Spruance-class destroyer

USS Briscoe on 21 March 2003
Class overview
NameSpruance class
BuildersIngalls Shipbuilding, Pascagoula, Mississippi
Operators United States Navy
Preceded byCharles F. Adams class
Succeeded by
Built1972–1983
In commission1975–2005
Completed31
Active1 (Paul F. Foster) as SDTS
Retired30
General characteristics
Displacement8,040 long tons (8,170 t) full load
Length
Beam55 ft (17 m)
Draft29 ft (8.8 m)
Propulsion4 × General Electric LM2500 gas turbines, 2 shafts, 80,000 shp (60 MW)
Speed32.5 knots (60.2 km/h; 37.4 mph)
Range6,000 nmi (11,000 km; 6,900 mi) at 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph)
Complement19 officers, 315 enlisted
Sensors and
processing systems
Electronic warfare
& decoys
Armament
Aircraft carried2 × Sikorsky SH-60 Seahawk LAMPS III helicopters
Aviation facilitiesFlight deck and enclosed hangar for up to two medium-lift helicopters

The Spruance-class destroyer was developed by the United States to replace the many World War II–built Allen M. Sumner- and Gearing-class destroyers, and was the primary destroyer built for the United States Navy during the 1970s and 1980s. It was named in honor of U.S. Navy Admiral Raymond A. Spruance, who successfully led major naval battles in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater during World War II such as the Battle of Midway and the Battle of the Philippine Sea.

Introduced in 1975, the class was designed with gas-turbine propulsion, a flight deck and hangar for up to two medium-lift helicopters, all-digital weapons, and automated 127 mm (5-inch) guns. The Spruance class was originally designed to escort a carrier group, primarily for anti-submarine warfare (ASW), with point-defense anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) missiles and limited anti-ship capabilities. Two dozen members of the class were upgraded with Tomahawk cruise missiles for land attack.[1][2] The Navy retired the class somewhat earlier than planned, decommissioning the last ship in 2005. Most Spruances were broken up or destroyed as targets.[3] Its hull form and propulsion plant were adopted as the foundation of the Ticonderoga-class cruisers constructed in the 1980s. The class was succeeded as the main U.S. destroyer by the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer.

  1. ^ "The Abandoned Destroyer Class : Curse of the Spruances". 10 November 2013.
  2. ^ "DD-963 SPRUANCE-class". www.globalsecurity.org.
  3. ^ "Military Officers Association of America". www.moaa.org. 19 March 2019. Archived from the original on 20 September 2010.