USS ''Spruance'' (DDG-111) 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 ...

. ''Spruance'' is the second ship to be named for Admiral Raymond A. Spruance (1886–1969), who commanded American naval forces at the Battles of Midway and the

Philippine Sea The Philippine Sea is a List of seas#Marginal seas by ocean, marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean, Western Pacific Ocean east of the list of islands of the Philippines, Philippine Archipelago (hence the name) and the List of seas#Largest seas ...

. He was later Ambassador to the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. Her

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element of a watercraft, important for stability. On some sailboats, it may have a fluid dynamics, hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose as well. The keel laying, laying of the keel is often ...

was laid down on 14 May 2009. She was christened by the admiral's granddaughter, Ellen Spruance Holscher, on 5 June 2010 in

Bath, Maine Bath is a city in Sagadahoc County, Maine, United States. Bath is included in the Brunswick, Maine, Brunswick Micropolitan statistical area, micropolitan area. Bath has a 2024 population of 8,870. It is also the county seat of Sagadahoc County ...

Bath Iron Works Bath Iron Works (BIW) is a major United States shipyard located on the Kennebec River in Bath, Maine, founded in 1884 as Bath Iron Works, Limited. Since 1995, Bath Iron Works has been a subsidiary of General Dynamics, one of the world's largest ...

, where the ship was built at a cost of $1 billion. The completed ship left Bath on 1 September 2011 for her commissioning in

Key West, Florida Key West is an island in the Straits of Florida, at the southern end of the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Sigsbee Park, Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Islan ...

on 1 October 2011. ''Spruance'' was the first of the U.S. Navy's destroyers to be fitted with the Gigabit Ethernet Data Multiplex System (GEDMS), manufactured by the

Boeing Company The Boeing Company, or simply Boeing (), is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product support s ...

. GEDMS provides an

Internet Protocol The Internet Protocol (IP) is the network layer communications protocol in the Internet protocol suite for relaying datagrams across network boundaries. Its routing function enables internetworking, and essentially establishes the Internet. IP ...

(IP) based backbone for video and data services on the ship. The

bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...

features touch screen controls and color readouts instead of gauges.

Ship history

She was built by

. At her christening on 5 June 2010, the principal address was delivered by Honorable

John Baldacci John Elias Baldacci (born January 30, 1955) is an American politician who served as the 73rd governor of Maine from 2003 to 2011. A Democratic Party (United States), Democrat, he also served in the United States House of Representatives from 199 ...

of Maine, and the vessel was christened by Ellen Spruance Holscher as the ship's sponsor. Commander

Tate Westbrook Michael Tate Westbrook is an officer in the United States Navy who served as commanding officer of the USS ''Spruance'' (DDG-111) from May 2010 to May 2012. Prior to this, he served in the Pentagon on the Naval Operations Staff's Programming Di ...

was the ship's first commanding officer. She sailed from

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

on her maiden deployment on 16 October 2013, heading for Asia under the command of Commander George Kessler who was succeeded by Commander Daniel Cobian. On 18 January 2014, sailors from the ''Spruance'' rescued a Filipino mariner who had fallen overboard from his vessel while transiting the

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

Strait. ''Spruance'' returned to Naval Base San Diego on 17 April 2014 following the completion of her maiden deployment to the Western Pacific Ocean. On 18 April 2019, ''Spruance'' arrived in

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

for the 25th anniversary of CARAT 2019 series ''Spruance'' and Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS ''Mobile Bay'' (CG-53) departed the Port of Seattle 2 Aug. 2019, officially ending

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

Fleet Week Fleet Week is a United States Navy, United States Marine Corps, and United States Coast Guard tradition in which active military ships recently deployed in overseas operations dock in a variety of major cities for one week. Once the ships dock, ...

. On 22 May 2022, ''Spruance'' steamed into

Tokyo Bay is a bay located in the southern Kantō region of Japan spanning the coasts of Tokyo, Kanagawa Prefecture, and Chiba Prefecture, on the southern coast of the island of Honshu. Tokyo Bay is connected to the Pacific Ocean by the Uraga Channel. Th ...

as a part of

Destroyer Squadron 2 Destroyer Squadron 2 is a destroyer squadron of the United States Navy. It is administratively part of Commander, Naval Surface Force Atlantic. . Destroyer Squadron 2 is assigned to Carrier Strike Group Twelve. , the following destroyers are assi ...

, along with and

Carrier Strike Group 3 Carrier Strike Group 3 (CSG-3 or CARSTRKGRU 3) is a U.S. Navy carrier strike group. Carrier strike groups gain and maintain sea control as well as project naval airpower ashore. The aircraft carrier is the group's current flagship. Other units a ...

. ''Spruance'' participated in

RIMPAC The Rim of the Pacific Exercise (RIMPAC) is the world's largest international maritime warfare exercise. RIMPAC is held biennially during June and July of even-numbered years from Honolulu, Hawaii, with the exception of 2020 where it was held ...

2022. In January 2024, the US Navy reinstalled ODIN Laser on ''Spruance''. ODIN, a solid-state laser system, is designed primarily to counter and neutralize the sensors on UAS, effectively blinding them without destroying the aircraft. Technical aspects of the ODIN system include its ability to emit a high-intensity laser beam, targeting the optical sensors of enemy drones. ''Spruance'' arrived at the

Port of Colombo The Port of Colombo , (known as Port of Kolomtota during the early 14th Century Kotte Kingdom) is the largest and busiest port in Sri Lanka and the Indian Ocean. Located in Colombo, on the southwestern shores on the Kelani River, it serves as a ...

, situated in

Colombo Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...

on 19 August 2024 on a replenishment visit. The vessel is scheduled to depart the island on 20 August 2024. On the morning of 27 September 2024, while transiting the Red Sea with the Arleigh Burke class destroyer '' USS Stockdale'' and Freedom class littoral combat ship '' USS Indianapolis'', she was attacked by roughly two dozen missiles and drones launched by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen. All missiles and drones were intercepted by the flotilla or missed their target outright. On 11 November 2024, the Houthis again attacked the ''Spruance'' and ''Stockdale'', launching eight drones, five ballistic missiles and three cruise missiles at the American destroyers. All of the projectiles were shot down by the destroyers with no damage or casualties to the vessels. On 22 March 2025, ''Spruance'' helped the

Coast Guard A coast guard or coastguard is a Maritime Security Regimes, maritime security organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with cust ...

and agents with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, or CBP, take 13 people into custody as part of the ship's mission to bolster security on the southern border, according to U.S. Northern Command, or NORTHCOM.

Deployments

* 16 October 2013 – 17 April 2014 Maiden deployment 7th Fleet * May 2016 – 14 November 2016 7th Fleet * October 2018 – May 2019 7th Fleet and 5th Fleet * January 2022 – August 2022 7th Fleet * July 2024 – February 2025

Awards

Combat Action Ribbon The Combat Action Ribbon (CAR) is a United States Navy, United States Coast Guard, and United States Marine Corps military decoration awarded to United States sea service members "who have actively participated in ground or surface combat." Coast ...

- (Sep-Nov 2024) * Battle "E" - (2013, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2022, 2023) *

Meritorious Team Commendation The Meritorious Team Commendation (MTC) is a unit award of the United States Coast Guard. Created on 22 December 1993, the Meritorious Team Commendation is awarded for performance of exceptional actions that would normally warrant a Commandant's ...

Ribbon with

Operational Distinguishing Device The Operational Distinguishing Device ("O" device) is a miniature silver inch letter "O" that is authorized by the United States Coast Guard as a ribbon device which may be authorized for wear on certain awards and decorations of the United Stat ...

- (2017

*

Vice Admiral Vice admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, usually equivalent to lieutenant general and air marshal. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral. Australia In the Royal Australian Navy, the rank of Vice ...

Thomas H. Copeman III Thomas Henry Copeman III (born 1959) is a retired officer of the United States Navy. In mid-2009 he was appointed commandant of the Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba. His final assignment was as Commander, Naval Surface Forces Pacific fr ...

Material Readiness Award - (2016) * Safety Excellence Award - (2013, 2014, 2016, 2019, 2020) * CNO Afloat Safety Award (PACFLT) - (2020) * Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group's (ABECSG) deployment tomahawk strike warfare Award for Thor's Hammer 2022.

References

External links

Official Ship's Site
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Spruance Ddg-111 Arleigh Burke-class destroyers 2010 ships Ships built in Bath, Maine