Spruance class destroyer

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USS Spruance (DD-963) shown with VLS
Class overview
Name:	Spruance class destroyer
Builders:	Ingalls Shipbuilding, Pascagoula, Mississippi
Operators:	United States Navy
Preceded by:	Charles F. Adams class destroyer
Succeeded by:	Kidd class destroyer
Built:	1972-1983
In commission:	1975-2005
Completed:	31
Active:	1 (Paul F. Foster) as SDTS
Retired:	30
General characteristics
Type:	Destroyer
Displacement:	8,040 (long) tons full load
Length:	529 ft (161 m) waterline; 563 ft (172 m) overall
Beam:	55 ft (16.8 m)
Draft:	29 ft (8.8 m)
Propulsion:	4 × General Electric LM2500 gas turbines, 2 shafts, 80,000 shp (60 MW)
Speed:	32.5 knots (60 km/h)
Range:	6,000 nautical miles (11,000 km) at 20 knots (37 km/h) 3,300 nautical miles (6000 km) at 30 knots (56 km/h)
Complement:	19 officers, 315 enlisted
Sensors and processing systems:	AN/SPS-40 air search radar AN/SPG-60 fire control radar AN/SPS-55 surface search radar AN/SPQ-9 gun fire control radar Mk 23 TAS automatic detection and tracking radar AN/SPS-65 Missile fire control radar AN/SQS-53 bow mounted Active sonar AN/SQR-19 TACTAS towed arrayPassive sonar
Electronic warfare and decoys:	• AN/SLQ-32 Electronic Warfare System • AN/SLQ-25 Nixie Torpedo Countermeasures • Mark 36 SRBOC Decoy Launching System • AN/SLQ-49 Inflatable Decoys AN/WLR 1 in DD-971 & DD-975.
Armament:	2 x 5 in (127 mm) 54 calibre Mark 45 dual purpose guns 2 x 20 mm Phalanx CIWS Mark 15 guns; 1 x 8 cell ASROC launcher 1 x 8 cell NATO Sea Sparrow Mark 29 missile launcher 2 x quadruple Harpoon missile canisters 2 x Mark 32 triple 12.75 in (324 mm) torpedo tubes (Mk 46 torpedoes) 2 x quadruple ABL Mark 43 Tomahawk missile launchers (some ships of the class) 1 x 21 cell Rolling Airframe Missile launcher in some ships. A 61-cell Mark 41 VLS launcher for Tomahawk/ASROC missiles was fitted to 24 ships in place of the 8-cell ASROC launcher.
Aircraft carried:	2 x Sikorsky SH-60 Seahawk LAMPS III helicopters.

The Spruance-class destroyer was developed by the United States to replace a large number of World War II-built Allen M. Sumner- and Gearing-class destroyers, and was the primary destroyer built for the U.S. Navy during the 1970s.

Contents 1 Class 2 Upgrades 3 Fate 4 Units 5 Gallery 6 See also 7 References 8 External links

[edit] Class

The class was designed for anti-submarine warfare (ASW) with point defense anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) missiles; upgrades provided anti-ship and land attack capabilities. The ships were initially controversial, especially among members of the United States Congress who believed that their unimposing looks, with only two guns and an ASROC or Armored Box Launcher (ABL) missile launcher per ship implied that the vessels were weak. Nonetheless, they were very successful for their intended ASW roles. Despite their "DD" designation indicating gun destroyers, their primary armament was the missiles they carried, and they should properly have been designated DDG (or perhaps CG, given that they were comparable in size to cruisers) under the US Navy's hull classification symbol system. Ironically enough, the DDG-1000 Zumwalt class destroyers are to be built around the 6.1" advanced gun system and thus properly deserving of the unmodified DD hull classification symbol.

The "Spru-cans" were the first large U.S. Navy ships to use gas turbine propulsion; they have four General Electric LM2500 gas turbines to generate about 80,000 horsepower (60 MW). This configuration was so successful that its hull and physical plant were used for the later Kidd-class destroyers, and a slightly lengthened version of the hull was used for the Ticonderoga-class cruisers.

The entire class of 30 ships was contracted on June 23, 1970 to the Litton-Ingalls shipyard in Pascagoula, Mississippi, under the Total Package Procurement concept originated by the Whiz Kids of Robert McNamara's Pentagon. The idea was to reap the benefits of mass construction, but labor and technical problems caused cost overruns and delayed construction.^{[citation needed]} One additional ship, USS Hayler, was ordered on September 29, 1979. USS HAYLER was originally planned as a "DDH" (Destroyer, Helicopter) design, which would carry more Anti-Submarine helicopters than the standard design of the SPRUANCE class. Eventually this plan to build a DDH was scrapped and a slightly modified DD-963 class hull was put in commission. Four additional ships were built for the Iranian Navy with the Mark 26/Standard AAW missile system but were completed as Kidd-class destroyers for the U.S. Navy.

[edit] Upgrades

The Spruance design is modular in nature, allowing for easy installation of entire subsystems within the ship. Although originally designed for anti-submarine warfare, 24 ships of this class were upgraded with the installation of a 61 cell Vertical Launch Missile System (VLS) capable of launching Tomahawk missiles. The remaining seven ships not upgraded were decommissioned early. At least ten VLS ships, ie. Cushing and O'Bannon, had a 21 cell RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile launcher mounted on the starboard fantail.

• David R. Ray tested the RAM system in the 1980s, but had the system removed after the tests.
• Oldendorf was the test platform for the AN/SPQ-9B Anti-ship Missile Defense (ASMD) Firecontrol Radar to be outfitted on the San Antonio class amphibious transport dock. The AN/SPQ-9B is used to detect all known and projected sea skimming missiles.
• Arthur W. Radford tested the Advanced Enclosed Mast/Sensor system which helped in the mast design of San Antonio class amphibious transport dock ships.
• Merrill served as the Navy's test platform for the Tomahawk Cruise Missile Program receiving armored box launchers and test launching a Tomahawk March 19, 1980. Merrill carried two ABLs and an ASROC launcher into the 1990s until the ASROC launcher was removed.

Spruance class destroyers fired 112 land attack Tomahawks during Operation Desert Storm.^[1]

[edit] Fate

The last Spruance-class destroyer on active service, USS Cushing, was decommissioned on September 21, 2005. It was then offered to the Pakistan Navy under a "free deal (any 2nd hand military equipment to be given for free to Pakistan -- The deal was awarded along with Major non-NATO ally or MNNA Status)."

The majority of the class finished their lives as targets, being deliberately sunk in various fleet exercises.

Larry Blumberg was the first commanding officer of a Spruance-class destroyer.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Units

Ship Name	Hull No.	Commission– Decommission	Disposition	Link
Spruance	DD-963	1975-2005	Disposed of in support of Fleet training exercise	[1]
Paul F. Foster	DD-964	1976-2003	Active, in service as EDD-964	[2] [3]
Kinkaid	DD-965	1976-2003	Disposed of in support of Fleet training exercise	[4]
Hewitt	DD-966	1976-2001	Disposed of by scrapping, dismantling	[5]
Elliot	DD-967	1977-2003	Disposed of in support of Fleet training exercise	[6]
Arthur W. Radford	DD-968	1977-2003	Stricken, to be disposed of in support of Fleet training exercise	[7]
Peterson	DD-969	1977-2002	Disposed of in support of Fleet training exercise	[8]
Caron	DD-970	1977-2001	Disposed of in support of Fleet training exercise	[9]
David R. Ray	DD-971	1977-2002	Stricken, to be disposed of	[10]
Oldendorf	DD-972	1978-2003	Disposed of in support of Fleet training exercise	[11]
John Young	DD-973	1978-2002	Disposed of in support of Fleet training exercise	[12]
Comte de Grasse	DD-974	1978-1998	Disposed of in support of Fleet training exercise	[13]
O'Brien	DD-975	1977-2004	Disposed of in support of Fleet training exercise	[14]
Merrill	DD-976	1978-1998	Disposed of in support of Fleet training exercise	[15]
Briscoe	DD-977	1978-2003	Disposed of in support of Fleet training exercise	[16]
Stump	DD-978	1978-2004	Disposed of in support of Fleet training exercise	[17]
Conolly	DD-979	1978-1998	Stricken, available for donation as a museum and memorial	[18]
Moosbrugger	DD-980	1978-2000	Disposed of by scrapping, dismantling	[19]
John Hancock	DD-981	1978-2000	Disposed of by scrapping, dismantling	[20]
Nicholson	DD-982	1979-2002	Disposed of in support of Fleet training exercise	[21]
John Rodgers	DD-983	1979-1998	Disposed of by scrapping, dismantling	[22]
Leftwich	DD-984	1979-1998	Disposed of in support of Fleet training exercise	[23]
Cushing	DD-985	1979-2005	Stricken, to be disposed of by Foreign Military Sale	[24]
Harry W. Hill	DD-986	1979-1998	Disposed of in support of Fleet training exercise	[25]
O'Bannon	DD-987	1979-2005	Stricken, to be disposed of by Foreign Military Sale	[26]
Thorn	DD-988	1980-2004	Disposed of in support of Fleet training exercise	[27]
Deyo	DD-989	1980-2003	Disposed of in support of Fleet training exercise	[28]
Ingersoll	DD-990	1980-1998	Disposed of in support of Fleet training exercise	[29]
Fife	DD-991	1980-2003	Disposed of in support of Fleet training exercise	[30]
Fletcher	DD-992	1980-2004	Stricken, to be disposed of by Foreign Military Sale	[31]
Hayler	DD-997	1983-2003	Disposed of in support of Fleet training exercise	[32]

[edit] Gallery

starboard quarter view of Fife	Ingersoll with only ASROC launcher forward, as all destroyers were initially built. Image also shows an example of black masts and no Phalanx CIWS	Deyo with ASROC and ABL's forward.	starboard bow view of Deyo, VLS equipped
Kidd class compared to Spruance class	Ticonderoga class cruiser compared to the Spruance class	Arthur W. Radford with experimental mast	Cushing with VLS forward and RAM launcher on fantail
Haylor, the last Spruance destroyer, is sunk

[edit] See also

• Ship decommissioning

[edit] References

1. ^ DD-963 SPRUANCE-class - Navy Ships

[edit] External links

• Spruance-class destroyers at Destroyer History Foundation
• News story: "Last Spruance-Class Destroyer Decommissioned"

v • d • e Spruance-class destroyer Spruance | Paul F. Foster | Kinkaid | Hewitt | Elliot | Arthur W. Radford | Peterson | Caron | David R. Ray | Oldendorf | John Young | Comte de Grasse | O'Brien | Merrill | Briscoe | Stump | Conolly | Moosbrugger | John Hancock | Nicholson | John Rodgers | Leftwich | Cushing | Harry W. Hill | O'Bannon | Thorn | Deyo | Ingersoll | Fife | Fletcher | Hayler Kidd (Modified Spruance)-class destroyer Kidd | Callaghan | Scott | Chandler List of destroyers of the United States Navy | List of destroyer classes of the United States Navy