USS SPRUANCE

DD-963 destroyer 1975-2005

Spruance-class destroyer

Vikipedia... 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

USS Spruance was the first of a highly-successful class of anti-submarine warfare and anti-ship destroyers, and was the first destroyer powered by gas turbines in the U.S. Navy. At first she was armed with two 5-inch naval guns, an ASROC missile launcher, and an eight-cell NATO Sea Sparrow missile launcher. Spruance received one Mark 41 Vertical Launch System (VLS) during the late 1980s. This replaced the original Mark 16 ASROC launcher. Also added to Spruance after several years of service was an eight-cell launcher for Harpoon antiship missiles.

Spruance's first operational deployment was in October 1979 to the Mediterranean Sea, as a member of the USS Saratoga Carrier Battle Group.

Spruance was relieved as flagship by USS Hayler on 9 October 1990 after having completed more than 170 boardings

On 1 June 2000, Spruance became the first U.S. Navy ship to use the drydock in Jacksonville, Florida, in over ten years.

She decommissioned 23 March 2005. She was sunk as a target for aircraft launched Harpoon missiles on 8 December 2006.

The Spruances were much larger than destroyers of that era, being comparable in size to contemporary guided-missile cruisers (CG and CGN) and U.S. Navy light cruisers (CL) in World War II. Their hull dimensions allowed them not only to accommodate a helicopter landing pad, a first for a U.S. Navy destroyer as flight decks were previously only found on frigates and cruisers, they were the first U.S. Navy destroyer/cruiser class to have an enclosed hangar (with space for up to two medium-lift helicopters) which was a considerable improvement over the basic aviation facilities of earlier cruisers.

The Spruance-class received the "DD" designation in the hull classification symbol system which was previously applied to gun destroyers, though their primary armament as designed was missiles

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Spruance osztály

A Spruance osztály rombolóosztály, melyet az USA haditengerészete rendelt meg az 1960-as években. Eredetileg 30 hajóra szólt a szerződés, de később rendeltek egy 31. darabot is. A hajók elsődleges feladata a tengeralattjárók elleni hadviselés volt, de fegyverzetük alkalmassá tette őket felszíni hajók és repülőgépek elleni küzdelemre, valamint part menti szárazföldi célpontok támadására is. Az első 30 darab a DD-963-tól DD-992-ig terjedő lajstromszámot kapta, a 31. (Hayler) pedig a DD-997-est.

1974-ben az iráni sah 6 db hajót rendelt, amit előbb 4-re csökkentettek le, míg végül a megrendelést törölték. Ezt a 4 hajót az USA haditengerészete megvásárolta és Kidd osztályként állította hadrendbe az 1980-as évek elején.

Az ezredforduló táján fokozatosan kivonták őket a hadrendből. Az utolsó egység - a Cushing - 2005. szeptember 21-ig állt szolgálatban.

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