USS Fife (DD-991), a , was a ship of the United States Navy named for Admiral James Fife, Jr. (1897–1975), a distinguished Submarine Force commander during World War II.
Fife was laid down on 6 March 1978 by Ingalls Shipbuilding, Pascagoula, Mississippi; launched on 1 May 1979; and commissioned on 31 May 1980.
USS Fife was the 29th of the 30 Spruance-class destroyers. Between 27 June and 11 July 2002, Fife was the U.S. Task Group flagship for the Pacific Phase of the annual UNITAS exercise conducted with naval forces from five nations off the coast of Chile. The ship's five-month deployment to the Eastern Pacific Ocean for Counter-Drug Operations and the UNITAS exercise was the final deployment for the destroyer.
Last homeported in Everett, Wash., under the command of CDR Frank Ponds, Fife was decommissioned 28 February 2003, and stricken from the Navy List 6 April 2004. Fife was sunk as a target during a live-fire exercise on 23 August 2005 by .
Etymology USS Fife was named in honor of Admiral James Fife, Jr., a distinguished naval officer. He served in both World War I and World War II in submarines and surface combatants. He served in the battleship and the destroyers and from 1923 until May 1935.
When the U.S. entered World War II, Fife was Chief of Staff of Submarine Squadron 20 in the Philippines (part of the Asiatic Fleet under Admiral T. C. Hart). After the squadron was dissolved into Submarines, Asiatic Fleet, he served as Chief of Staff to Admiral Hart until May 1942. About this time he and Captain J. E. Wilkes were instrumental in identifying several deficiencies of the submarine force, especially the problems with the Mark 14 torpedo. In late 1942 he served with General MacArthur as the representative of Admiral A. S. Carpender during the Buna campaign. Following this he commanded the submarines of Task Force 42 (later Task Force 72) in Brisbane, Australia, where he meticulously planned and directed his submarines' missions. In 1944 Admiral Fife transferred to Admiral King's staff in Washington, D.C. as a war planner.
Admiral Fife was awarded the Navy Distinguished Service Medal for meritorious service as the Chief of Staff to Commander Submarines, Asiatic Fleet, the Air Medal (by the Army), and a Gold Star in lieu of a second Distinguished Service Medal for action in the Pacific area. At the close of 1944 he returned to Australia as Commander, Submarines, Seventh Fleet; Commander, U.S. Naval Forces, Western Australia; and Commander Task Force 71. As a result, he was awarded a Gold Star in lieu of a third Distinguished Service Medal.
From April 1947 until 1950, he commanded the Submarine Force, Atlantic Fleet. This assignment was followed by duty as Assistant Chief, and Deputy Chief of Naval Operations (Operations). His final assignment before retirement was as U.S. Naval Commander in Chief, Mediterranean, under Admiral Mountbatten, Royal Navy.
History
1970s On 6 March 1978 at the Ingalls Shipbuilding Division of Litton Industries in Pascagoula, Mississippi the keel was laid for USS Fife, the 29th Spruance-class destroyer. Launched on 21 July 1979 and sponsored by Mrs. Nancy Fife Prior, daughter of the ship's namesake Admiral James Fife Jr., the ship was commissioned on 31 May 1980.
Designed for modern antisubmarine warfare and to replace the many retiring World War II-era ships, the Spruance-class destroyer was intended to operate as a multi-mission warship either independently or in company with amphibious or carrier task groups. Powered by gas turbine engines and armed with antisubmarine rockets (ASROC), Harpoon and Sea Sparrow missiles and two /54 guns, Fife possessed a technical superiority with her advanced SQS-53 sonar and third generation naval tactical data system (NTDS).
1980s Fife was fitted out at Pascagoula, getting underway on 6 June 1980 heading for the west coast and her assignment to the Pacific Fleet. She arrived in San Diego, California, on 18 June following stops in Cozumel, Mexico and Rodman, Panama. Shakedown system trials and crew training proceeded through the summer when the destroyer's first tasking came suddenly at the end of August. Departing San Diego on 29 August, she quickly steamed north to Alaska to conduct two weeks of surveillance on a Soviet Task Force operating in American waters. Returning to San Diego on 22 September, Fife conducted final weapon system tests and exercises in preparation for her first overseas deployment.
Heading west from San Diego on 5 January 1982, Fife joined several other ships and sailed from Pearl Harbor via Guam to Subic Bay, Philippines. She conducted numerous ASW exercises with the 7th Fleet in the South China Sea before a liberty port in Manila. Exercise "Team Spirit" in South Korea preceded war-at-sea evolutions with three American aircraft carriers as part of "READIEX 82" in April. Another brief stop in Subic Bay in May for upkeep was followed by liberty visits to Hong Kong and Japan before returning to San Diego on 30 June.
1983 deployment On 20 July 1983 The New York Times reported that the Fife along with seven other vessels in the Battle Group left San Diego on Friday 15 July 1983 and were headed for the western Pacific when they were rerouted and ordered to steam for Central America to conduct training and flight operations in areas off the coasts of Nicaragua, El Salvador and Honduras as part of major military exercises planned for that summer.
Besides the Ranger, the battle group is composed of the cruiser , the guided missile destroyer , the destroyers and Fife, the frigate , the oiler and the support ship .
Fife's second overseas deployment began with "READIEX 83-4." Departing with the USS Ranger battlegroup on 15 July for the Persian Gulf, she alternated carrier escort duties with surveillance operations in the Gulf of Aden. While operating with the Ranger on 17 November, the Soviet guided missile frigate approached the warships in what the US ships saw as a violation of international agreements for preventing collisions at sea. Fife suffered only minor damage from the resulting collision with Razyashchiy. In December, Fife sailed south for a port visit in Mombassa, Kenya. While there, a cyclone passing over Agalega in the Mauritius Islands caused massive destruction. Fife, along with her SH-2F Seasprite helicopter, provided aid transferring food and water ashore. The Fife crew and the Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron, Light 37, Detachment 3 were awarded the Humanitarian Service Medal for their service in aid to the Agalaga inhabitants. During the return trip north, Fife intercepted the Soviet aircraft carrier Novorossiysk and performed a brief period of surveillance before rendezvousing again with the Ranger battlegroup. Relieved by the battlegroup in January, the warships turned for home, arriving in San Diego on 29 February 1984.
The following sixteen months were spent preparing for her next overseas deployment, with the warship's time split between local training operations, a series of overhaul periods at Long Beach (where she received new propeller blades, weapons, and electronics), and various propulsion plant inspections and pre-deployment refresher exercises. Following a Harpoon firing exercise in June 1985, the destroyer sailed for the Far East on 24 July. Following a brief stop in Subic Bay, the destroyer continued west through the Strait of Malacca to the Indian Ocean and an exercise with the Republic of Singapore Navy.
The warship suffered its first mishap on 1 September when a CH-46D Sea Knight helicopter (BuNo 151918) lost power on take-off, struck the NATO Sea Sparrow missile mount, leaving the stricken helicopter hanging over the ship's starboard side.
Fife's damage control teams quickly lashed the CH-46 in place and all 16 personnel were rescued without serious injury. The Sea Knight was assigned to Helicopter Combat Support Squadron 11 (HC-11) Det. 6 aboard the combat stores ship .
After pulling into Singapore to crane off the damaged helicopter, the warship sailed west to Diego Garcia to receive a new Seasparrow mount. In late September, Fife steamed in the vicinity of Socotra in the Gulf of Aden to conduct surveillance operations against the Soviet Navy, a mission carried out again in the Red Sea during October. After port calls to Mombassa, Kenya, and Victoria, Seychelles, Fife sailed for home on 13 November, arriving in San Diego on 21 December.
The fast pace of operations did not end upon her return. Fife immediately began a hectic series of training evolutions, department inspections, and pre-overhaul preparations. These included the exercise "Kernel Blitz" in April 1986, propulsion exams in May and June and a command inspection in August.
The destroyer then entered Southwest Marine Shipyard for an extensive overhaul, commencing 29 September. During the yard work – which was interrupted in mid-February 1987 by bomb threats made by disgruntled shipyard workers – Fife received numerous mission-expanding upgrades. The AN/SQ-89 sonar suite and the new LAMPS III helicopter system extended Fife's ASW capabilities. The Mk 41 Vertical Launching System (VLS) turned Fife into a Tomahawk cruise missile strike platform. Two Phalanx Close-in Weapon System (CIWS) point defense weapons upgraded her self-defenses, and engineering plant and firefighting system modifications improved her overall war fighting capabilities. Following almost thirteen months of work, the destroyer carried out sea trials in November before returning to San Diego on 14 December.
In 1988, as part of a forward deployment strategy, Fife changed homeports from San Diego to Yokosuka, Japan, arriving there on 31 August. During the first few months as the crew settled into their new home Fife made several short excursions, including an ASW operation in October and port visits to Subic Bay and Hong Kong in November and December 1988.
After a period in dry dock in Yokosuka to repair a crack in her sonar dome, Fife put to sea in March 1989 for surveillance operations against Soviet warships operating out of Vladivostok. On 26 June, while sailing in the South China Sea, Fife spotted a distressed boat of Vietnamese refugees. Fifty-one refugees were rescued from the sinking vessel and provided with medical assistance and other care before being delivered to a United Nations refugee organization in Thailand a week later. The warship conducted a second cruise in the region in July, during which time she rescued another boat of refugees – this time 151 Vietnamese – before conducting exercises with Thai and Australian Navy ships.
Continuing west, Fife sailed to the Persian Gulf and arrived there on 19 September. The warship steamed back east in October and, after a port visit to Fremantle, Australia, she sailed north for Yokosuka. An attempted coup in the Philippines diverted Fife in early December, however, and she stood by for possible contingency operations until the crisis abated. Fife returned to Yokosuka on 11 December.
1990s Fife began preparations for another Persian Gulf deployment after Iraq invaded Kuwait in August 1990. In addition to pre-deployment workups, Fife successfully passed her Cruise Missile Tactical Qualifications, On 2 October, Fife sailed in company with the USS Midway Battle Group Alpha to the Persian Gulf, arriving there on 2 November. During Operation Desert Shield, Fife helped enforce trade sanctions against Iraq as part of the Maritime Interception Force.