Search the Site with

General Characteristics

Crew List

Memorabilia

Cruise Books

About the Ship's Coat of Arms

USS Mitscher History

Homeports of USS Mitscher

About the Ship's Name

Patch Gallery

Image Gallery

to end of page

USS Mitscher (DDG 57)

USS MITSCHER is the Navy’s seventh ARLEIGH BURKE - class Guided Missile Destroyer and the second ship in the Navy named after Admiral Marc A. Mitscher.

General Characteristics:	Keel Laid: February 12, 1992
	Launched: May 7, 1993
	Commissioned: December 10, 1994
	Builder: Ingalls Shipbuilding, West Bank, Pascagoula, Miss.
	Propulsion system: four General Electric LM 2500 gas turbine engines
	Propellers: two
	Blades on each Propeller: five
	Length: 505,25 feet (154 meters)
	Beam: 67 feet (20.4 meters)
	Draft: 30,5 feet (9.3 meters)
	Displacement: approx. 8.300 tons full load
	Speed: 30+ knots
	Aircraft: None. But LAMPS 3 electronics installed on landing deck for coordinated DDG/helicopter ASW operations.
	Armament: two MK 41 VLS for Standard missiles, Tomahawk; Harpoon missile launchers, one Mk 45 5-inch/54 caliber lightweight gun, two Phalanx CIWS, Mk 46 torpedoes (from two triple tube mounts)
	Homeport: Norfolk, Va.
	Crew: 23 Officers, 24 Chief Petty Officers and 291 Enlisted

go to the end of the page

Crew List:

This section contains the names of sailors who served aboard USS MITSCHER. It is no official listing but contains the names of sailors who submitted their information.

Click here to view the list.

go to the end of the page

Click here to see which USS MITSCHER memorabilia are currently for sale on ebay.

go to the end of the page

USS MITSCHER Cruise Books:

go to the end of the page

About the Ship's Coat of Arms:

The Shield:

Dark blue and gold are the colors traditionally associated with the Navy, and represent the sea and excellence. Red is emblematic of sacrifice and valor. The cross throughout the shield recalls the Navy Cross Admiral Mitscher was awarded for his participation in the first transatlantic air passage. The two stars above the cross commemorate his awards of 2nd and 3rd distinguished service medals and his 2nd and 3rd awards of the Navy Cross for meritorious service during operations in the Pacific during World War II. The armored gauntlet represents the strength and survivability of the ship. The lightning bolts symbolize energy and speed and the ability of the ship to conduct multi-mission operations in any dimension. Admiral Mitscher was a pioneer of strike warfare and a steadfast proponent of quick, decisive action. The gauntlet grasping the lightning bolt highlights U.S.S. MITSCHER's motto "SEIZE THE DAY", which embodies Admiral Mitscher's tenacious fighting spirit and dignifies DDG 57's legacy.

The Crest:

The combined anchor and trident symbolize sea prowess and combat readiness. The life preserver ringing the anchor commemorates Admiral Mitscher's compassion for his crew as manifested through his relentless determination in tracking down and recovering downed aircrews. The three tines of the trident represent the ship’s significant capabilities in strike, air, and subsurface warfare. The trident's position, rising above the crest, symbolizes the ability to project power over great distances. The gold wings represent Admiral Mitscher's service and dedication, throughout his career, in advancing naval aviation and developing strike warfare.

go to the end of the page

History of USS MITSCHER

USS MITSCHER was ordered on December 13, 1988, laid down at Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Mississippi on February 12, 1992, and launched on May 7, 1993. She was commissioned at Naval Air Station Pensacola on December 10, 1994, then shifted later that month to her homeport of Norfolk, Virginia, joining the Atlantic Fleet as a Flight I ARLEIGH BURKE-class Aegis destroyer.

Through 1995, the ship completed post-shakedown workups and Atlantic/Caribbean operations that included a port visit to Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico in November, a typical stop for U.S. Atlantic surface units conducting refresher training from Guantanamo Bay. These early months built the team for sustained forward presence in the Mediterranean under Sixth Fleet.

MITSCHER's first extended deployment to the Mediterranean came in 1996. She "inchopped" to Sixth Fleet on July 11, 1996, turned over with USS STOUT (DDG 55), and made an initial port call at Barcelona while the long Adriatic maritime embargo, NATO/WEU's Operation Sharp Guard, was winding down (the enforcement mission was suspended on June 19 and terminated October 2, 1996). Period photography also shows her operating with USS ENTERPRISE (CVN 65) that summer, illustrating routine blue-water operations with carrier strike groups. The deployment reflected the post-Bosnia security environment: NATO kept a conspicuous maritime presence in the central and eastern Mediterranean even as the embargo ended.

The ship deployed again to the Mediterranean in 1998. Her official command history records participation in Exercise MATADOR '98 beginning July 21, a large multi-mission workout that "flexed every possible tasking" for the crew - typical of late-1990s Sixth Fleet certification events that blended air defense, maritime interdiction, and strike warfare rehearsals alongside NATO partners. These at-sea periods were punctuated by liberty and logistics ports across the theater.

By 2000, MITSCHER had settled into a deployment rhythm of roughly six months forward followed by maintenance and training at home. She completed another Mediterranean cruise that year and then, as global focus shifted toward the Middle East, began a Med-Indian Ocean-Persian Gulf deployment cycle spanning 2000-2001. On February 4, 2001, she became one of very few modern U.S. warships to enter the port of Algiers, a visit used for engagement and limited training with the Algerian Navy. Later in 2001, after the September 11 attacks, U.S. Central Command reactivated the multinational maritime security formation that would become COMBINED TASK FORCE 150. MITSCHER's theater movements coincided with the expanded counter-terrorism mission set - long endurance patrols, air defense pickets, and maritime interception operations in the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, Arabian Sea, and Gulf of Oman.

In spring 2003, imagery places MITSCHER in the Suez Canal and operating in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility. Those movements aligned with the maritime phases of Operation Iraqi Freedom, when U.S. and coalition naval forces secured sea lines, escorted high-value units, and supported Tomahawk strike operations and maritime interception tasks along approaches to the Northern Arabian Gulf. After returning stateside, she resumed East Coast training and exercises.

In 2005, the destroyer again operated with Sixth Fleet and took part in NATO's post-9/11 maritime security mission in the Mediterranean, Operation Active Endeavour - presence patrols, cooperative maritime security, and merchant-shipping monitoring. She made several calls at Souda Bay, Crete, including an arrival on October 25, 2005, documented as a routine logistics and liberty stop during that deployment.

MITSCHER participated in the Royal Navy-led multinational exercise NEPTUNE WARRIOR in October 2006, a complex warfighting scenario off the U.K. focused on integrating anti-submarine, anti-surface, and air defense operations with allied navies. The following February, she was recognized with a Battle Efficiency ("Battle E") Award for overall combat readiness in 2006.

In spring 2007, MITSCHER shifted to U.S. Southern Command tasking for "Partnership of the Americas 2007", a hemispheric engagement cruise built around the multinational exercise series UNITAS. Task Group 40.0 comprised USS PEARL HARBOR (LSD 52), USS SAMUEL B. ROBERTS (FFG 58), MITSCHER, and Chile's ALMIRANTE LATORRE (FFG 14). The group's first publicized stop was Salvador, Brazil, in mid-April. The Navy described the visit as part of a broader strategy to strengthen regional maritime cooperation through combined training and community outreach. After transiting south, the task group reached Puerto Belgrano, Argentina, where sailors conducted community-relations events on May 12 while the UNITAS Atlantic phase unfolded with regional navies.

Through late May and June the focus moved into the Pacific for UNITAS 48-07's Teamwork South and Pacific phases. A Chilean SH-32 "Super Puma" worked deck operations on MITSCHER on June 3 during multinational flight drills, illustrating the cross-deck helicopter and maritime interdiction profiles emphasized that year. Opening conferences for the Pacific phase convened aboard PEARL HARBOR on June 18, and on June 20 official imagery recorded MITSCHER operating in the Pacific in direct support of UNITAS Pacific 2007. The culminating "final battle problem" began June 23 - a capstone tactical scenario integrating air, surface, and sub-surface play with partner forces from Chile and Peru and U.S. Coast Guard cutter MOHAWK (WMEC 913).

MITSCHER returned to homeport at Naval Station Norfolk on September 18, 2007, closing roughly six months at sea in support of Partnership of the Americas and UNITAS across the South Atlantic and eastern Pacific.

In 2008, the ship's calendar reflected both public-facing fleet events and high-end NATO exercises. She entered Port Everglades, Florida, on April 28, 2008, for Fleet Week, mooring with a group that included USS IWO JIMA (LHD 7), USS RAMAGE (DDG 61), USS VELLA GULF (CG 72), and USS PITTSBURGH (SSN 720), a standard mix used to showcase amphibious, surface, and submarine capabilities to the public.

Two weeks later the destroyer crossed the Atlantic for U.K.-led training off Scotland. On May 10, 2008, she pulled into HMNB Clyde, Faslane, to prepare for Exercise JOINT WARRIOR, run by the Joint Tactical Exercise Planning Staff and designed to stress integrated air defense, anti-submarine warfare, maritime security, and command-and-control in a complex multinational environment. After sea phases in the North Atlantic and Hebrides ranges, MITSCHER continued routine gunnery and combat-systems drills. Imagery records an Atlantic live-fire profile in September.

MITSCHER closed the year with a U.K. liberty and logistics weekend in the Solent: on October 25, 2008, she berthed at Portsmouth alongside USS WINSTON S. CHURCHILL (DDG 81), with photographs also showing proximity to Royal Navy carriers HMS ARK ROYAL and HMS ILLUSTRIOUS - an emblematic snapshot of U.S.-U.K. operational familiarity as NATO navies cycled through exercises and maintenance periods on the eve of renewed Euro-Atlantic focus.

In 2009, MITSCHER executed a long Western Pacific/Indian Ocean cruise, covering more than 38,000 nautical miles in roughly 200 days "to the Far East and back", and returned to Norfolk on August 14, a deployment that underscored the class's global reach during the post-surge drawdown in Iraq and the maturing counter-piracy campaign off the Horn of Africa.

The ship remained busy in the Atlantic in 2010 and, the next year, shifted to a maritime security and counter-piracy patrol in the Gulf of Aden and Arabian Sea. Beginning July 23, 2011, MITSCHER embarked a 12-person U.S. Coast Guard Advanced Interdiction Team to augment her visit, board, search, and seizure capability against non-compliant targets - an operational pairing widely used during the height of piracy. On August 13, 2011, while assigned to COMBINED TASK FORCE 150, she rendered assistance to the Sri Lankan-flagged cargo vessel AL HABIB, which was low on water and experiencing engineering problems, transferring supplies by rigid-hulled inflatable boat. She returned to Norfolk in December.

On February 24, 2012, CDR Monika W. Stoker assumed command, becoming the first African-American woman to command a U.S. destroyer. That year, MITSCHER took part in Fleet Week events in New York in May and exercised with allies at Faslane, Scotland, in September, reflecting the destroyer's dual role in public outreach and high-end NATO integration.

A major maintenance period followed: in late 2012 the Navy awarded contracts for an Extended Dry-Docking Selected Restricted Availability (E-DSRA) at BAE Systems Norfolk, a depot-level package of hull, machinery, and combat systems work completed in August 2013 to reset the ship for the next cycle.

MITSCHER deployed independently to the Middle East from September 22, 2014, through spring 2015, operating in Fifth Fleet during the opening phases of Operation Inherent Resolve and conducting maritime security and escort duties from the Red Sea to the Arabian Gulf. She returned to Norfolk on May 4, 2015. One month later, on June 2, 2015, she welcomed the replica 18th-century French frigate HERMIONE in U.S. waters off the Virginia Capes, a ceremonial escort recognizing Franco-American maritime ties.

The destroyer continued high-end air and missile defense training with allies, including NATO's Formidable Shield 2017 live-fire exercise in the North Atlantic on October 7, when MITSCHER and allied ships intercepted an anti-ship cruise-missile target as part of integrated air-defense drills.

A long deployment followed from late 2018 into 2019. MITSCHER departed Norfolk in September 2018, called at Mediterranean and Red Sea ports including Safaga, Egypt, and operated with coalition partners in Fifth Fleet through early 2019, including documented transits of the Strait of Hormuz. On March 18, 2019, the Under Secretary of the Navy visited the ship underway in the Arabian Gulf during ongoing maritime security operations. She returned to Norfolk on May 2, 2019, after a deployment that, according to Navy reporting, included port visits to Rota (twice), Civitavecchia, Safaga, Salalah, Bahrain (twice), and Jebel Ali for voyage repairs.

In early 2021, MITSCHER deployed with the DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER Carrier Strike Group (CSG) alongside USS MONTEREY (CG 61), USS LABOON (DDG 58), USS MAHAN (DDG 72), and USS THOMAS HUDNER (DDG 116). The strike group operated first under Sixth Fleet, with MITSCHER entering Souda Bay, Crete, on March 20, 2021, then transited the reopened Suez Canal in early April and shifted to Fifth Fleet. There the CSG conducted dual-carrier operations with the French CHARLES DE GAULLE CSG in the Arabian Sea on April 13 and executed logistics and maintenance in Duqm, Oman, April 10-12. The DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER group later provided overwatch during the drawdown in Afghanistan before being relieved by RONALD REAGAN (CVN 76) CSG in June. MITSCHER returned home on September 17, 2021, after roughly nine months.

Only months later, in January 2022, the ship rapidly surged back to sea to join the HARRY S. TRUMAN (CVN 75) CSG in the European theater during the early phase of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, contributing to NATO reassurance patrols and allied maritime activities under Sixth Fleet. She moored again at Norfolk on April 16, 2022. Soon thereafter the Navy awarded and commenced a docking availability at BAE Systems Norfolk to dry-dock the ship, preserve the underwater hull, upgrade Aegis combat systems and command-and-control equipment, and refurbish crew spaces - a package scheduled through April 2023.

On August 3, 2023, the Navy approved a four-year service-life extension for MITSCHER to fiscal year 2034, part of a broader effort to retain early Flight I destroyers as combat-credible capacity into the mid-2030s. The policy was reaffirmed publicly on October 31, 2024.

MITSCHER sailed again on July 25, 2025, departing Norfolk as part of the GERALD R. FORD (CVN 78) Carrier Strike Group for a scheduled deployment to the U.S. European Command area, with subsequent operations and logistics at Souda Bay in September recorded in official imagery. The deployment continued the destroyer's core tasks - integrated air and missile defense, sea control, and allied interoperability - across the Mediterranean in support of NATO deterrence and regional stability.

go to the end of the page

Homeports of USS MITSCHER:

Period	Homeport
commissioned at Pensacola, Fla.
1994 - present	Norfolk, Va.

go to the end of the page

Click here to read more about the Ship's Namesake - Admiral Marc A. Mitscher

go to the end of the page

go to the end of the page

USS MITSCHER Patch Gallery:

go to the end of the page

USS MITSCHER Image Gallery:

The photo below was taken by Brian Barton and shows USS MITSCHER at Naval Base Norfolk, Va., on July 23, 2002.

The photos below were taken by me and show the USS MITSCHER at Naval Base Norfolk, Va., on October 29, 2010.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the USS MITSCHER at Naval Base Norfolk, Va., on October 28, 2013.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the USS MITSCHER undergoing an Extended Drydocking Selected Restricted Availability (E-DSRA) at General Dynamics NASSCO at Norfolk, Va., on October 6, 2015.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the USS MITSCHER at Naval Base Norfolk, Va., on April 13, 2016.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the USS MITSCHER at Naval Base Norfolk, Va., on October 12, 2016.

The photos below were taken by me and show the MITSCHER berthed alongside USS WINSTON S. CHURCHILL (DDG 81) at HMNB Clyde, Faslane, Scotland, on September 30, 2017. Both ships departed Norfolk, Va., on September 8, and are now in Scotland to participate in Exercises Formidable Shield and Joint Warrior 172.

The photos below were taken by me and show the MITSCHER shortly after departure from Faslane, Scotland, on October 1, 2017, to join Exercise Joint Warrior 172. Note the unusual position of the squadron's emblem on the first stack and the new white communications antenna next to the aft VLS.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning on May 25, 2018, during an open ship event aboard USS MITSCHER as part of Fleet Week New York.


			Click here for more Photos.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the MITSCHER at the Marine Hydraulics Industries (MHI) Ship Repair & Services shipyard at Norfolk, Va., on December 7, 2019.