Spruance class destroyer
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| Missing image USSSpruanceDD-963.jpg USS Spruance cruises in the Atlantic Ocean. | |
| General Characteristics | |
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| Displacement: | 8,040 tons full load. |
| Length: | 529 feet (161 m) waterline; 563 feet (172 m) overall. |
| Beam: | 55 feet (16.8 m) |
| Draught: | 29 feet (8.8 m) |
| Propulsion: | 4 × General Electric LM2500 gas turbines; 80,000 shp (60 MW); 2 x shafts. |
| 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 (6,000 km) at 30 knots (56 km/h). |
| Complement: | 19 officers, 315 enlisted |
| Armament: | 2 x 5 inch (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 triple 12.75 inch torpedo tubes (Mk46 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: | 2 x SH-60B Seahawk LAMPS III helicopters. |
| Radars: | AN/SPS 40B/C/D air search, AN/SPS 55 surface search, Mark 86 GFCS with AN/SPG-60 and AN/SPQ9A, SWG-2 Tomahawk weapon control system in ABL ships (SWG-3 in VLS ships), Mark 91 missile FCS, Mark 116 ASW FCS. |
| Sonars: | AN/SQS 53A bow mounted sonar (AN/SQS 53B in DD-980), AN/SQR TACTAS towed array in DD-980. |
| EW: | AN/SLQ 25 Nixie, AN/SLQ32V, AN/WLR 1 in DD-971 & DD-975. |
The Spruance-class destroyer was developed as a replacement for 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. The class was originally designed for anti-submarine warfare with only point defense missiles for the AAW role although subsequent upgrades have provided anti-ship and land attack capabilities.
The class are notable for being the first large U.S. Navy ships to use gas turbine power. Spruance-class vessels are powered by four General Electric LM2500 gas turbines generating approximately 80,000 horsepower (60 MW). This configuration was so successful that the entire hull and physical plant of the Spruance class was used unchanged 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 thirty ships was contracted with a single shipyard to facilitate mass construction on 23 June 1970 although labor and technical problems delayed construction. One additional ship, USS Hayler (DD-997), was ordered on 29 September 1979. Four additional ships were built for the Iranian Navy with the Mark 26/Standard AAW missile system but were completed as the Kidd-class destroyers for the U.S. Navy.
Of the thirty-one vessels constructed, twenty-four have been decommissioned and the remaining seven ships which have been extensively modernized were expected to remain in active service through the end of the decade. However, their withdrawal has been accelerated as a cost-cutting measure, and they are now to be retired by 2006. As of 2005, only two Spruance-class destroyers remain in service.
Larry Blumberg was the first commanding officer of a Spruance-class destroyer.
| Missing image USS_Deyo;0598917.jpg starboard bow view of Deyo | Missing image USS_Fife;0599115.jpg starboard quarter view of Fife |
| Spruance-class destroyer |
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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 |
| List of destroyers of the United States Navy List of destroyer classes of the United States Navy |