USS Ross (DDG-71)

USS Ross in 2005
History
United States
Name:	USS Ross
Namesake:	Captain Donald K. Ross
Ordered:	8 April 1992
Builder:	Ingalls Shipbuilding, Pascagoula, Mississippi
Laid down:	10 April 1995
Launched:	22 March 1996
Commissioned:	28 June 1997
Homeport:	Rota, Spain
Motto:	Fortune Favors Valor
Nickname(s):	"Quad Cruiser"
Status:	in active service
Badge:
General characteristics
Class and type:	Arleigh Burke-class destroyer
Displacement:	Light: approx. 6,800 long tons (6,900 t) Full: approx. 8,900 long tons (9,000 t)
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:	4,400 nautical miles at 20 knots (8,100 km at 37 km/h)
Complement:	33 commissioned officers 38 chief petty officers 210 enlisted personnel
Sensors and processing systems:	AN/SPY-1D 3D Radar AN/SPS-67(V)2 Surface Search Radar AN/SPS-73(V)12 Surface Search Radar AN/SPG-62 Fire Control Radar AN/SQS-53C Sonar Array AN/SQR-19 Tactical Towed Array Sonar AN/SQQ-28 LAMPS III Shipboard System
Electronic warfare & decoys:	AN/SLQ-32(V)2 Electronic Warfare System AN/SLQ-25 Nixie Torpedo Countermeasures MK 36 MOD 12 Decoy Launching System AN/SLQ-39 CHAFF Buoys
Armament:	1 × 29 cell, 1 × 61 cell Mk 41 vertical launching systems with 90 × RIM-156 SM-2, BGM-109 Tomahawk or RUM-139 VL-ASROC missiles 2 x Mk 141 Harpoon Missile Launcher SSM 1 × Mark 45 5/54 in (127/54 mm) 2 × 25 mm chain gun 4 × .50 caliber (12.7 mm) guns 2 × 20 mm Phalanx CIWS 2 × Mk 32 triple torpedo tubes
Aircraft carried:	2 Sikorsky MH-60R helicopters can be embarked

USS Ross (DDG-71) is an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer in the United States Navy. She is named for Medal of Honor recipient Donald K. Ross, the second Navy ship of the name. This ship is the 21st destroyer of its class. USS Ross was the 10th ship of this class to be built at Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Mississippi, and construction began on 10 April, 1995. She was launched on 22 March 1996 and was christened on 10 April 1996. On 28 June 1997, she was commissioned from Galveston, Texas.

After commissioning, Ross set sail for a Combat Systems Ship Qualification Trial, which lasted six weeks, and then sailed back to Pascagoula for three months for her Post Shakedown Availability (PSA). She was then returned to her homeport of Portsmouth, Virginia and completed the Basic Training Phase: Engineering Certification, CART II, TSTA I, and III, Cruise Missile Tactical Qualification, Final Evaluation Period (FEP), and Logistics Management Assessment.

Ross completed her Intermediate Training Phase and set sail early in 1999 as part of Carrier Group 8, led by USS Theodore Roosevelt. The group sortied for a Joint Task Force Exercise to prepare for an upcoming six-month deployment set to commence on 26 March 1999. During this deployment to the Mediterranean Sea and Adriatic Sea Ross participated in Operation Allied Force. On 22 September she returned to Naval Station Norfolk.

On 15 May 2000 she set sail for Northern Europe in order to participate in the Baltic Operations (BALTOPS) 2000. She served as the flagship for the Commander of Carrier Group Eight, and together with the destroyer USS Peterson operated with more than 50 ships from the numerous European countries. During these exercises Ross visited and Kiel, Germany before returning to the United States in late June.

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