Curtis Wilber (DDG 54) - Naval Cruise Book

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Deployment 1999 EW2(SW) Justin Murphy That ' s one awesome haircut. EW3 David Estrada See my pretty snal(e. Wow, look at the pretty water. ' Official EW Mascot. EW2 Thomas Chambers I ' ve been such a bad boy. EW3 Green USS CURTIS WILBUR (DDG 54) 45

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Arabian Gulf Electronic Warfare Division CENS Simpson, EWC(SW AW) Schoeppey, EWC(SEL)(SW) Motyka, EW3 Estrada, EW2 Chambers, EW3 Green, and EW(SW) Murphay ' ' Assistant Operations Officer ENS Christopher Simpson Chief Petty Officer i EWC(SW AW) Tyler Schoeppey tL ' Leading Petty Officer EWC(SEL)(SW) Clifford l lotyl a 44 USS CURTIS WILBUR (DDG 54)

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Arabian Gulf m History of Yokosuka Naval Base wsa Yokosuka Naval Base is the most strategically important overseas U.S. Naval installation in the world. Five-hundred sixty acres in area, and home to over 26,000 military and U.S. and Japanese civilian personnel, the base hosts 1 1 afloat and 54 ashore commands, including the Commander of the United States SEVENTH FLEET, the Commander of all U.S. Naval Forces in Japan, Destroyer Squadrons 15, and Submarine Group Seven. The SEVENTH FLEET, headquartered here aboard USS BLUE RIDGE (LCC 19), patrols more of the Earth ' s surface than any of the U.S. Navy ' s other four numbered fleets. The story of Yokosuka ' s transformation from a quaint fishing village to one of the world ' s most strate- gically important naval bases began with the arrival of Commodore Perry and his Black Ships here in Yokosuka in 1853. That famous opening of Japan to the world, which led to the institution of a national Open Door trading policy, is commemorated in Kurihama ' s Perry Park about 12 kilometers southeast of thebase. ««,i«i«;iiS 5: P : y Y -::- ■ , ' In 1860, Lord Oguri, Minister of Finance to the Tokugawa Shogunate Government, called upon the French Consul General, Leon Roches, and asked for the assistance of the French government to build a yard capable of handling large ships. After the inspection of several sites, it was discovered that Yokosuka ' s topography, on a smaller scale, resembled the port of Toulon, France. Thus, it was decided to establish the shipyard here under the direction of the French engineer Francois Vemy, and to name it the Yokosuka Iron Works. Busts of both Oguri and Verny can be seen in Yokosuka ' s Seaside Park near Yokosuka JR train In 1866, the keel of the first ship at Yokosuka was laid, and in 1871, the name of the facility was changed to the Yokosuka Navy Yard. On December 15, 1884, the base received its first flag rank coni- -« mander, Vice Admiral Nakamuda. During World War I, the base was actually commanded by a member of the Japanese royal family. Prince Higashi Fushimi Yorihito. Over 100 ships were built here for the Japanese Imperial Navy, and innumerable other ships were rebuilt and repaired here through the years. While no new ships are constructed here anymore, the ship repair work performed by Yokosuka ' s proud Japanese work force is today recognized throughout the U.S. Navy as the best of any naval shipyard in the world, v During World War II, activities at the Yokosuka Navy Yard reached their peak. By 1944, the Yard covered almost 4,000 acres, stretched as far north as Oppama and Ofuna, and employed over 40,000 work- ers. In addition to the shipbuilding plant, the yard also had a gun factory, ordnance and supply depots, a fiiel storage facility, a seaplane base at Oppama, and naval air station at Nagai. The naval air field at Tachikawa west of Tokyo also fell under the operational control of the admiral in command at Yokosuka. On August 30, 1945, Vice Admiral Michitaro Totsuka, the last Commander of the Yokosuka Naval Base, surrendered his command to U. S. and British Marines and naval personnel. :{ |i N i % Today, Yokosuka Naval Base is the most important U.S. Naval facility in the Western Pacific. It has been named the best base in the entire Navy for the past two years in a row (1997 and 1998); the only base outside the continental United States to ever be selected for that prestigious award. Every facet of the base ' s operation directly or indirectly supports the U.S. SEVENTH FLEET and its forward deployed forces. The Yokosuka Naval Base is invaluable to the U.S. military and the defense of Japan and Asia ' s stability. 46 USS CURTIS WILBUR (DDG 54)