USS Fife (DD-991) - History of USS Fife

History of USS Fife

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 and placed under the command of Commander John Y. Schrader, Jr.

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 5-inch (127 mm) guns, Fife possessed a technical superiority with her advanced SQS-53 sonar and third generation naval tactical data system (NTDS).

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.