GSCS(SW) Ret DD963 ‘79 – ‘83. I am so disheartened and can only shake my head. She did not get the VLS upgrade and we knew her days were numbered. Weapons systems limited, did they have NTDS, how about Engineers, were their power plants like? I’m not sure what upgrades they received, but they were originally designed and built for a foreign country, so I am sure their technology wasn’t/isn’t up to the Sprucans levels. To replace these old boats, the Spruance class, a mighty 31 destroyers, were built between 1972-1983, all at Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula. “The Spruance with Class” Didn’t see your name listed there. I will approve you. What were the major differences (other than between a DDG and DD)? The CG 26 class CGs were also decommissioned way too soon for budgetary reasons. They loved their weekly tub of ice cream. Identifying the Best Training, Tools, and Tactics for the Armed Civilian! Exploring History with the National Archives Special Media Division. and a missile launcher on the fantail. I believe the spru-can’s could have been refurbished to another decade or more. Plankowner on USS HAYLER DD997. I served on the USS F B Parks DD-884(Gearing class destroyer). A lot of good memories tied up in both those old girls…. I met the ship of the coast of Beirut In Sept 83 where she was the first ship with the new 5″54 gun system to draw blood. [22] The Navy wants to procure the first Columbia-class boat in FY2021. ( Log Out /  I served onboard the US John Young DD973 from 92-96. Lived in Bremerton for many years and watched a set of 3-4 of them (I remember one was David R Ray) moored in the bay off of PSNS for years, just rotting away. USS Peterson (DD-969) keeping tabs on YAK-38 Forger, most likely landing on a Soviet Kiev-class carrier. I was the first PC on her. Somehow the helicopters were on Sumner and Gearings’. I was on Rigel (T-AF-58) and Neosho (T-AO-143) in the 80’s out of Norfolk, VA. Is it just me? I was an OS/ship rescue swimmer 80-83 on DD-973 USS John Young. It was designed to invade enemy's water without backing of a large fleet. I love you for your service and dislike you (just a lill) honesty about a ship I’ve learned to love. My first thought was …Wow…now why wouldn’t they want to retrofit these great ships and get another 10 to 15 years of service out of them? I have many pictures of her from over the years, some were taken by me and many others that were taken during the years after I moved on and later retired from the Navy. [43] The turbines convert thermal energy in the steam into mechanical energy, and the generators convert that mechanical energy into electrical energy. Served on Ingersoll 87-90 caught in yards in San Pedro Ca and rode her to Pearl.Did the Aussie Bi-cenntenial cruise more time inport than at sea after the cruise Capt Frank told me I would make chief because of the performance of our div(S2) I will be always thankful for that group of sailors much love for Spruance Class destroyers. Several of those that weren’t converted to VLS were given quadruple ABL Mark 43 Tomahawk missile launchers like on the recommissioned Iowa class battleships. I am a plankowner on the USS VICKSBURG. https://orleck.org/, https://polldaddy.com/js/rating/rating.jsWhen we commissioned the USS David R. Ray (DD-971) we had grey bottom rails, and White TOP rails, so crew members could see them at night; at least from 1977 to 1981. I know the Ticos early on had the same issue with white railings. We sailed with many Fletcher class “cans” that were only 2100 tons. Not even her 127mm guns, standard issue on US Navy destroyers, were salvaged. Tim French They are presently serving honorably and proudly in the Taiwan Navy. Our Navy has become has shrunk to become second rate. Remember the Pascagoula shipyard and all the pre-commissioning work we did. She served us well and glad to see our old girl still afloat. 81- 85. I was on the John Rodgers. I was a plank owner on the DD986 – USS Harry W. Hill. Email: Reunion@dd973.org for more info…. This is a total of 239 surface warships capable of blue water operations. Great cruise. I was among the first to convert from EM1 to GSE1 in oct. 78 when the GS rating officially opened. I loved bothe Sprucans I was on. from 1973 to 1978 the hull was so thin we were forbidden from needle gunning the bilges. [53] SSD was evaluated by the U.S. Navy as well, but it remains unknown whether the Ohio-class replacement will feature it. The “through deck destroyer” variant would place a ski jump on a Spruance hull and be able to carry as many as 10 VTOL aircraft. コロンビア級原子力潜水艦（コロンビアきゅうげんしりょくせんすいかん、Columbia class submarine）は、アメリカ海軍において計画されている弾道ミサイル潜水艦。 トライデントミサイルを搭載したオハイオ級弾道ミサイル潜水艦の後継艦（以前はオハイオ級潜水艦更新艦、SSBN-Xと呼ばれて … Qualified Engineering Officer of the Watch (EOOW) as a First Class Petty Officer. We would like to show you a description here but the site won’t allow us. He was a Ship Serviceman and I was an Operations Specialist. [4], US Navy nuclear ballistic missile submarine class, "Navy Columbia (SSBN-826) Class Ballistic Missile Submarine Program: Background and Issues for Congress", "Columbia-class Program Upping Oversight of Vendors, Components to Stave Off Further Delays", "Navy Navy SSBN(X) Ballistic Missile Submarine Program: Background and Issues for Congress", NUCLEAR POSTURE REVIEW FINAL REPORT media.defense.gov, "1,000 Trident Patrols: SSBNs the Cornerstone of Strategic Deterrence", "SSBNX Under Pressure: Submarine Chief Says Navy Can't Reduce", "Facts We Can Agree Upon About Design of Ohio Replacement SSBN", "Ohio-class Replacement Will Carry "Re-packaged and Re-hosted" Weapons System", "U.S. Navy Sees 20-Year, $333 Billion Plan Missing Ship Goals", "Navy Finishes Specs for Future Nuclear Sub", "USN taps General Dynamics Electric Boat as prime contractor for Ohio Replacement Programme", "Ohio Replacement Plan Is Good News For Electric Boat", "Newport News Shipbuilding's share of Virginia-class submarine deliveries to grow | Defense & Shipyards", "Navy contracts mean Electric Boat will hire 14,000 over next 13 years", "New U.S. Navy Nuclear Sub Class to Be Named for D.C.", "SECNAV Mabus to Officially Designate First ORP Boat USS, "Report on the Columbia-class Nuclear Ballistic Missile Submarine Program", "U.S. Navy to name submarine after Wisconsin", OHIO Replacement Program Naval Submarine League ssbn.pl, "Ohio Replacement Submarine Starts Early Construction", "CMC Program to Define Future SSBN Launchers for UK, USA", "An Analysis of the Navy's Fiscal Year 2013 Shipbuilding Plan", "Lockheed Martin to adapt submarine combat systems for network-centric warfare operations at sea", "An Integrated Electric Power System: the Next Step", "Propulsion Systems for Navy Ships and Submarines", "Technology for the United States Navy and Marine Corps, 2000–2035 Becoming a 21st-Century Force: Volume 2: Technology", "Turboelectric Drive in American Capital Ships", "Secret Nuclear Redesign Will Keep U.S. Subs Running Silently for 50 Years", "Ohio Replacement Subs To Shift To Electric Drive", "Concept study of 20 MW highspeed permanent magnet synchronous motor for marine propulsion", "Navy Ship Propulsion Technologies: Options for Reducing Oil Use — Background for Congress", "Superconductor Motor for Navy Passes Full-Power Test :: POWER Magazine", "Small Subs Provide Big Payoffs for Submarine Stealth", "The US Navy – Fact File: Large Scale Vehicle – LSV 2", "SSBN "Strategic Successor Submarine" project", "Tango Bravo: breaking down barriers in submarine design", "Tango Bravo R&D Project to Drive Down Sub Size", "Torpedoes and the Next Generation of Undersea Weapons", "The Rim Electric Drive – Internal Submarine", "GDEB Unveils New Ohio Replacement (SSBN-X) Detailed Model at Sea-Air-Space 2015 Exposition", "Navy Signs Specification Document for the Ohio Replacement Submarine Program, Sets forth Critical Design Elements", "Declining Deterrent Patrols Indicate Too Many SSBNs", "Newport News Shipbuilding awarded $2.2B contract for construction of first two Columbia-class submarines", "Naval Vessel Register - COLUMBIA (SSBN 826)", "SECNAV Names Newest Columbia-class submarine USS Wisconsin", 3 Questions: America’s Next Nuclear-Missile Submarine, List of submarines of the United States Navy, List of submarine classes of the United States Navy, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Columbia-class_submarine&oldid=995814903, Submarine classes of the United States Navy, Nuclear submarines of the United States Navy, Articles with dead external links from July 2019, Articles with permanently dead external links, Articles lacking reliable references from August 2013, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles containing potentially dated statements from 2013, All articles containing potentially dated statements, Articles needing POV-check from December 2020, Articles with failed verification from December 2020, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, Expected 42-year service life (it is planned that each submarine will carry out 124 deterrent patrols during its service life), Missile launch tubes that are the same size as those of the, Beam at least as great as the 42-foot (13 m) beam of the, 16 missile launch tubes instead of 24 missile launch tubes on, Although the SSBN(X) is to have fewer launch tubes than the, X-shaped stern control surfaces (hydroplanes), Off-the-shelf equipment developed for previous submarine designs (, This page was last edited on 23 December 2020, at 01:06. Don’t get me wrong; I hated to see my old ship and all the other ships of the class go away. Great Ships. My first duty station was the O’Bannon DD-987 2003 – DECOM. Not entirely sure on the railings issue. The USS Bonhomme Richard was one of 10 large amphibious ships operated by the U.S. Sadly, while their chronological age would have suggested they had another decade of service remaining, most of the SPRUCANs I ever set foot on were begging to be retired (of my two, 982 more so than 989)…obsolescent and limping along from a materiel standpoint. Two of my 3 favorite ships, the first being a 2250 Fram can USS Higbee DD-806! [33][34] Electric drive should reduce the life-cycle cost of submarines while at the same time reducing acoustic signature. While I got to enjoy activity and follow-up the story of “Elliot and the Three Bears” My transfer did not let me participate in the rescue of the Vietnamese Boat People. As more and more AEGIS-equipped vessels came online, the antiquated NTDS systems of the class were unable to “keep up”. Stream Babert - Boogie Oogie (Original Mix) by L.O.Dee from desktop or your mobile device. Look up operation Operation Nimble Archer for some good spurance class reading. I recall going through a storm that caused a 18 foot crack in the aluminum super structure. The littoral combat ship (LCS) is a set of two classes of relatively small surface vessels designed for operations near shore by the United States Navy.It was "envisioned to be a networked, agile, stealthy surface combatant capable of defeating anti-access and asymmetric threats in the littorals." When I seen them sink her a part of me went too. I reminded he that we had offloaded all ammunition at Seal Beach, CA before departing. My First Ship was DD-977 Briscoe. I even remember that time when I mouthed off over the 21MC as a joke but the transmission went through…In any event, I left the Hill in 1979 but kept a Reserve Commission and changed my designator from Surface Warfare to Intelligence. He was my cousin and I was an ENC “M-Division” on the USS David R. Ray DD-971, Plankowner. Note the “stealth” hull configurations of the DDG-51 Class. Picked her up in Panama and deployed for the NSA ops in the Gulf of Fonseca area doing our thing during the Salvadoran civil war. [4] The Navy has a goal of reducing the average cost of the remaining 11 planned hulls in the class to $4.9 billion each (fiscal 2010 dollars). Open to former crewmembers and support personnel. It was… surreal. On our maiden cruise – We made it to the mouth of the Med in 5 days – faster than I ever sailed across the pond before or since! ( Log Out /  Second ship was USS John Hancock DD-981 October 1987- November 1991 Made one MEF cruise and a North Atlantic cruise, Served as Senior Enlisted Engineering Programs Manager. How come it shows the Orleck with white railings? [50][51] Permanent magnet motors, developed by Siemens AG, are used on Type 212 submarines, in service with the German and Italian navies. Fife Dog The FAS argues that fewer submarines could be built if those boats were to maintain the higher deterrent patrol rate of years past,[61][62] though the U.S. Navy disagrees with the FAS assessment. Meanwhile, worked at Mobil, Nike, Intel and then Microsoft because I moved to the Pacific Northwest. Thanks for your service! This would have given those ships another 20 years of life. True, the newer Burks have the firepower and technology, but those old hulls (both the Spruences/Ticos, and the OHP) could take a pounding. Mike Sullivan. Our first ship, and boy was she a GREAT ONE… In the end, it is always money. Raines, as well. Dissimilar metals which caused electrolysis and resulted in rapid deterioration.Additionally she had no expansion joints and was prone to super structure cracking. We keep making under armed ships that will get folks on our side killed, and loose the battle. ; The ship suffered a catastrophic fire in July 2020 that left it … Online there are pictures of her being broken in Brownsville, TX…Very very sad…. I served on 2 SpruCans: USS PAUL F FOSTER (DD 964) as OPS Boss and USS O’BRIEN (DD 975) as XO. The reason the Navy dumped the Spruance Class was because of the hull… Terrific to hear from you! The OHPs were never meant to be multi-warfare DD replacements. A great ship and really hated to see her sunk. In ’93 we launched 14 Tomahawks on Baghdad and on two deployments with the Ike we were rarely with the carrier group. First paragraph….Five inch/thirty eight caliber gun….there is no such critter as a five inch/fifty eight…that would wind up with a barrel three hundred inches long or so…. My hat off to you sir, another tincan sailor. Nice article on the ships, they were built for speed. [54][55] On contemporary nuclear submarines, steam turbines are linked to reduction gears and a shaft rotating the propeller/pump-jet propulsor. Refitting with Aegis wouldn’t happen. That shipyard was the worst the US had to offer…I called their workers “rednecks with welding rods”. Served as part of Airdale crew aboard the USS O’Brien DD975 and USS Ingersol DD990 ……. One of the repairs that was being done was welding up a large crack that had formed between the masts on the O3 level. I served aboard the Harry W Hill, DD-986 aka The Furry Wet Mound 1996-97. As Sea Sparrow I made Chief and selected tor 8 when I went ashore. I won’t go any farther than that. My brother Roy and I were one of 2 sets of brothers that were plankowners on the David R. Ray. I too served on the Connolly DD-979, 85-90. Unfortunately, even with the increased defence spending and intention to build a new frigate class, this ambition cannot be realised until at least the late 2030s. Thanks for the article. I was the commissioning Operations Officer in USS SPRUANCE (DD-963). Video of Stump SINKEX literally brought me to tears…Yorktown is decommissioned, but still afloat up in the northeast pending some kind of decision on disposition. I’ll be going to her last XO’s funeral this Thursday in Arlington. A fine ship gone far too soon. Cadillacs…..Plain and simple, Our Ship (USS FIFE), could tear through the water, Hunted Subs like a fox, and always looked sleek and sure in or out of port. Both were fine ships. Many good memories. We could not fight the Russian’s, or Chinese now and win. Instead of being crammed full of TLAMs, these new DDGs have to allocate most of their space to carrying surface to air missiles. I was an EW on DD-971 (David R. Ray) for a couple of years early to mid ’80s. Unresolved: Release in which this issue/RFE will be addressed. I don’t know if this went through the first time, but if it did I apologize… Good memories and sad feelings on the demise of our homes away from home! Who would think. The FRAMs had 5/38s, but that could just be a typo. As a 9 year old. I served on the Fletcher Dd-992 from 1993-1996. The shame in the SPRUANCE class retirement is that the Navy did a poor job of maintaining and upgrading them. Spruance-class destroyer USS Peterson (DD-969) with Soviet Moma AGS class survey vessel Nakhodka in the Sargasso Sea 1983 on the rescue op for Victor III-class SSN K-324. Great article! The cost to build Columbia, the lead boat of the class, will be an estimated $6.2 billion (fiscal 2010 dollars). It doesn't work today and onward as Navy now put Chinese navy as its no. Old ships simply don’t have as many fans as new ones, and their billion dollar contracts, divided among 20 states or so. CMC Bill DuVal (FC). Then again, our crew took excellent care of our baby… So sad to know she has been put to the bottom though. OS2 “DEL”. and eventually San Diego on her….I feel the same way…heart-broken to hear the fate of the Spruance class…. Did a North Atlantic cruise on the Spruance DD-963 while in Precom for MY ship, Comte De Grasse DD-974…. USS Comte De Grasse? Personally I think to many people are in a hurry to use these fine ladies for target practice. The Navy retired them way too early. A few corrections: You listing of the weapon and radar systems would lead one to believe that all the “Spruance class” destroyers had an AN/SPS-49 air search radar when in fact only one, the USS Hayler had this type of radar. Terrific to hear from you and I’d like to get your summary of life after the Hill as well. You can argue that the 96-cell VLS equipped DDG-51 class destroyers replaced the Spru-cans, DDGs, and retired CGs on a 2:3 basis, but the DDG-51 lacked the extra 5-inch mount, and, in early models, the aircraft capability. On Halloween 1983, K-324 snagged the frigate USS McCloy’s towed sonar array cable about 300 miles west of Bermuda, causing damage to the submarine’s propeller. Anyway… it’s good to see that you Perhaps you can contact the Orleck museum for more info on that scheme. USS O’Bannon DD987 85-88, her sinkex is on youtube and the only thing I can say when I watched it was, those doing the sinking would be crapping themselves if I was still on board her shooting back, sad to see the young lady go down without a fight, and yes she could fight hard. Obviously, keeping us in good shape would have meant spending money the Navy would have rather dumped on its pride and joy Aegis ships. Just one of their number, the former USS Paul Foster, remains. I was on the USS John Rodgers DD983 and she died a death no ship should go through, she was scrapped at Brownsville TX shipyard. Those 7 hulls that were not equipped with VLS retained their ASROC launchers which gave the fleet another 56 of those weapons. these were good ships, sorry they are now history. I honor this class on my facebook page. We had several fires onboard due to shipyard trash being stored in electrical junction boxes. Tv came on the O3 level more formidable group of ships probably wasn ’ t alive to have seen.. An outsider into Iraq just after the cold War 83 to JUN 86 and if we fight the ’! Was Long Island contractor Dynell electronics, it probably was the De commissioning before i retired a! Took a pounding before going down nuclear-powered submarines on DD997 USS Hayler the... Fram ’ s propulsion control center, during her trials period, May 1975 see daylight from within information... 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