Milius at sea in 2003
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History | |
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United States | |
Name: | USS Milius |
Namesake: | Commander Paul L. Milius |
Ordered: | 8 April 1992 |
Builder: | Ingalls Shipbuilding |
Laid down: | 8 August 1994 |
Launched: | 1 August 1995 |
Sponsored by: | Annette Milius |
Christened: | 28 October 1995 |
Commissioned: | 23 November 1996 |
Homeport: | Naval Base San Diego |
Motto: | Alii Prae Me - "Others Before Me" |
Status: | in active service |
Badge: | |
General characteristics | |
Class and type: | Arleigh Burke-class destroyer |
Displacement: |
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Length: | 505 ft (154 m) |
Beam: | 66 ft (20 m) |
Draft: | 31 ft (9.4 m) |
Propulsion: | 4 General Electric LM2500-30 gas turbines, two shafts, 100,000 total shaft horsepower (75 MW) |
Speed: | >30 knots (56 km/h) |
Range: |
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Complement: | |
Sensors and processing systems: |
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Electronic warfare & decoys: |
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Armament: |
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Aircraft carried: | 2 Sikorsky MH-60R helicopters can be embarked |
USS Milius (DDG-69) is an Arleigh Burke-class Aegis guided missile destroyer of the United States Navy. Her namesake is Commander Paul L. Milius (1928-1968) of U.S. Navy squadron VO-67. His OP-2E aircraft, callsign Sophomore 50, was hit by anti-aircraft fire over Laos on 27 February 1968 and he ordered his crew to bail out. Seven of the nine men aboard were rescued. The remains of the eighth crewmember, ATN2 John Hartzeim, who was wounded in the attack, were identified on 19 February 1999. Although he exited his aircraft, Commander Milius was never recovered. Commander Milius received the Navy Cross in 1968.
The motto of the ship is "Alii Prae Me" (Others before me). As of February 2016, the ship is part of Destroyer Squadron 21.
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.