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General Characteristics Crew List Memorabilia Cruise Books COs of USS Oscar Austin About the Name Oscar Austin Accidents aboard the Ship History Homeports of USS Oscar Austin Patch Gallery Image Gallery to end of page Photo by Carl Groll; DDG 79 departing the port of Kiel, Germany, on June 21, 2004. |  |
USS OSCAR AUSTIN is the lead ship of the OSCAR AUSTIN - class, a sub-class of the ARLEIGH BURKE - class, making her the Navy's first FLIGHT IIA ARLEIGH BURKE - class guided missile destroyer. The OSCAR AUSTIN is the first ship in the Navy to bear the name.
| General Characteristics: | Keel laid: October 9, 1997 |
| Launched and Christened: November 7, 1998 | |
| Commissioned: August 19, 2000 | |
| Builder: Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine | |
| Propulsion system: four General Electric LM 2500 gas turbine engines | |
| Propellers: two | |
| Length: 508,5 feet (155 meters) | |
| Beam: 67 feet (20.4 meters) | |
| Draft: 30,5 feet (9.3 meters) | |
| Displacement: approx. 9,200 tons full load | |
| Speed: 32 knots | |
| Aircraft: two | |
| Armament: one | |
| Homeport: Rota, Spain | |
| Crew: approx. 320 |
back to top go to the end of the pageback to top go to the end of the pageCrew List:
This section contains the names of sailors who served aboard USS OSCAR AUSTIN. It is no official listing but contains the names of sailors who submitted their information.
back to top go to the end of the pageback to top go to the end of the pageUSS OSCAR AUSTIN Cruise Books:
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USS OSCAR AUSTIN's Commanding Officers:
| Period | Name |
|---|---|
| August 19, 2000 - November 2001 | Commander Paul C. Smith, USN |
| November 2001 - July 2003 | Commander John P. Cordle, USN |
| July 2003 - February 2005 | Commander Ralph L. Tindal, III, USN |
| February 2005 - October 2006 | Commander Peter C. DeMane, USN |
| October 2006 - April 2008 | Commander Eric F. Weilenman, USN |
| April 2008 - October 2009 | Commander James R. Midkiff, USN |
| October 2009 - August 2011 | Commander Jeffrey J. Hoppe, USN |
| August 2011 - October 2012 | Commander Charlos D. Washington, USN |
| October 2012 - August 2014 | Commander Brian J. Diebold, USN |
| August 2014 - May 2016 | Commander Russell B. Sanchez, USN |
| May 2016 - October 2017 | Commander Janice G. Smith, USN |
| October 2017 - May 2019 | Commander Samantha A. Dutily, USN |
| May 2019 - November 2020 | Commander Wesley A. Brown, USN |
| November 2020 - June 2022 | Commander Matthew I. Krull, USN |
| June 2022 - October 2023 | Commander Bryan T. Wolfe, USN |
| October 2023 - present | Commander Scott Burrill, USN |
back to top go to the end of the pageAbout the Ship's Name, about Private First Class Oscar P. Austin:
Bath Iron Work's first FLIGHT IIA ARLEIGH BURKE Class AEGIS Destroyer proudly bears the name of private First Class Oscar P. Austin, United States Marine Corps. Displaying indomitable courage and selfless devotion to duty, Pfc Austin was killed in February 1969 when he sacrificed his own life to save an injured companion. He has been recognized with numerous medals and decorations, including the Purple Heart, the National Defense Medal, and the Vietnam Service Medal with two bronze stars, the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal, and the Medal of Honor. Oscar Austin was born January 15, 1948, In Nacogdoches, Texas and grew up in Phoenix, Arizona.
He graduated from Phoenix Union High School in 1967, and enlisted in the United Stated Marine Corps in April the following year. Upon completion of Basic Training, Austin was promoted to Private First Class in October 1968. He was transferred to the Republic of Vietnam where he served as an assistant machine gunner with Company E, Second Battalion, Seventh Marine, First Division (Rein), and FMF. During the early morning hours on February 23, 1969, Pfc Austin's observation post came under a fierce ground attack by a large North Vietnamese Army force using a heavy volume of hand grenades, satchel charges and small arms fire. Observing that one of his wounded companions had fallen unconscious in a position dangerously exposed to hostile fire, Austin unhesitatingly left the relative security of his fighting hole and, with complete disregard for his own safety, raced across the fireswept terrain to drag the marine to safety. As he neared his companion, he observed an enemy grenade land nearby. Leaping between the grenade and the injured marine, Austin took the full force of the explosion himself. Although he was badly injured, Austin turned to help his fallen companion and saw a North Vietnamese soldier aiming a weapon at the unconscious man. With full knowledge of the probable consequences, Austin threw himself between the injured marine and the hostile soldier. In doing so, he was mortally wounded. It is fitting that the first Flight IIA AEGIS Destroyer is named for Pfc Oscar Austin, a soldier whose courage and gallantry in the face of certain death exemplified the highest standards of the United States Marine Corps and the United States Navy.
back to top go to the end of the pageAccidents aboard USS OSCAR AUSTIN:
| Date | Where | Events |
|---|---|---|
| November 10, 2018 | BAE Systems Norfolk Ship Repair, Norfolk, Va. | An electrical fire breaks out in a forward space aboard USS OSCAR AUSTIN at about 8 p.m. Crewmembers of USS OSCAR AUSTIN as well as from USS COLE (DDG 67) and firefighters from the Norfolk Fire Department are able to extinguish the fire by 10:10 p.m. At the time of the accident, the ship was undergoing a modernization period aimed on upgrading the OSCAR AUSTIN with the Baseline 9 Aegis Combat System. While the upgrade had not been installed yet, the fire caused so much damage to existing hardware on board that the modernization period had to be extended for several months. One sailor received injuries during the fire and had to be transported to a nearby hospital. |
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History of USS OSCAR AUSTIN:
USS OSCAR AUSTIN was laid down at Bath Iron Works on 9 October 1997, launched and christened on 7 November 1998, and commissioned at Norfolk on 19 August 2000 as the first Flight IIA ARLEIGH BURKE - class destroyer - introducing an organic helicopter hangar and other design changes that shifted the ship's routine toward embarked aviation and expanded air/missile-defense roles. In the ship's initial work-ups through 2001, crews certified engineering, combat systems, and flight operations to the new baseline and settled into an Atlantic Fleet rhythm out of Norfolk.
The destroyer's first long deployment ran from late 2002 into 2003. After transiting the Mediterranean and Red Sea, OSCAR AUSTIN joined coalition maritime security and strike support in the North Arabian Sea and Persian Gulf. In March 2003 she contributed to the opening phase of Operation Iraqi Freedom while cycling logistics stops at Gulf ports such as Jebel Ali and Bahrain - typical of the surface-escort presence that framed that campaign's early air tasking. A shorter North Atlantic and Mediterranean sequence in 2004 followed, built around group exercises and port periods that included Souda Bay, Crete, and Portsmouth, United Kingdom, as carrier strike groups rehearsed multi-threat warfare in the post-Iraq War training cycle.
OSCAR AUSTIN redeployed with a carrier strike group in September 2005 for maritime security operations in the Gulf. The deployment wrapped in March 2006, after which the ship entered routine upkeep before resuming WestLant training.
Across the later 2000s, the destroyer alternated fleet events with public outreach. She took part in Fleet Week New York in May 2007 and then deployed again through 2007-2008 to the Mediterranean, Indian Ocean, and Persian Gulf - an itinerary of air-defense screening, boarding-ready presence, and multinational exercises that reflected the maturing Flight IIA mission set. By 2010 she was back on a North Atlantic-Mediterranean-Arabian Sea circuit, combining maritime security duties with training port calls and deck cycles that kept watch teams current.
After additional maintenance, OSCAR AUSTIN returned to deployment in 2012-2013, again splitting time between Sixth and Fifth Fleets. In 2015 she operated across US Africa Command and Central Command waters, including a scheduled port visit to Port Victoria, Seychelles, on 17 April 2015. Navy reporting from that period highlights extensive unmanned-aircraft (ScanEagle) use to extend surface search and pattern-of-life awareness during counter-illicit-traffic tasking. She completed that deployment in July 2015 and reentered training for the next cycle.
The ship's 2017 deployment began on 17 April. After a brief logistics pause in Souda Bay, Greece (2 May), she shifted into the Black Sea on 5 May for maritime security operations and partner-navy training, making port calls at Constanta, Romania (11-12 May), and Varna, Bulgaria (15-20 May). Through the summer she continued Sixth Fleet engagement, including a theater-security stop at Theoule-sur-Mer, France, on 15 August, and later held a change-of-command ceremony during a port visit to Brest, France, on 11 October, before returning to Norfolk on 17 November to close the seven-month cruise.
A major event followed while the destroyer was in overhaul: on 10 November 2018 an onboard fire at the BAE Systems yard in Norfolk injured one sailor, damaged forward spaces, and substantially extended the availability's scope. The Navy assessed repairs into 2022 and later cited the case in broader shipyard-fire lessons-learned reviews. After extensive restoration and modernization, OSCAR AUSTIN completed four days of sea trials on 17 February 2022 and rejoined the operational fleet.
In 2024 the Navy reassigned the ship to Forward-Deployed Naval Forces Europe. She sailed from Norfolk on 30 September, entered Sixth Fleet on 10 October, and arrived at her new homeport, Naval Station Rota, Spain, in mid-October - the first of two additional destroyers planned for Rota to expand regional ballistic-missile defense, air/maritime surveillance, and rapid-response coverage under NATO and US tasking. The arrival triggered a short in-port engagement program, including local visits and Spanish defense-leadership tours.
OSCAR AUSTIN's first patrol from Rota ran from late 2024 into mid-2025. The destroyer initially supported an Eastern Mediterranean presence mission during a period of elevated regional tension, then shifted to the Red Sea and adjacent waters for integrated air and missile defense and freedom-of-navigation operations with the HARRY S. TRUMAN (CVN 75) Carrier Strike Group. A logistics and liberty stop at Souda Bay, Greece, on 19 May 2025 punctuated the patrol. She returned to Rota on 10 June 2025, closing a 205-day deployment and receiving a Unit Combat Action Ribbon reflecting engagements against airborne threats during the Red Sea phase.
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Homeports of USS OSCAR AUSTIN:
| Period | Homeport |
|---|---|
| commissioned at Norfolk, Va. | |
| 2000 - 2024 | Norfolk, Va. |
| 2024 - present | Rota, Spain |
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USS OSCAR AUSTIN Patch Gallery:
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USS OSCAR AUSTIN Image Gallery:
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The photos below were taken June 18 - 21, 2004, at Kiel, Germany. They show the OSCAR AUSTIN arriving at Kiel on June 18; moored at the Tirpitz Harbor, and departing Kiel again on June 21.
Entering Kiel on June 18, 2004 Photo by Carl Groll |
 Photo by Thoralf Doehring |  Photo by Thoralf Doehring |  Photo by Carl Groll |
 Photo by Carl Groll |  Photo by Carl Groll |  Photo by Carl Groll |  Photo by Carl Groll |  Photo by Carl Groll |
The photos below were taken by me and show the OSCAR AUSTIN at BAE Ship Repair at Norfolk, Va., on November 10, 2008.
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The photo below was taken by Michael Jenning and shows the OSCAR AUSTIN at the Weapons Station Yorktown, Va., on May 8, 2014.
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The photos below were taken by me and show the OSCAR AUSTIN arriving at Kiel, Germany, on June 20, 2014, after participating in exercise BALTOPS 2014.
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The photos below were taken by me and show the OSCAR AUSTIN at Naval Base Kiel, Germany, on June 20 and 21, 2014, after participating in exercise BALTOPS 2014.
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The photos below were taken by me and show the OSCAR AUSTIN departing Naval Base Kiel, Germany, on June 23, 2014, after participating in exercise BALTOPS 2014.
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The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the OSCAR AUSTIN at Naval Base Norfolk, Va., on October 6, 2015.
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The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the OSCAR AUSTIN at Naval Base Norfolk, Va., on April 13, 2016.
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The photos below were taken by Helwin Scharn and show the OSCAR AUSTIN at Naval Base Eckernförde, Germany, in early October 2017. OSCAR AUSTIN is presently on an independent deployment and arrived at Eckernförde on September 30 and stayed until October 4.
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The photo below was taken by Michael Jenning and shows the OSCAR AUSTIN at Naval Base Norfolk, Va., on December 26, 2021.
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The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the OSCAR AUSTIN at Naval Base Norfolk, Va., on September 6, 2022.
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The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the OSCAR AUSTIN at Naval Base Norfolk, Va., on October 9, 2023.
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