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USS Benfold (DDG-65)
Encyclopedia
The USS Benfold (DDG-65) is an Arleigh Burke class destroyer
Arleigh Burke class destroyer
The Arleigh Burke class of guided missile destroyers is the United States Navy's first class of destroyer built around the Aegis combat system and the SPY-1D multi-function phased array radar. The class is named for Admiral Arleigh "31-Knot" Burke, the most famous American destroyer officer of...
in the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
. She was named for the USN Hospital Corpsman
United States Navy Hospital Corpsman
A Hospital Corpsman is an enlisted medical specialist for the United States Navy who serves with Navy and United States Marine Corps units. The Hospital Corpsman works in a wide variety of capacities and locations, including shore establishments such as naval hospitals and clinics, aboard ships,...
Edward Clyde Benfold
Edward Clyde Benfold
Edward Clyde Benfold was a United States Navy sailor who posthumously received the Medal of Honor for his actions during the Korean War...
. She is the first U.S. Navy ship bearing the name Benfold.
Description
Built by the Ingalls ShipbuildingIngalls Shipbuilding
Ingalls Shipbuilding is a shipyard located in Pascagoula, Mississippi, USA, originally established in 1938, and is now part of Huntington Ingalls Industries...
Corporation in Pascagoula, Mississippi
Pascagoula, Mississippi
Pascagoula is a city in Jackson County, Mississippi, United States. It is the principal city of the Pascagoula, Mississippi Metropolitan Statistical Area, as a part of the Gulfport–Biloxi–Pascagoula, Mississippi Combined Statistical Area. The population was 26,200 at the 2000 census...
, the Benfold is the 15th of 35 planned Arleigh Burke-class guided missile
Guided Missile
Guided Missile is a London based independent record label set up by Paul Kearney in 1994.Guided Missile has always focused on 'the underground', preferring to put out a steady flow of releases and developing the numerous GM events around London and beyond....
destroyer
Destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...
s. She joined the U.S. Pacific Fleet for service on 30 March 1996.
A US Navy guided-missile destroyer equipped with the AEGIS
Aegis
An aegis is a large collar or cape worn in ancient times to display the protection provided by a high religious authority or the holder of a protective shield signifying the same, such as a bag-like garment that contained a shield. Sometimes the garment and the shield are merged, with a small...
air-defense system and the Mark-41 Vertical Launch System for multiple types of guided missiles, the Benfold is capable of defensive and offensive operations against warplanes, anti-ship missiles, surface ships, submarines, and shore targets. In addition to her missiles, she carries one 5-inch rapid-fire naval gun for action against surface ships and for shore bombardment. She also carries anti-submarine torpedoes, and two Phalanx
Phalanx CIWS
The Phalanx CIWS is an anti-ship missile defense system. It is a close-in weapon system and was designed and manufactured by the General Dynamics Corporation, Pomona Division...
anti-missile guns. She has a flight deck for LAMPS III Seahawk helicopters and is capable of refueling and re-arming these helicopters, but she does not have a hangar for storing and maintaining helicopters.
Her former captain, Commander D. Michael Abrashoff, the commanding officer
Commanding officer
The commanding officer is the officer in command of a military unit. Typically, the commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitude to run the unit as he sees fit, within the bounds of military law...
from 1997 to 1999, wrote the best-selling book It's Your Ship: Management Techniques from the Best Damn Ship in the Navy (Warner Business Books 2002), based upon his experiences aboard the warship.
Jihadist sailor
In 2001, a Benfold signalman, Paul Hall, who later changed his name to Hassan Abu-Jihaad, provided information on the ship's upcoming movements through the Strait of HormuzStrait of Hormuz
The Strait of Hormuz is a narrow, strategically important waterway between the Gulf of Oman in the southeast and the Persian Gulf. On the north coast is Iran and on the south coast is the United Arab Emirates and Musandam, an exclave of Oman....
to a London-based website that openly espoused terrorist attacks against the US. The ship was not attacked. Hall was honorably discharged in 2002. Abu-Jihaad was convicted in 2008 for disclosing classified information, including the information about Benfold and, in April 2009, was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Said US District Judge Mark Kravitz of the sentence, "I cannot really overstate the seriousness of this crime."