24 Arleigh Burke Class Destroyers (Out of Print) Price $67.95 (Check for Availability No. Off to research this one for myself. Great article! We nearly ran onto a reef in the Caribbean when the Omega system skipped lanes and gave us false navigation plots. First, the Department of Defense will force the Navy to eliminate the entire 22-hullTiconderogaClass cruiser fleet. Of the twenty-oneTiconderoga-classvessels currently in service, the Navy seeks to decommission as many as seven cruisers for the 2022 fiscal year: namely, theAnzio, Port Royal, Hu City, San Jacinto, Vella Gulf,Lake Champlain, andMonterey. Dad and I slept in Commander Mullens cabin, and he took the XOs. At least five more cruisers are on the chopping block through 2026. Of the twenty-oneTiconderoga-classvessels currently in service, the Navy seeks to decommission as many as seven cruisers for the 2022 fiscal year: namely, theAnzio, Port Royal, Hu City, San Jacinto, Vella Gulf,Lake Champlain, andMonterey. Sad to hear their fate and why. A-gang. The Navy has also expressed interest in uncrewed ships equipped with missiles as an inexpensive means of boosting fleet firepower. To replace these old boats, the Spruance class, a mighty 31 destroyers, were built between 1972-1983, all at Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula. I served onboard from pre-com all the way through to the end of the first WESTPAC deployment. I too served on the USS Peterson (DD-969) from 1986 1990 as a DS2 SW. Yes the Hull and superstructure was very thin but, you had to sacrifice something for speed and maneuverability. All ships also gained an 8-pack of Harpoon SSMs, an 8-cell NATO Sea Sparrow SAM launcher (also capable of being used against surface ships), and a pair of 20mm CIWS R2D2 guns for swatting away incoming missiles. Thanks to the internet and facebook have been able to reconnect with several of my old shipmates. Instead, all 31 Spruances were rapidly decommissioned and mothballed between 1998 and 2005, when the ships were all in their 20s. But, in a rush to claw back additional money, lock in savings, and make the proposed cuts permanent, agedTiconderogacruisers and olderBurkesmay well be pulled from service quite quicklyfar faster than anyone outside of the Pentagon expects. Plankowner USS Fletcher DD992 BM3 AlexRodriguez, I was a plank-owner on the USS Cushing (DD985), a fine ship! My husband, MAC Frank Pierce was also a plankowner on Cushing. Celebrating the Past, Present and Future of Navy Cryptology, Official site for National Guard marksmanship training & competitions. But later on the railings (or whatever the term is) are gray like the rest of the ship? Loki was confused when you weren't nowhere to be seen. Thanks for the article. They were a fast, maneuverable ship. later i served as DCA on uss fife (dd-991). Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved. I served on the USS Moosbrugger DD-980 from May, 1984 to Nov, 1986. We should have given them to our allies in the Pacific. Thanks for the ATA! I served on 2 Burke Class DDGs. Burke Class DDGs employ several RCS or Radar Cross Section reduction methods. * First and for My dad was running the sonar dept at Long Beach Naval Shipyard. DDG(X) will be armed with one five-inch gun, two SeaRAM close-in weapon systems, one 150-kilowatt laser, and about 96 vertical launch missile systems (the same as later-built Burke-class destroyers), according to a report from U.S. What a great tour of duty. Great ships!! However, those ships are not coming until around the fiscal year 2028. As the Navy decides on a long-term plan to phase out the Ticonderoga class, part of the cruiser fleet was entered into a modernization program. Thorn just had plankowner reunion in Nashville. The Spruance with Class The OHP June 21-24, 2018 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. Dont get me wrong; I hated to see my old ship and all the other ships of the class go away. Radioman. The Navys stopgap solution, increasingly supported by key lawmakers in the House,is to procure additional Flight III Arleigh Burke-class destroyers in coming years. Most 21-year old ships are still in service, with another 10-15 years left on their hulls. Compared to the rest of the Navy, Americas big surface ship fleet has avoided substantial cuts for a long time. The destroyers will be built with the ability to equip. She was a fine ship and it broke my heart to hear that she was used as target practice and sunk. Of the twenty-oneTiconderoga-classvessels currently in service, the Navy seeks to decommission as many as seven cruisers for the 2022 fiscal year: namely, theAnzio, Port Royal, Hu City, San Jacinto, Vella Gulf, Lake Champlain, andMonterey. One of the finest ships I served on. The destroyer will also be able to accommodate a payload module that includes even more missile silos. I laugh when I see that the Navy saved 28 million a year on operations! DDG(X) is surprising in a few ways. I remember when I first got there she was going through an availability. They have passed the torch to a younger and more formidable group of ships. Kyles articles have appeared at The Daily Beast, U.S. Oh, what nowthe Russians are reviving there sub fleet, too badno Spruance-class destroyers are left to hunt them down. Were all Navy ships of the 70s and 80s like that? I served on the USS F B Parks DD-884(Gearing class destroyer). WebTiconderoga class cruisers have 122 vertical launch system (VLS) missile cells, as opposed to 90 VLS cells on the Flight I Arleigh Burke destroyers, and 96 on the Flight But they could all have been upgraded to the standard of the three DDGs based on the Spruance class. Such a waste. While most navalists, eying Chinas growing Navy, hoped the big force of large surface combatants might serve as a nucleus to fill out Americas depleted and potentially more rapidly built force of auxiliaries and smaller surface combatants, the Pentagons impatient high-tech visionaries see Americas large combatant fleet as an increasingly expensive albatross, lashing the Navy to an expensive and crewed future. Later served aboard Leftwich till her move to Pearl.. Hey Guys, found this site VIA Pinterest, Read thorough the replies tonight 06/14/2021 I worked on the Eastbank as a welder on these ships in Pascagoula, MS 1977-1980. )..anyway I served on the Uss Talbot Deg-4 from 1970-1974..great fast ship..ok here is what I could never understand about retired ships..20 years they are all used up..the Us Airforce has the B-52 made when?..like back in the 50`swill fly another 20 years they say with updating every so often..how can the powers at be spend all the do rae me on that airplane (don`t get me wrong it is a good bomber for sure)..and replace some classes of ships with a proven track record so early because they say they are out of date..so is the B52.and now we all watch and learn about the new replacements ugly as hell..cant afford the bullets to the rail guns they haveand can never go to see without the local AAA tow tug right behind them..ya think there are some palms being greased in DC?..nuf said..GO NAVY. Today we face challenges on all fronts with neither the manpower nor the equipment to support sustained operations in a multiple theater scenario. . However, I recognized that necessity. Spent a considerable amount of time in Pascagoula. I agree that they were decommissioned way too early. WebTiconderoga-class vs Arleigh Burke-class | Comparison destroyers specifications Compare destroyers Ticonderoga-class Arleigh Burke-class Share Ticonderoga The Navys proposed FY2024 budget requests $187.4 million in research and development funding for the program. The Hill was a good ship with a fantastic commissioning Captain. 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. It broke my heart to learn of Nicholsons decommissioning and subsequent sinkex but it also happened to two of the other ships I served in as well. Can the U.S. Navy Deliver On a New Frigate? 
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. I went from BM3 to BM2 on her. As another Conolly plankowner, I fully agree with Tim and was dismayed to learn of the ships mothballing in 1998 after barely 20 years in commission, and eventual demise as a test target. We had HTs constantly chasing cracks in our starboard side helo hanger. 
If the Flight III Burke really does replace the Tico's then they may no longer fall under the "Arleigh Burke Class" designation and will probably be called cruisers. I was among the first to convert from EM1 to GSE1 in oct. 78 when the GS rating officially opened. Ironically, while all of the Spruances are gone, Orleck endures as a floating museum ship in Lake Charles, La. I was on-board USS Elliot(DD 967) AS A CTM1 From 1990 until 1993 always a tin-can sailor SPRU-CAN all the way got rid of them way too soon. The Ticos and the Burkes have steel superstructures. She has been in use since 2004 as an unnamed and non-commissioned test ship for the US Navy as the Self Defense Test Ship (SDTS). 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. Personally I think to many people are in a hurry to use these fine ladies for target practice. Great to hear from a fellow Harry W Hill plank owner. I felt my ship was too young. Also supplied aid to SEALS. She was the best riding ship I ever served on and is dearly missed. The cuts are widespread, but one place the axe falls hardest is upon the Navys large surface combatant fleet. When Will Ammunition Shortage Silence Russias Artillery? Connelly for a few short weeks. The Spruances, unlike the Burkes, was dedicated to ASW, ASuW, and land strike with both naval gunfire and cruise missiles. That was do able and would have made sense. In 2003, the newer 22 of the 27 ships (CG-52 to CG-73) in that class were upgraded to keep them combat-relevant, giving the ships a service life of at least 35 years each. I even remember that time when I mouthed off over the 21MC as a joke but the transmission went throughIn any event, I left the Hill in 1979 but kept a Reserve Commission and changed my designator from Surface Warfare to Intelligence. Our Can was classified as 2250 tons, not the 3000 to 4000 tons as specified in the article. As a 9 year old. BTW, I was on one of those Charles Adams class DDGs, the Goldsborough (DDG-20). Also a SPRUANCE plank owner. Was great ship and a great crew. Hey, George! Meanwhile, worked at Mobil, Nike, Intel and then Microsoft because I moved to the Pacific Northwest. Not even her 127mm guns, standard issue on US Navy destroyers, were salvaged. Mom & Dad sisters, brothers names? There is this thing call Stress Corrosion Cracking (This is also a significant problem with the CGs as well). I believe the spru-cans could have been refurbished to another decade or more. If left to normal attrition, most of the 27 olderArleigh BurkeClass destroyers, deprived of a few hundred million dollar service-life extension six years ago, will simply age out over the next 30 years. The DDG 51 class was named after the legendary Adm. Arleigh Burke, the most famous destroyerman of World War II. We had some good times Sullivan. To work around the Navys enduring appetite for large surface combatants, the Biden administration seems eager to blur the distinction between large and small surface combatants, edging towards a smaller combined force of about 100 surface combatants in total. The four KIDD class of upgraded Spruance destroyers were neither scrapped nor sunk. ), As a former US NAVY VET..(Bt3..yeah what`s a Bt? When ours blew, I remember the tedious process of flipping this very heavy unit between two dollies in the radar room vestibule to get it out onto the main passageway, then wheeling it through the hangar and out to the flight deck, where a pier-based crane took it away while my chief (ETC Ronald Pyle) looked on. Four. No more, no less. Otherwise, in terms of sensors and overall capabilities, the two ship types are largely identical. That would be relatively normal practice. I was a Nicholson Plankowner, 1979-1984. Her story is typical of her class. Once launched, the ships will drop the X and simply be referred to as DDGs. More on this ship below. Further, the 51s are tasked increasingly with fleet air defense and (now) with ABM missions. The forward bank of 32 missile silos can be swapped out for 12 hypersonic missiles; an integrated power system will allow the Navy to swap the two SeaRAM missile launcherswith a total of 42 short-range missileswith two 600-kilowatt lasers with a theoretically unlimited number of shots. What you said was honest and well thought out. A document shared earlier this month at the 2022 Surface Navy Association Symposium (an annual meeting of surface warfare veterans, active duty personnel, and industry) hints that the bow is different so that it can support arctic operations. I served TAD aboard USS Deyo in 1981, when she was the first ship deployed on orders of NSA to spy on the Nicaraguans and Salvadorans. The Navys new shipbuilding plan, released in mid-June, telegraphs enormous cuts to Americas large surface combatant fleet of cruisers and destroyers. USS Deyo after her ASROC was removed and replaced with the 61-cell VLS. Even with all the trials and tribulations the KinkyD went through, I was surprised when I learned of its destruction. Copyright 2023 Center for the National Interest All Rights Reserved. Yet another Conolly DD 979 plankowner here. Served on the Ready Radford 86-89. They were indeed beautiful ships though! I was an EW on DD-971 (David R. Ray) for a couple of years early to mid 80s. This article was printed earlier and is being republished due to reader interest. The weapon systems, technology, engineering plant and livability differences between TJ and PF Flyer was night and day. OHP sailor here, but the Spru-cans were great ships. Long time no see James. ), Pre-com plankowner DD963 USS Spruance shake down cruse and left the Spruance and the Navy Aug. 17 1976 We Know How Fast Earth Spins Dont We? Ex USS Paul F Foster DD-964, SDTS Self Defense Test Ship EDD-964, the last Spruance class Destroyer, decommissioned in 2003, still working, departing San Diego after refueling, December 3rd 2021 as captured on San Diego Webcam. What state was he from? As Sea Sparrow I made Chief and selected tor 8 when I went ashore. U.S. lawmakers are reportedly at a stalemate over the fate of the Navys aging cruiser fleet. Tim French Numbers and weapon systems are what we need. I was a Torpedomans Mate. Evidently the Goodyear rubber dome window had irregularities and caused flow noise. We attended a reunion in S.Diego a couple of years ago. OS2 DEL. We use cookies to personalise content and ads. 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. The cuts will be deep and potentially rapid. You probably know this, but Capt.Harbrect, Capt Lash, and Master Chief Huggins are still around Pascagoula, actually I think Capt Harbrect is in Fairhope, Alabama, https://polldaddy.com/js/rating/rating.jsThen commander Lash was the best officer I ever had the honor to serve with. DD 974 will forever live in my heart Sans Precedent ! Copyright 2023 Center for the National Interest All Rights Reserved. Coming from the USS Forrestal crew I was determined to do it right the first time. Good ship great crew. Went through GITMO reftra, Oct, 1985 and then on to the med cruise 1986. In fact, given that timeline, DD-997 would only be expected to decommission in 2018. Although she was a great ship with plenty of power the Spruance class destroyers were plagued with some serious problems. You didnt throw away your two year old tube TV because plasma TV came on the market. In 80 to 81, I was 11-12 yrs old and was in St Lucia while my dad was working thereWe took a tour of the USS Peterson when it came in for a port visit. As the Navy decides on a long-term plan to phase out the Ticonderoga class, part of the cruiser fleet was entered into a modernization program. I am a plankowner on the USS VICKSBURG. USS OBannon 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. The Senate Armed Services Committee appears to diverge sharply from some in the House on the importance of keeping the Ticonderoga class in service. I know the Ticos early on had the same issue with white railings. She was the last and best ship of my 20 plus years. The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Kidd (DDG 100) underway in the South China Sea. I was on the USS Comte De Grasse DD974 from 1980 to 1983. It was surreal. Writing about whatever interests me, and maybe you. But with at least 20 ConstellationClass frigates set to be built in the coming years, the stage is set for, at a minimum, a rapid sundowning of the 12 remainingFreedomClass (LCS-1) ships. The Navys stopgap solution, increasingly supported by key lawmakers in the House,is to procure additional Flight III Arleigh Burke-class destroyers in coming years. Over the 1980s and 90s, they were increasingly armed with other weapons systems. The Arleigh Burkes had a new and stealthier hull design, but with essentially the same gas turbine propulsion plant and Aegis combat system. Amid Chinas Reunification Threats, US Could Deploy Cutting Edge Missiles Near Taiwan Strait No sooner were they stricken than they were systematically sunk in a series of fleet training exercises, dismantled, or otherwise scrapped. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. It would have been prohibitively expensive to retrofit the SPRUANCE hull with AEGIS. Other than those small errors, I found the article to be very noteworthy and interesting. The Republic of China Navy now operates the four Kidd class DDGs. Funny thing were all correct, and all saddened at the premature end of every damn one of them,regardless of the reason for it. This article is being republished due to reader interest. Without an active large combatant production line, the Navys restart record isnt that great. Did that Spy thing and looking for Gun Runners on the USS Coontz DDG-40 in 81/82. Maybe Im too nostalgic, but I strongly feel the Navy wasted a perfectly good hull when it dumped the SpruCan. They also faded away with 62 5-inch guns, 62 CIWS guns, 249 Harpoon anti-ship missile launch spots, 62 LAMPS helicopter hangar spots, 249 Sea Sparrow missile launcher cells, 210 RAM missile cells, and 186 Mk32 ASW Torpedo tubes. My first duty station was the OBannon DD-987 2003 DECOM. DDG(X) stems from a Navy requirement for a "large surface combatant," which is a destroyer or cruiser-sized vessel of 10,000 tons or more. I considered the SpruCans as cadillacs since I came off the Knox Class frigates. and is slated to go to Jacksonville in the coming months. Three years later served as EMO aboard DD-984 USS Leftwich. I was on the Stump DD-978 from 81-85. But what hurt was the De commissioning before I retired from the navy.
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