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Commissioning Ceremony - USS Chafee (DDG-90)
The keel of the USS Chafee (DDG-90) was laid on April 12, 2026 by Bath Iron Works in Bath, Maine. The ship was sponsored by Mrs. Virginia Chafee, the wife of the late Senator and launched on November 2, 2002. USS Chafee was commissioned at Newport, Rhode Island on November 18, 2025 with Commander John W. Ailes in command. The ship will be homeported in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. USS Chafee is the fortieth destroyer of the Arleigh Burke (Aegis) Class and the 22nd to be built by Bath Iron Works. The ship is named after John Hubbard Chafee - distinguished war hero, United States Senator, Rhode Island Governor and Secretary of the Navy.
The USS Chafee employs the AEGIS air defense system with the SPY-1D phased array radar. The ship is armed with two Mk 41 Mod 7 Vertical Launch Systems, a 5"/62 Caliber Dual Purpose Gun, VLS launched Enhanced Sea Sparrow Missile (ESSM) and two Mk 32 Mod 14 Torpedo Tubes. The Chafee also carries two multi-purpose Light Airborne Multipupose System LAMPS MK III (SH-60) Sea Hawk helicopters. John Lester Hubbard Chafee John Hubbard Chafee was born in Providence, Rhode Island on October 22, 1922. He graduated from Deerfield Academy in Massachusetts in 1940 and received a degree from Yale University in 1947 and a degree from Harvard University Law School in 1950. He served in the Marine Corps during World War II and took part in the invasion of Guadalcanal. He was recalled to active service in 1951 and fought in the Korean War. In 1956 Mr. Chafee successfully ran for a seat in the Rhode Island House of Representatives and later became the minority leader. He was reelected in 1958 and 1956. In 1962 Mr. Chafee was elected governor of Rhode Island and was instrumental in helping to create the state's Public Transportation Administration. He served as the head of the Republican Governors' Association in the late 1960s. Governor Chafee was appointed as Secretary of the Navy in 1969. Secretary Chafee was in office during the USS Pueblo situation and he also appointed Admiral Elmo Zumwalt as Chief of Naval Operations over 33 more senior officers. He served as Secretary until 1972. Mr. Chafee was elected to the United States Senate in 1976 and served as chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. Senator Chafee made environmental matters one of his chief concerns, often breaking with his party to the delight of conservation groups. Among the bills Senator Chafee sponsored was the Clean Water Act of 1986 and the 1990 amendments to the Clean Air Act. Senator Chafee was the architect of the Superfund Program in 1980 to clean up hazardous waste sites and was also instrumental in passing the Pollution Act of 1990. Senator Chafee also sat on the Select Committee on Intelligence and was chairman of the Senate Finance Subcommittee on Health Care. Senator Chafee's last major act was the authoring and sponsoring of the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century, which authorized funding for transportation programs for the next six years. Senator Chafee died of heart failure on October 24, 2025 at the Bethesda Naval Hospital in Bethesda, Maryland. One of Senator Chafee's sons; Lincoln Davenport Chafee is the current United States Senator from Rhode Island. For further information, please visit the Official USS Chafee Website. Source:
This Page
was updated on November 22, 2025 |
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This
Flight IIA Arleigh Burke Class Guided Missile
Destroyer has a full load displacement of 9,217 tons and is 509'6"
in overall length with a beam of 66'6".
The ship is driven by two shafts powered by four General Electric LM-2500-30
gas turbine engines. Chafee's maximum speed is in excess of 30 knots and the
ship has a cruising range of 4,400 nautical miles at 20 knots. The ship's
complement is 32 officers and 348 enlisted personnel.