Surface Forces: January 17, 2003

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The navy commissioned the 43rd of 63 Burke class destroyers, the USS Chung-Hoon. The ship was named in honor of Rear Admiral Gordon Chung-Hoon, who was a Hawaiian of Hawaiian, Chinese and Caucasian ancestry. Admiral Chung-Hoon graduated from the Naval Academy in 1934 and was commanding a destroyer off Okinawa when his ship was hit by a Kamikaze. He kept his gun crews firing at enemy aircraft while supervising damage control efforts that saved his ship. He was awarded the Silver Star for his efforts. The 9,300 ton USS Chung-Hoon is the 20th Burke class ship equipped with the Aegis radar system. The Burkes are actually the size of cruisers, and are currently the largest class of large surface warships in the world.