinese-claimed reef". Reuters. Reuters. 10 May 2016.
  14. http://www.public.navy.mil/surfor/cds21/Pages/default.aspx#.VuH0btBrMSE
  15. Shelbourne, Mallory (1 October 2020). "Navy Destroyer Performs Freedom of Navigation Operation Off Venezuelan Coast". USNI News. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
  16. U.S. 4th Fleet Public Affairs (28 October 2020). "USS William P. Lawrence, Brazil Unite for Training Exercise in Caribbean" (Press release). U.S. Southern Command. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
  17. U.S. Fourth Fleet Public Affairs Office (13 November 2020). "USS William P. Lawrence Joins Hurricane Eta Relief in Honduras" (Press release). U.S. Southern Command. Retrieved 5 December 2020.

References

This article includes information collected from the Naval Vessel Register, which, as a U.S. government publication, is in the public domain.

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