USS ''Bulkeley'' (DDG-84) is an '' Arleigh Burke-class'' ( Flight IIA)

Aegis The aegis ( ; ''aigís''), as stated in the ''Iliad'', is a device carried by Athena and Zeus, variously interpreted as an animal skin or a shield and sometimes featuring the head of a Gorgon. There may be a connection with a deity named Aex, a ...

guided missile destroyer A guided-missile destroyer (DDG) is a destroyer whose primary armament is guided missiles so they can provide anti-aircraft warfare screening for the fleet. The NATO standard designation for these vessels is DDG, while destroyers which have a pr ...

in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

. She is named for Medal of Honor recipient Vice Admiral

John D. Bulkeley John Duncan Bulkeley (19 August 1911 – 6 April 1996) was a Vice admiral (United States), vice admiral in the United States Navy and was one of its most decorated naval officers. Bulkeley received the Medal of Honor for actions in the Pacific ...

. USS ''Bulkeley'' was the 15th ship of this class to be built at

Ingalls Shipbuilding Ingalls Shipbuilding is a shipyard located in Pascagoula, Mississippi, United States, originally established in 1938, and now part of HII. It is a leading producer of ships for the United States Navy, and, as of 2023, is the largest private em ...

Pascagoula, Mississippi Pascagoula ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Jackson County, Mississippi, United States. It is the principal city of the Pascagoula metropolitan area, and is part of the Gulfport, Mississippi, Gulfport–Biloxi, Mississippi, Biloxi–Pascag ...

, and construction began on 10 May 1999. She was launched on 21 June 2000 and was christened on 24 June 2000. On 8 December 2001 she was commissioned during a pierside ceremony at the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum in

New York City, New York New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on New York Harbor, one of the world's largest natural harb ...

, with Commander

Carlos Del Toro Carlos Del Toro (born 1961) is a Cuban-American entrepreneur and retired United States Navy officer who served as the 78th United States secretary of the Navy from 2021 to 2025. He is the second Hispanic American to serve as the Secretary of the ...

in command. Del Toro later became the 78th

Secretary of the Navy The Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV) is a statutory officer () and the head (chief executive officer) of the Department of the Navy, a military department within the United States Department of Defense. On March 25, 2025, John Phelan was confirm ...

in 2021.

Ships History

2004

On 13 June 2004, ''Bulkeley'' came to the aid of a vessel in distress, ''Al-Rashid Mum 131''. Shortly after turning the vessel over to an Iranian

tugboat A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, suc ...

, it sank. ''Bulkeley'' rescued three crew and recovered the body of a fourth. The tug rescued one additional crewman; the other seven were lost at sea. The incident is recounted in the book ''In the Shadow of Greatness''.

2011

In February 2011, ''Bulkeley'' was involved in a

mission Mission (from Latin 'the act of sending out'), Missions or The Mission may refer to: Geography Australia *Mission River (Queensland) Canada *Mission, British Columbia, a district municipality * Mission, Calgary, Alberta, a neighbourhood * ...

to rescue four American citizens from the

yacht A yacht () is a sail- or marine propulsion, motor-propelled watercraft made for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a ...

''Quest'' which was attacked by

Somali pirates Horn of Africa * Somali Peninsula, a region of East Africa, also known as "The Horn of Africa" * Somalis, an inhabitant or ethnicity associated with Greater Somali Region ** Greater Somalia ** Somali language, a Cushitic language ** Somali culture ...

. On 5 March 2011, ''Bulkeley'' was involved in rescuing a Japanese

oil tanker An oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tanker, is a ship designed for the bulk cargo, bulk transport of petroleum, oil or its products. There are two basic types of oil tankers: crude tankers and product tankers. Crude tankers move large quant ...

, , from Somali pirates while on duty with

Combined Task Force 151 Combined Task Force 151 (CTF-151) is a multinational naval task force, set up in 2009 as a response to piracy attacks in the Gulf of Aden and off the eastern coast of Somalia. Its mission is to disrupt piracy and armed robbery at sea and to engag ...

off the coast of

Oman Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country located on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia and the Middle East. It shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Oman’s coastline ...

. Three of the pirates were tried and convicted in Japan, the fourth was turned over to juvenile authorities, as it was determined that he was a minor. On 16 May 2011, ''Bulkeley'' responded to a mayday call from the Panamanian flagged

very large crude carrier An oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tanker, is a ship designed for the bulk transport of oil or its products. There are two basic types of oil tankers: crude tankers and product tankers. Crude tankers move large quantities of unrefined cr ...

''Artemis Glory'' by dispatching a Seahawk

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which Lift (force), lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning Helicopter rotor, rotors. This allows the helicopter to VTOL, take off and land vertically, to hover (helicopter), hover, and ...

(from HSL 48) to its position. Seeing that a piratical skiff carrying four men was firing upon ''Artemis Glory'', the Seahawk investigated the skiff. The pirates opened fire on the helicopter with small arms and were summarily neutralized by crew served weapons from the helicopter in self-defense. The helicopter then withdrew without any casualties to its own crewmembers or that of ''Artemis Glory''. The ship returned to Norfolk on 15 July 2011. During its deployment, she had participated in operations which had captured 75 Somali pirates and had missile strikes by its carrier strike group against the Libyan government.

2022

On 4 August 2022, ''Bulkeley'' departed Norfolk for a homeport shift to

Rota, Spain The town of Rota is a Spanish municipality located in the Province of Cádiz, Andalusia. Its surface area is 84 km2 and is bordered by the towns of Chipiona, Sanlúcar de Barrameda and El Puerto de Santa María. It is located near the city of ...

, arriving on 17 August. Her aft

Phalanx CIWS The Phalanx CIWS () is an automated gun-based close-in weapon system to defend military watercraft automatically against incoming threats such as aircraft, missiles, and small boats. It was designed and manufactured by the General Dynamics Co ...

was replaced with a

SeaRAM CIWS The RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) is a small, lightweight, infrared homing surface-to-air missile in use by the German Navy, German, Japanese Navy, Japanese, Hellenic Navy, Greek, Turkish Navy, Turkish, Republic of Korea Navy, South Ko ...

. On July 16, while operating at a position between

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

and

Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

, a helicopter from USS Bulkeley spotted a vessel that appeared to be dead in the water, the destroyer asked a nearby oil tanker Seaways Sabine to intervene, after which it retrieved 31 people from the distressed craft. Bulkeley transferred medical corpsmen over to the tanker in a

RHIB A rigid inflatable boat (RIB), also rigid-hull inflatable boat or rigid-hulled inflatable boat (RHIB), is a lightweight but high-performance and high-capacity boat constructed with a rigid hull bottom joined to side-forming air tubes that are i ...

. The responders were able to stabilize two of the victims; the third passed away despite their intervention, including an attempt at

CPR Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is an emergency procedure used during cardiac or respiratory arrest that involves chest compressions, often combined with artificial ventilation, to preserve brain function and maintain circulation until sp ...

. The remaining survivors stayed aboard Seaways Sabine as the tanker got back under way. The vessel arrived at an anchorage off

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

on the morning of July 18.

2024

On 1 October 2024, ''Bulkeley'' was involved in the interception of missiles employing

SM-3 The RIM-161 Standard Missile 3 (SM-3) is a ship-based surface-to-air missile used by the United States Navy to intercept ballistic missiles as a part of Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System. Although primarily designed as an anti-ballistic mis ...

and SM-6 missiles during the

October 2024 Iranian strikes against Israel On 1 October 2024, Iran launched about 200 ballistic missiles at targets in Israel, in at least two waves, then the largest attack during the ongoing 2024 Iran–Israel conflict, Iran–Israel conflict. Iran's codename for the attack was Ope ...

Awards

Navy Unit Commendation The Navy Unit Commendation (NUC) is a United States Navy and United States Coast Guard unit award that was established by order of the Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal on 18 December 1944. History Navy A navy, naval force, military m ...

– (Nov 2015 – Jul 2016) *

Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation The Meritorious Unit Commendation (MUC; pronounced ''muck'') is a mid-level unit award of the United States Armed Forces. The U.S. Army awards units the Army MUC for exceptionally meritorious conduct in performance of outstanding achievement or ...

– (Jan 2011 – Nov 2012, Aug 2013 – Mar 2014, Apr–Dec 2018) * Battle "E" – (2006, 2011, 2018,2024,2025) * Arizona Memorial Trophy – (2005–2006)

Coat of arms

Shield

The shield has background of blue and a medium blue trim. A red chevron with anchors surround a lion in the center of the shield, with a reversed star below.

The traditional Navy colors were chosen for the shield because dark blue and gold represents the sea and excellence respectively. The inverted star at the shield base refers to the Medal of Honor Admiral Bulkeley received for his forcefulness and daringness during the defense of the Philippines. The hallmarks of USS ''Bulkeley'', honor and high achievement, are represented in the gold wreath. From the family coat of arms, the red chevron represents the valor and sacrifice displayed by Admiral Bulkeley when he led a flotilla of PT boats and minesweepers to Utah Beach before troops stormed the beach at Normandy. The lion indicates the heritage of Normandy and represents courage and strength. Silver anchors surround the lion to display the U.S. Navy sailors' devotion and commitment while defending the countries freedom, keeping USS ''Bulkeley'' and the United States Navy "Second to None."

Crest

The Philippine sun surrounds a Patrol Torpedo boat parting waves of the sea.

A PT boat from World War II is surrounded by the Philippine sun shows honor to Admiral Bulkeley's role in the Pacific. This includes the daring rescue of General MacArthur and Philippine President Quezon from the Battle of Corregidor.

Motto

The motto is written on a scroll of gold with blue trim.

The ships motto is "Freedom's Torch". The motto is a reference to both the honorable feats of Admiral Bulkeley and the Medal of Honor he received.

Seal

The coat of arms in full color as in the blazon, upon a white background enclosed within a dark blue oval border edged on the outside with a gold rope and bearing the inscription "USS Bulkeley" at the top and "DDG 84" in the base all gold.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bulkeley (Ddg-84) Arleigh Burke-class destroyers Destroyers of the United States Ships built in Pascagoula, Mississippi 2000 ships Carrier Strike Group Two