EVERETT — The USS Ralph Johnson is expected to arrive April 27 at Naval Station Everett.
The ship will be the sixth U.S. Navy destroyer to make Everett its home port. Word that the ship was on its way came last week during Capt. Mark Lakamp’s annual State of the Station address.
Cmdr. Jason Patterson leads a crew of 314 sailors.
“The officers and crew of USS Ralph Johnson are thrilled to be joining the Pacific Northwest Navy,” Patterson said. “Our arrival to our home port of Everett, Washington, marks the end of an over two-year journey for the crew through the pre-commissioning process. We look forward to joining our fellow shipmates on the Everett waterfront.”
Sailors and their families have been moving to the area since last summer.
The USS Ralph Johnson was built by Huntington Ingalls Industries in Pascagoula, Mississippi. It was commissioned on March 24 in Charleston, South Carolina.
The ship was named after Medal of Honor recipient Marine Pfc. Ralph Henry Johnson. In March 1968, Johnson shielded two fellow Marines from a grenade during the Vietnam War, which killed him instantly.
The ship, which has the motto “Swift Silent Deadly,” is 509 feet long, with a beam of 66 feet and navigational draft of 31 feet. It can reach over 30 knots.
The ship is the 64th Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer, which can conduct anti-air warfare, anti-submarine warfare and anti-surface warfare.
It joins the USS Shoup, USS Momsen, USS Kidd, USS Gridley and USS Sampson at Naval Station Everett.
Stephanie Davey: 425-339-3192; sdavey@heraldnet.com.
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