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USS Russell (DDG 59)

USS RUSSELL is the ninth ARLEIGH BURKE class guided missile destroyer and the second ship in the Navy to bear the name. In late January 2013, the RUSSELL swapped hulls with her sistership HALSEY (DDG 97) changing her homeport from Pearl Harbor, Hi., to San Diego, Calif.

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Crew List:

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

• Click here to view the list.

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

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USS RUSSELL Cruise Books and Pamphlets:

• USS RUSSELL Commissioning Book
• WestPac Cruise Book 1998

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Accidents aboard USS RUSSELL:

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About the Ship's Coat of Arms:

The Shield:

Dark blue and gold are the colors traditionally associated with the Navy. Gold is emblematic of excellence and red denotes valor and sacrifice. The red wedge and the trident symbolize DDG 59's modern warfare capabilities: the Aegis and Vertical Launch Systems. The three tines represent submarine, surface and air warfare. The wedge superimposed on the wave alludes to Major General Russell's leadership and vision in the development of the Fleet Marine Force and amphibious doctrine. The two gauntlets symbolize the two RUSSELL's and highlight teamwork and cooperation. The wavy divisions of the shield represent a river and underscore Rear Admiral Russell's service in coastal and river campaigns during the Mexican War and Civil War. The sun and light blue reflect the tropical climate of the Gulf Coast and Caribbean, referring to both Russell's service in the Gulf of Mexico and, especially, Major General Russell's extended service in Haiti. The sun and light blue also highlight the south and west Pacific service of the first USS RUSSELL (DD 414) in World War II.

The Crest:

The sixteen-sided shield and star commemorate the first USS RUSSELL's sixteen battle stars earned during World War II. The gold star also denotes command and authority. The stylized Oriental dragon symbolizes strength, vigilance and service in the Orient and Pacific.

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About the Ship's Name:

USS RUSSELL is named after two people. They are:

Rear Admiral John H. Russell:

Rear Admiral John Henry Russell was appointed a midshipman on 10th of September 1841. As a junior officer, he served in ships such as CYANE and UNITED STATES in the Pacific, ST. MARY'S in the Gulf of Mexico, the store ship RELIEF, the mail steamer GEORGIA, various other ships of the North Pacific Exploring Expedition, in VINCENNES as navigator when she made her cruise into the Arctic, and in the WABASH in the Mediterranean.

RADM Russell is most famous for his Civil War heroics in Pensacola Harbor. In command of four small boats, then LT Russell passed through the heavy pounding of shore batteries. After his own coxswain was shot, he grabbed the tiller of his boat and led 100 men to the Confederate Privateer JUDAH. He and his men then jumped to the deck of JUDAH and destroyed it by fire. For his actions he received the following commendation from the Secretary of the Navy:
" An expedition, executed in the face of an enemy so much superior in numbers, with such brilliancy gallantry and success, can not pass without the special recognition of the Department. To those who were engaged in it, not only the Department, but the whole country, it is indebted for one of the brightest pages in that has adorned our naval record during this rebellion. Indeed, it may be placed, without disparagements, side by side with the fairest that adorn our early naval history. "The expedition will give renown, not only to those who were immediately concerned in it, but to the Navy itself - it will inspire others in the service to emulation--its recital hereafter will thrill the heart with admiration. "The Department will cherish the recollection of the exploit, and desires you to express to the officers, seamen and marines who participated in it, its highest admiration of their conduct."

As a reward for this brilliant enterprise, LT Russell was given command of the gunboat KENNEBEC in which he rendered distinguished war service for eight months on the Mississippi River, especially in operations resulting in the passage of Farragut's fleet past Forts Jackson and St. Philip. He further participated in the first engagements at Grand Gulf, Port Houston, Baton Rouge and Vicksburg. The KENNEBEC was subsequently employed under Russell on blockade duty on the Gulf Coast. Following the KENNEBEC, he commanded the steamer PONTIAC with the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron, served on ordnance duty at Washington and commanded CYANE, the same ship on which he served as a midshipman.

After the Civil War, his duties were at the naval yards at Norfolk and Mare Island, and in command of the USS OSSIPEE on the pacific Coast. In September 1870, after the OSSIPEE rode out a hurricane, she went in search of the boats of the steamer CONTINENTAL which had foundered off the coast of lower California. The lives of a number of the CONTINENTAL crew were saved. Following the OSSIPEE, CAPT Russell commanded USS PLYMOUTH, North Atlantic Squadron and commanded USS POWATAN, special duty.

After serving several years at the Washington Navy Yard and at the Navy Department, RADM Russell served as Commandant of the Mare island Navy Yard from 1883 to 1886. He retired from active service on the 27th of August 1886 and died on the 1st of April, 1897.



Major General John H. Russell Jr.:

Major General John Henry Russell was born in California on the 14th of November, 1872. He was appointed to the United States Naval Academy by President Cleveland in May 1888 and graduated in June 1892. On July 1st, 1894, after two years at sea, he passed his final examinations and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps.

In 1896, he joined the USS MASSACHUSETTS, North Atlantic Squadron. During the Spanish-American War he served in MASSACHUSETTS in blockading operations around the West Indies and in the bombardment of Santiago, Cuba.

Duty in USS YOSEMITE was followed by assignments on Guam, and in command of the Marine Detachment, USS OREGON. His next shore duty was as an instructor at the school for young officers established at the Marine Barracks, Annapolis, Maryland. After duty at the Marine Barracks, Honolulu, T. H., he was ordered to command the Marines stationed at Camp Elliot, Panama Canal Zone.

In September 1908, he joined the Naval War College, Newport, Rhode Island, for staff duty until 1910. It was during this tour of service that the "applicatory method" of instruction was put into effect.

He commanded the Marine Detachment, American Legation, Peking, China, from November 14th, 1910 to April 30th, 1913. The change in the Chinese government from an empire to a republic, which took place during this period, and the attendant disorders in and around Peking made this tour of duty particularly interesting and challenging.

After commanding various Marine Corps Regiments, in 1917 he was detached and ordered to the Republic of Haiti to command the Marine Brigade serving in that country. After showing superior leadership, in 1922 he was appointed American High Commissioner to Haiti with the rank of Ambassador Extraordinary by the U.S. Senate. General Russell served with distinction in Haiti as High Commissioner until November 1930.

Upon his return to the United States he was assigned to duty as Commanding General, Marine Corps Base, San Diego, California, and was transferred to command the Marine Barracks Quantico, Virginia in December 1931. He was detailed to Assistant to the Major General Commandant at Headquarters Marine Corps in February 1933. General Russell was appointed Commandant of the Marine Corps on the 1st of March, 1934; he remained on that duty until he reached the statutory age limit in November 1936.

While in service for the Corps and his country, Major General Russell was a major contributor to the development of the Fleet Marine Force and the doctrine that governs its load-out scheme, equipment, tactics, techniques and organization that proved decisive in World War II.

In addition to numerous letters of commendation during his long and varied career, General Russell was awarded the Navy Cross, Distinguished Service Medal, Haitian Medaille Militaire, West Indies (Sampson) Medal, Spanish Campaign Medal, Expeditionary Medal with West Indies Clasp and the Haitian Campaign Medal.

General Russell died in Coronado, California the 6th of March, 1947. He was interred in the Arlington National Cemetery.

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USS RUSSELL History:

USS RUSSELL was built at Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Mississippi, where her keel was laid on July 27, 1992, she was launched on October 23, 1993, and commissioned on May 20, 1995, during a ceremony at Naval Station Pascagoula. Upon commissioning, the Navy designated Pearl Harbor as her initial home port, placing the new Flight I ARLEIGH BURKE-class destroyer in the Pacific Fleet at a moment when the United States was focused on post-Cold War presence operations from Northeast Asia to the Arabian Gulf.

After shakedown and workups, RUSSELL began a long pattern of Western Pacific and Middle East deployments. From May through November 1996, she deployed with the CARL VINSON (CVN 70) battle group to the western Pacific and Arabian Gulf, a cruise framed by no-fly-zone enforcement over Iraq (Operation Southern Watch) and heightened Gulf tensions that culminated in U.S. strikes later that year (Operation Desert Strike). Embarked with a carrier air wing and screened by cruisers and destroyers, RUSSELL's mission set centered on air defense and sea control while the carrier conducted flight operations. She also transited the Strait of Hormuz - routine now, but always tactically significant given the waterway's role in global energy flows.

By 1998 RUSSELL had completed a WESTPAC cruise which reflected the destroyer's maturing role in multinational engagement and blue-water air defense for carrier operations, paired with frequent liberty calls that underlined the Navy's theater diplomacy.

RUSSELL was at sea in late 2001, when the United States shifted rapidly to Operation Enduring Freedom following the September 11 attacks. After departing Pearl Harbor on October 25, 2001, the destroyer operated in the Indian Ocean in support of maritime and air operations linked to Afghanistan. On December 12, 2001, she executed a high-visibility search-and-rescue: dispatching a RHIB to recover all four crew members of a downed U.S. Air Force B-1B that had crashed north of Diego Garcia. The rescue underscored how an AEGIS destroyer's command, control and boat-handling capabilities can translate instantly from air defense to life-saving work in a remote ocean theater.

In May 2004, RUSSELL sailed again to the western Pacific for a four-month deployment centered on the Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) 2004 series. As part of a mixed task group with USS FORT McHENRY (LSD 43), USCGC MELLON (WHEC 717), USS SALVOR (ARS 52) and USS McCAMPBELL (DDG 85), she conducted combined exercises with Southeast Asian partners, including Brunei - CARAT Brunei ended ceremonially on June 25, 2004 - emphasizing maritime security, interdiction drills, and interoperability. These port calls and serials reinforced U.S. security cooperation in a region defined by chokepoints, overlapping maritime claims, and fast-growing navies.

In August 2005, as the U.S. military stress-tested joint homeland defense and expeditionary response in the far north, RUSSELL participated in the Alaska Shield/Northern Edge '05 exercise and made a goodwill port visit to Seward from August 11-14. The scenario array spanned natural disasters, terrorism, and maritime interdiction, and brought surface combatants into Alaskan waters to rehearse multi-agency crisis response with local officials - a reminder that a destroyer's skill set travels from contested straits to austere high-latitude ports.

On April 15, 2006, while operating in the South China Sea, RUSSELL responded to a vessel in distress, providing assistance to a disabled fishing boat - an incident that illustrated the routine humanitarian dimension of presence operations on some of the world's busiest sea lanes.

RUSSELL surged with the RONALD REAGAN (CVN 76) Carrier Strike Group in early 2007, operating across the western Pacific amid enduring focus on Korean Peninsula stability and freedom of navigation around the East and South China Seas. She returned to Pearl Harbor on April 7, 2007, after a three-month deployment, and shortly thereafter received the Battle "E" for 2006, marking sustained excellence across warfare and readiness areas.

On February 21, 2008, RUSSELL joined USS LAKE ERIE (CG 70) and USS DECATUR (DDG 73) for Operation Burnt Frost, the one-time anti-satellite mission that intercepted the failing U.S. reconnaissance satellite USA-193 with an SM-3 launched from LAKE ERIE west of Hawaii. RUSSELL's role - part of a three-ship AEGIS BMD constellation positioned and trained specifically for the event - highlights how destroyers integrate space-tracking data and missile defense software to execute precision engagements under tight timelines. Only weeks later, from May 17-21, 2008, she participated in Khunjar Haad in the Gulf of Oman alongside regional and European partners, a recurring Oman-led exercise geared to combined air defense, maritime security, and mine countermeasures in waters adjacent to the Strait of Hormuz. In June 2008, she also rescued roughly 70 people from a disabled boat in the Gulf of Aden as coalition forces countered piracy and migrant smuggling off the Horn of Africa.

The destroyer continued a busy Pacific rhythm in 2009, returning to Pearl Harbor on October 26 after a three-month WESTPAC, and in 2010 concluded a seven-month deployment on August 6, having operated in both 5th and 7th Fleet areas - including time partnered with the DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER (CVN 69) Carrier Strike Group in the Middle East - before mooring again at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam.

From September 1, 2011, RUSSELL deployed west once more - via the western Pacific to the Arabian Gulf - returning to Pearl Harbor on April 23, 2012, amid the ongoing arc of post-Iraq maritime security and Iranian Strait of Hormuz brinkmanship. The eight-month cruise blended carrier screening, theater security cooperation, and maritime interdiction operations typical of a destroyer's portfolio in the U.S. 5th Fleet.

In January 2013, the Navy executed a crew "hull swap" between RUSSELL and USS HALSEY (DDG 97). RUSSELL's crew shifted to HALSEY, which moved to Pearl Harbor, while HALSEY's crew took over RUSSELL as she relocated to her new home port of San Diego. RUSSELL's arrival in San Diego in early January marked the beginning of her Southern California basing era and integration into 3rd Fleet-managed readiness cycles. Through 2014, RUSSELL entered an extended dry-dock selected restricted availability in San Diego - an approximately $84-million package that modernized combat systems and overhauled machinery and hull systems - under a new commanding officer who assumed command on January 24, 2014. The yard period set conditions for the ship's next deployment cycle with upgraded AEGIS combat capability and material readiness.

With maintenance complete, RUSSELL turned to workups and on June 11, 2015, conducted a change-of-command in San Diego ahead of deployment. She got underway on September 9, 2015, for an independent Western Pacific deployment, entering the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations on September 20, 2015. Tasking emphasized ballistic-missile defense and theater security operations amid an East Asian security environment marked by North Korean missile testing and increased great-power naval activity.

In early 2016, the ship crossed into the U.S. 5th Fleet, operating in the Arabian Gulf and adjacent waters. On February 14-15, 2016, RUSSELL partnered with USCGC MONOMOY and an Iraqi Navy Swift Boat (P 310) for a bilateral exercise that included live-fire events and maritime infrastructure protection drills - part of continuing coalition capacity-building along Iraq's coast. After 214 days deployed across the Western Pacific, Indian Ocean and Arabian Gulf, the destroyer returned to San Diego on April 10, 2016.

Soon after, RUSSELL conducted a stateside outreach port visit to the Pacific Northwest, mooring along Portland's Tom McCall Waterfront Park for Rose Festival Fleet Week from June 9-13, 2016, alongside USS HOWARD (DDG 83) and USS CHAMPION (MCM 4). The port call was one of U.S. 3rd Fleet's principal community engagements that summer.

Back in San Diego, the ship entered a dry-dock period on December 20, 2016, at Continental Maritime (now HII/CMSD), followed by additional selected restricted availability work in 2017. Those back-to-back availabilities refreshed hull, mechanical and electrical systems and sustained combat system readiness ahead of the next operating cycle. In early April 2018, the ship conducted a Light-Off Assessment (LOA) and an initial get-underway from Naval Base San Diego to verify propulsion and ship services after the yard period. By June 25, 2018, the Navy reported completion of contractor sea trials, validating material readiness and systems work performed by BAE Systems San Diego Ship Repair. Those trials assessed hull integrity, engineering plant performance, and new/overhauled installations at sea. Following trials, the crew transitioned into the post-availability reconstitution needed to resume basic/advanced training later in the cycle.

By spring 2019, the destroyer was back at sea at the high-end. From May 13 through late May, she operated in the Gulf of Alaska during the large, joint Indo-Pacific exercise Northern Edge 2019 as part of Carrier Strike Group 9 centered on USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT, training alongside USS KIDD (DDG 100), USS JOHN FINN (DDG 113) and USNS HENRY J. KAISER (T-AO 187) in contested-environment scenarios designed for great-power competition. Through July 2019, the ship continued Eastern Pacific operations, including live-fire and integrated events with USS PINCKNEY (DDG 91) and USS OMAHA (LCS 12). On October 23, 2019, the crew held a change-of-command ceremony at Naval Base San Diego.

One additional 2019 event later drew public attention: imagery of unidentified aerial phenomena recorded by Navy personnel from RUSSELL during West Coast operations. In April 2021, the Department of Defense confirmed that the leaked 2019 photos and video were authentic Navy imagery, without attributing the objects.

RUSSELL deployed again with the THEODORE ROOSEVELT Carrier Strike Group on January 17, 2020. While COVID-19 curtailed traditional liberty, the ship completed multiple "safe-haven" logistics port stops and brief pier-sides - visiting Sasebo on February 8, and later Yokosuka and Guam - and executed integrated operations across the Philippine Sea, including Expeditionary Strike Force maneuvers with USS AMERICA (LHA 6)'s expeditionary strike group in March. On June 4-5, 2020, amid heightened cross-Strait tensions and routine U.S. presence operations, RUSSELL conducted a Taiwan Strait transit in accordance with international law. She returned to San Diego on July 8, 2020, after a six-month Western Pacific deployment focused on maritime security, joint integration and freedom-of-navigation presence.

Following a short reset, RUSSELL joined THEODORE ROOSEVELT Carrier Strike Group (CSG-9) for sustainment exercises in December and formally deployed on December 23, 2020, to the Indo-Pacific. During this deployment she operated through the Philippine Sea, South China Sea and Indian Ocean in company with USS BUNKER HILL (CG 52) and fellow DESRON-23 destroyers, conducting live-fire and blue-water evolutions. On February 17, 2021, (local) she executed a freedom of navigation operation in the Spratly Islands, challenging unlawful restrictions on innocent passage. As the strike group re-entered the South China Sea in early April, RUSSELL continued air-maritime integration while the carrier launched sustained flight operations. The destroyer returned to Naval Base San Diego on May 21, 2021, concluding the 3rd/7th Fleet cruise.

Through 2022, the ship moved through a planned Selected Restricted Availability (SRA) in San Diego - pierside maintenance and modernization work that wrapped by September 2022 - followed by basic and advanced phase at-sea training on the Southern California ranges to rebuild full-spectrum certifications ahead of the next deployment cycle.

By late 2023, RUSSELL was back in high-end integrated training with CSG-9 off the U.S. West Coast - gunnery events, combat systems exercises and strike-group maneuvering captured across November 20-28, 2023 - as the team finalized workups for a Western Pacific deployment. This stretch reflected the Navy's emphasis on integrated air and missile defense and sea control in a great-power competition setting.

RUSSELL departed San Diego on February 10, 2024, with THEODORE ROOSEVELT for an extended deployment spanning 3rd, 7th and 5th Fleet waters. She completed the first leg with a Pearl Harbor port call on February 15, 2024, then advanced west. On March 20, 2024, she entered Singapore for a scheduled visit, underscoring that hub's logistics and engagement value. In early April, while operating in the East China Sea, she conducted a vertical replenishment with USNS WALLY SCHIRRA (T-AKE 8) and a fueling-at-sea with USNS JOHN ERICSSON (T-AO 194) on April 9, validating sustained-presence logistics. Through late May, she executed transits and small-boat/VBSS training in the South China Sea (e.g., May 23-24), then shifted southwest and on June 1 refueled from USNS BIG HORN (T-AO 198). The crew drilled general quarters and damage-control in late June as the strike group flowed toward the Indian Ocean and into U.S. 5th Fleet. There, across July 20-29 and August 3, 2024, RUSSELL completed additional VERTREPs and RAS events with USNS ALAN SHEPARD (T-AKE 3) and BIG HORN, supporting maritime security tasking during a period of elevated commercial-shipping risk.

As the THEODORE ROOSEVELT CSG shaped back east across the Pacific, Navy releases recorded a Guam logistics stop that concluded on September 26, 2024. RUSSELL then returned to San Diego on October 15, 2024, closing roughly eight months underway.

Back at the pier, the crew transitioned to a stateside sustainment period. On January 31, 2025, the ship held a change of command in San Diego, and Navy contracting records show the destroyer programmed for a Docking Selected Restricted Availability (DSRA) at Continental Maritime of San Diego (CMSD) with graving dock dates planned from May 31 to December 10, 2025. Base public-affairs imagery then captured RUSSELL shifting from Naval Base San Diego to dry dock on July 11, 2025, confirming the availability's start under the awarded package.

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Homeports of USS RUSSELL:

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USS RUSSELL Image Gallery:

The photos below were taken by Ian Johnson and show RUSSELL at Fremantle, Australia. They were taken on August 7, 2006 (the first two photos) and August 11, 2006. This was the ship's fourth visit to Western Australia and at the time, RUSSELL was part of the KITTY HAWK (CV 63) Strike Group.

The photo below was taken by me and shows RUSSELL at Naval Station Pearl Harbor, Hi., on March 14, 2008.

The photos below were taken by Henry Schnutz on August 27, 2013, and show RUSSELL dry-docked at BAE Systems San Diego Ship Repair during an Extended Drydocking Selected Restricted Availability (E-DSRA). RUSSELL entered the shipyard in July 2013.

The photo below was taken by Lydia Perz on May 3, 2014, and shows the RUSSELL at BAE Systems San Diego Ship Repair still undergoing her 12-month Extended Drydocking Selected Restricted Availability (E-DSRA).

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the RUSSELL at Naval Base San Diego, Calif., on December 27, 2014.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the RUSSELL at Naval Base San Diego, Calif., on April 18, 2016.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the RUSSELL at the Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) Continental Maritime of San Diego shipyard on October 6, 2016.

The photo below was taken by Sebastian Thoma and shows the RUSSELL undergoing her Selected Restricted Availability (SRA) at the Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) Continental Maritime of San Diego shipyard on December 20, 2016.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the RUSSELL undergoing her Selected Restricted Availability (SRA) at the Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) Continental Maritime of San Diego shipyard on October 11, 2017.

The photo below was taken by Sebastian Thoma and shows the RUSSELL undergoing her Selected Restricted Availability (SRA) at the Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) Continental Maritime of San Diego shipyard on November 10, 2017.

The photo below was taken by Michael Jenning and shows the RUSSELL at Naval Base San Diego, Calif., on September 28, 2018.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the RUSSELL at Naval Base San Diego, Calif., on October 12, 2019.

The photos below were taken by Sebastian Thoma and show the RUSSELL at BAE Systems San Diego, Calif., during her Selected Restricted Availability (SRA) on November 28 and November 29 (aerial photo), 2021. RUSSELL entered the shipyard on July 28, 2021.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the RUSSELL at BAE Systems San Diego, Calif., during her Selected Restricted Availability (SRA) on December 28, 2021. RUSSELL entered the shipyard on July 28, 2021.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the RUSSELL at BAE Systems San Diego, Calif., during her Selected Restricted Availability (SRA) on May 29, 2022.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the RUSSELL at BAE Systems San Diego, Calif., during her Selected Restricted Availability (SRA) on October 10, 2022.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show USS RUSSELL returning home to San Diego, Calif., on October 15, 2024, following an extended 8-month deployment to the western Pacific and Indian Ocean.

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