She is named for Steward's Mate 1st Class Charles J. French, an African American cook serving in the US Navy during WWII was posthumously awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal for heroic actions not involving direct contact with an armed enemy. US Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro announced the name on 10 January 2024 in honor of a sailor whose heroics has long been over-looked.
Historical backgroundedit
French was serving in the Pacific aboard the destroyer USS Gregory when his ship was sunk at Guadalcanal on 4 September 1942. As the crew were abandoning ship, the Japanese began shelling helpess men in the water. French collected a group of wounded shipmates onto a makeshift raft which was attached to his waist with a rope. He then spent the next eight hours swimming through the shark-infested waters towing the raft carrying approximately fifteen shipmates to safety. Despite saving these lives, and the multiple recommendations to decorate French with a higher level medal or award for his valor, such as the Navy Cross, all were rejected by the military. Instead he only received a personal letter of commendation from Admiral William Halsey.[3]
Referencesedit
^"DDG-142". nvr.navy.mil. 18 August 2023. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
charles, french, confused, with, french, planned, arleigh, burke, class, guided, missile, destroyer, united, states, navy, 92nd, overall, class, named, charles, french, charles, french, sister, ship, john, kilmer, artist, rendering, history, united, states, na. Not to be confused with USS French DE 367 USS Charles J French DDG 142 is a planned Arleigh Burke class guided missile destroyer of the United States Navy the 92nd overall of the class named for Charles J French Charles J French sister ship John E Kilmer artist s rendering History United States NameCharles J French NamesakeCharles Jackson French BuilderIngalls Shipbuilding IdentificationHull number DDG 142 StatusAuthorized for construction 1 General characteristics Class and typeArleigh Burke class destroyer Displacement9 217 tons full load 2 Length510 ft 160 m 2 Beam66 ft 20 m 2 Propulsion4 General Electric LM2500 gas turbines 100 000 shp 75 000 kW 2 Speed31 knots 57 km h 36 mph 2 Complement380 officers and enlisted ArmamentGuns 1 5 inch 127 mm 62 Mk 45 Mod 4 lightweight gun 1 20 mm 0 8 in Phalanx CIWS 2 25 mm 0 98 in Mk 38 machine gun system 4 0 50 inches 12 7 mm caliber guns Missiles 1 32 cell 1 64 cell 96 total cells Mk 41 vertical launching system VLS RIM 66M surface to air missile RIM 156 surface to air missile RIM 174A standard ERAM RIM 161 anti ballistic missile RIM 162 ESSM quad packed BGM 109 Tomahawk cruise missile RUM 139 vertical launch ASROC Torpedoes 2 Mark 32 triple torpedo tubes Mark 46 lightweight torpedo Mark 50 lightweight torpedo Mark 54 lightweight torpedo ArmorKevlar type armor with steel hull Numerous passive survivability measures Aircraft carried2 MH 60R Seahawk helicopters Aviation facilitiesDouble hangar and helipadNaming editShe is named for Steward s Mate 1st Class Charles J French an African American cook serving in the US Navy during WWII was posthumously awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal for heroic actions not involving direct contact with an armed enemy US Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro announced the name on 10 January 2024 in honor of a sailor whose heroics has long been over looked Historical background edit French was serving in the Pacific aboard the destroyer USS Gregory when his ship was sunk at Guadalcanal on 4 September 1942 As the crew were abandoning ship the Japanese began shelling helpess men in the water French collected a group of wounded shipmates onto a makeshift raft which was attached to his waist with a rope He then spent the next eight hours swimming through the shark infested waters towing the raft carrying approximately fifteen shipmates to safety Despite saving these lives and the multiple recommendations to decorate French with a higher level medal or award for his valor such as the Navy Cross all were rejected by the military Instead he only received a personal letter of commendation from Admiral William Halsey 3 References edit DDG 142 nvr navy mil 18 August 2023 Retrieved 13 January 2024 a b c d e DDG 51 Arleigh Burke class Federation of American Scientists FAS org 2 November 2016 Retrieved 9 June 2021 Navy will name a new ship for the human tugboat a forgotten WWII hero 11 January 2024 nbsp This article about a specific ship or boat of the United States Armed Forces is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title USS Charles J French amp oldid 1203486796, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
