The following is a brief background to the USS Stout - an Arleigh Burke-class guided missle destroyer - named after Pete Stout's (Class of 1959, 10th Company) father, Rear Admiral Herald Stout, U.S. Navy (1903-1987).   The Stout keel was laid (September 13, 1991), christened (October 24, 1992), and commissioned (August 3, 1994), respectively. Pete Stout, his two brothers and families attended each ceremony.  Rear Admiral Herald F. Stout distinguished himself as the commanding officer of the destroyer USS Claxton during World War II. In November 1943, Commander Stout received two Navy Crosses in the span of three weeks for his actions in the Pacific. Commander Stout aided Destroyer Squadron 23 in sinking five heavily armed Japanese warships and damaging four others during the Solomon Islands campaign as well as sinking four more Japanese warships and damaging two others to establish a beachhead on Bougainville Island.

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200531-M-IR130-1022 STRAIT OF HORMUZ (May 31, 2020) The guided-missile destroyer USS Stout (DDG 55) travels alongside the amphibious assault ship USS Bataan (LHD 5) during a transit through the Strait of Hormuz, May 31, 2020. Bataan, with embarked 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit, is deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations in support of naval operations to ensure maritime stability and security in the Central Region, connecting the Mediterranean Sea and Pacific Ocean through the western Indian Ocean and three critical chokepoints to the free flow of global commerce. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Gary Jayne III/Released)

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USS Stout (DDG-55) is the fifth Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer. She was built for the United States Navy by Ingalls Shipbuilding and was commissioned on 13 August 1994. She is currently home-ported in Naval Station Norfolk and is part of Destroyer Squadron 261. Stout was ordered on 13 December 1988, the keel was laid down on 8 August 1991, she was launched on 16 October 1992 and commissioned on 13 August 1994. As of July 2020 the ship is part of Destroyer Squadron 26 based out of Naval Station Norfolk. As of 2023 the Commanding Officer is Cmdr. Desmond Walker, MBA, RBLP-T.[5]

Please email Pete Stout, if you have any questions about the USS Stout. He would be happy to discuss and explain the ship which was recently given another 25 years of life.