A Pearl Harbor destroyer whose deployment was delayed three times amid budget uncertainties finally glided away from port Tuesday on its way to duty in the Western Pacific and Indian Ocean region.

A big American flag was unfurled from the USS Chung-Hoon as it left the pier, and hundreds of family members waved goodbye to sailors who lined the rails of the warship.

The Chung-Hoon, with a crew of nearly 280 sailors, had been given previous deployment dates of Feb. 28, then March 5, then no sooner than March 15, before Tuesday morning’s departure, the Navy said.

For family members preparing for a six-month or longer separation, the delays created an extra hardship.

"In February I was emotionally ready. I think everyone on the ship was, especially talking to a lot of spouses, and it got moved," said Ariel Hent­schel, who was on the pier to see off her husband, 23-year-old Ensign William Hent­schel.

"No one honestly thought it was going to be this time (either)," she said of the latest deployment notice, which came Friday.

ARIEL Hentschel said she’s glad her husband finally is getting to go on his first deployment.

"This is what he wants to do," she said. "He wants to serve his country."

Budget shortfalls stemming from a lack of an appropriations bill for 2013 and sequester budget cuts over the next decade led the Navy to cancel the U.S. Pacific Fleet deployments of the San Diego-based frigate USS Rentz and submarine USS Jefferson City scheduled for this month.

A Pearl Harbor submarine, the USS Charlotte, also left Tuesday on a six-month deployment to the Western Pacific region.

The Defense Department said it was looking at the recently signed continuing resolution that funds the government for the rest of the fiscal year to determine how the legislation affects personnel and programs. The measure shifts $10.4 billion in defense funds into operations and maintenance accounts.

Capt. Brent Smith, chief of staff for Naval Surface Group Middle Pacific, said the congressional action helped enable the deployment of the Chung-Hoon.

"I think that’s part of it," Smith said. "Even with the (new) continuing resolution, the sequester still had an impact on the Department of Defense’s operating budget, including the Navy."

He jokingly added, "It makes me appreciate not being a bean counter on days like this."

The Chung-Hoon’s missions on this deployment are unclear, but Smith said he doesn’t expect the ship to have a ballistic missile defense role. "That’s not one of her primary roles," he said.

On a 2011 deployment the Chung-Hoon conducted ballistic missile defense operations and maritime interdiction and participated in exercises including Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training Philippines, CARAT Singapore and Naval Engagement Activity Vietnam, the Navy said.

"She’s going into the Indo-Asia-Pacific. So it will be a 7th Fleet deployment, and really where she goes and what she does on this deployment will really depend on what needs the fleet commander needs her to meet," Smith said.

The Chung-Hoon is named after Rear Adm. Gordon Paiea Chung-Hoon, who was born in Hono­lulu in 1910 and died in 1979.

Chung-Hoon received the Navy Cross and Silver Star for his actions after a kami­kaze strike on his ship, the USS Sigsbee, in 1945 off Okinawa.