Navy named for Reuben James , a boatswain's mate who distinguished himself fighting the Barbary pirates. Her crew totaled enlisted , 18 chief petty officers , and 26 officers. She was delivered to the Navy on 3 March , and commissioned on 22 March. She was faster than 30 knots Armed with anti-air and anti-ship missiles, an automated three-inch 76 mm gun, an anti-missile defense system, and two SH Seahawk anti-submarine helicopters, Reuben James was tasked with hunting submarines as well as with battle group escort and maritime interception.
Assigned to Mideast Force on her maiden deployment, Reuben James participated in twenty-two Operation Earnest Will convoy missions, serving as the convoy commander's flagship on ten of those missions. The flight deck sustained damage in addition to hangar fire and external hangar wall damage. HSL detachment was on board. Since a dry dock wasn't available, divers installed a new rudder while the ship was at the pier. En route to WestPac deployment in , the air detachment's SHB Seahawk helicopter was conducting deck landing practice.
The Seahawk had landed and was not secured to the deck because it was preparing to lift off again. The ship was hit by a rogue wave which caused the ship to roll steeply to port and the blades of the helicopter struck the flight deck causing the helicopter to roll on its port side and spin 90 degrees with the tail hanging over the port side of the flight deck.
The ship docked in Guam where the helicopter was craned off to be repaired. No fault was found with the flight crew or the ship's personnel for the mishap. The exercise also promoted interoperability and cooperation with U. The Strait of Malacca was the setting for several exercises. These included anti-submarine warfare, anti-air warfare, and gunnery exercises. One of the exercises was a semi-final battle problem, or night encounter exercise.
The two navies' task groups steamed together in formation for more than 25 hours. The Malaysian-U. The Blue Forces were supported by U. Navy P-3C Orion aircraft. Columbus , homeported in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and Helena , homeported in San Diego, also joined the task group in individual phases. After serving approximately six months in theater, Reuben James started to make its way back to Pearl Harbor. On New Year's Day , while in port in Brisbane , Australia, the ship was ordered to turn around and go back to the Persian Gulf [ 5 ] and the deployment was extended indefinitely.
