USS Stethem DDG-63 Japan poster art. USS Stethem (DDG-63) is an ‘Arleigh Burke’-class destroyer in the United States Navy. The ship was built in Pascagoula, Mississippi, starting on 11 May 1993. The ship was commissioned on 21 October 1995 and is based out of Yokosuka, Japan. The ship is named for Steelworker 2nd Class Robert Stethem, who was a Navy sailor killed by terrorists in Lebanon in the 1980s. Stethem has operated throughout the Pacific Ocean, as well as on deployments to the Persian Gulf. She remains on active duty, assigned to the Pacific Fleet, as of 2012. She was recognized for her spectacular achievements during her first year of service by winning the 1996 Destroyer Squadron Twenty-One Battle Efficiency Award. The ship was awarded again in 1999 and 2000 with the Destroyer Squadron Twenty-One Battle Efficiency Award for two consecutive years.
