Homeported in Norfolk, Virginia, USS Mason is the 37th Arleigh Burke-class destroyer and the ninth of the Flight IIA variant. She was commissioned in Cape Canaveral, Florida, in April 2003. Her first captain was Commander David Gale.
This is the third ship with the name USS Mason. The first Mason(DD-191), in service from 1920 to 1941, was named for John Young Mason, well known for his service as the Secretary of the Navy for two American Presidents. The second Mason(DE-529) was named for Ensign Newton Henry Mason, a Naval Aviator who was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. This ship is named for the crew of the second Mason(DE-529) as this was the first ship in the US Navy with this distinction of a predominantly black crew.
Ship history
USS Mason conducted her maiden deployment with the USSHarry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom in late 2004. Mason returned home after six months on 18 April 2005.
Navy, the USS Mason (DDG 87), conducts maneuvers as part of a exercise in the Gulf of Oman; in October 2024 two missiles were fired at the USS Mason in the Red Sea, and officials believe they were launched by Yemen-based Houthi rebels ... .
