San Diego-based ship build and repair facility General Dynamics NASSCO said in October that it has been awarded a contract by the U.S. Navy for the maintenance, modernization and repair of the USS Chung-Hoon and USS James E. Williams.
The contract is for an initial $15.6 million, but includes options that if fully exercised, would bring the cumulative value to $753.8 million.
The Chung-Hoon is a guided missile destroyer that arrived at Naval Base San Diego on Nov. 9, concluding the ship’s homeport shift from Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii to Naval Base San Diego.
Chung-Hoon, assigned to U.S. 3rd Fleet, recently completed a deployment to the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations and has been relocated to San Diego to complete what the Navy refers to as a “mid-life modernization,” which is expected to broaden the vessel’s warfighting capabilities, and is part of a larger guided-missile destroyer modernization program.
The 510-foot, 9,200-ton displacement vessel was launched in December, 2002 and commissioned in September, 2004.
The USS James E. Williams is named for former Navy Petty Officer 1st Class James Eliott Williams (1930–1999), a River Patrol Boat commander and Medal of Honor recipient from the Vietnam War who is considered to be the most decorated enlisted man in Navy history.
The vessel, which is homeported at Navy Station Norfolk in Virginia, is also a 510-foot, 9,200-ton displacement guided missile destroyer. It was launched in June, 2003 and commissioned in December, 2004.
Work on the James E. Williams and Chung-Hoon is to be performed in Norfolk, Va., and San Diego, respectively. If all options are exercised, work will continue through November 2030, according to NASSCO.
“NASSCO and our industry partners are looking forward to executing a pair of successful availabilities and are thankful the Navy has sole-sourced the contract to us to lead this effort,” General Dynamics NASSCO Vice President Dave Baker said. “Much like our recent success with the modernization on the USS Pinckney, our repair team is ready to tackle another opportunity with our Navy partners and get these ships back to the fleet in a timely manner.”
The USS Pickney is a U.S. Navy destroyer homeported at Naval Base San Diego that NASSCO won a contract to update, maintain and repair the systems of in 2021. Work under the $100+ million contract was completed this past summer.
General Dynamics NASSCO specializes in the design and construction of ships for the U.S. Navy and commercial markets, as well as repair services for the U.S. Navy, with facilities in San Diego, Norfolk, Va. Mayport, Penn. and Bremerton, Wash. It is a subsidiary of global aerospace and defense company General Dynamics, offers a broad portfolio of products and services in business aviation; ship construction and repair; land combat vehicles, weapons systems and munitions; and technology products.