Thomas Truxtun

Thomas Truxtun (or Truxton) (February 17, 1755 – May 5, 1822) was an American naval officer after the Revolutionary War, when he served as a privateer, who rose to the rank of commodore in the late eighteenth century and later served in the Quasi-War with France and the First Barbary War in North Africa. He was one of the first six commanders appointed to the new US Navy by President Washington. During his naval career he commanded a number of famous U.S. naval ships including USS Constellation and USS President. Later in civilian life he became involved with politics and was also elected as a sheriff.

Early life and education

Truxtun was born near Hempstead, New York, on Long Island, the only son of an English country lawyer. He lost his father at a young age and was taken to Jamaica on Long Island with relatives and placed under the care of a close friend, John Troup. Having little chance for a formal education, he joined the crew of the British merchant ship Pitt at the age of 12, against his father's previous wishes for him to pursue a career in politics.

USS Truxtun (DDG-103)

USS Truxtun (DDG-103) is a United States Navy Arleigh Burke-class destroyer currently in service. The vessel is named for American Naval hero, and founding father of the U.S. Navy, Commodore Thomas Truxtun (1755–1822). It is the sixth U.S. naval warship to bear his name.

Construction and career

The ship's keel was laid down on 11 April 2005. DDG-103 suffered a major electrical fire during construction at Ingalls Shipbuilding, Pascagoula, Mississippi, on 20 May 2006, engulfing two levels and causing damage believed to have been in the millions of dollars. She was launched on 17 April 2007. The ship was christened on 2 June 2007 at NGSS Ingalls in Pascagoula, Mississippi, and was sponsored by Susan Scott Martin and Carol Leigh Roelker, descendants of Thomas Truxtun.

The commissioning ceremony was held 25 April 2009 in Charleston, South Carolina with Commander Timothy Weber as her first commanding officer.

On 6 March 2014, the U.S. Navy confirmed that USS Truxtun left Greece on the way to the Black Sea and was going to conduct training with the Romanian and Bulgarian navies. On 5 March 2014, Turkish authorities gave permission to a U.S. Navy warship to pass through the Bosphorus Straits. This modest U.S. show of force – the deployment of two Arleigh Burke-class destroyers (Truxtun and Donald Cook) to the Black Sea - was intended to calm the nerves of former Soviet republics and satellites nervous about the reunification of Crimea to the Russian Federation and was meant as "strategic reassurance".