USS Paul F. Foster

USS Paul F. Foster underway on 17 November 2011
History
United States
Name	Paul F. Foster
Namesake	Paul F. Foster
Ordered	1 June 1970
Builder	Ingalls Shipbuilding
Laid down	6 February 1973
Launched	22 February 1974
Sponsored by	Isabelle L. Foster[1]
Acquired	1 February 1976
Commissioned	21 February 1976
Decommissioned	27 March 2003
Reclassified	EDD-964, 16 March 2005
Stricken	6 April 2004
Homeport	Port Hueneme
Identification	Callsign: NMDX Hull number: DD-964
Motto	Honor, Valor, Service
Status	SDTS ship
Badge
General characteristics
Class and type	Spruance-class destroyer
Displacement	8,040 long tons (8,170 t) full load
Length	529 ft (161 m) waterline 563 ft (172 m) overall
Beam	55 ft (17 m)
Draft	29 ft (8.8 m)
Propulsion	4 × General Electric LM2500 gas turbines, 2 shafts, 80,000 shp (60 MW)
Speed	32.5 knots (60.2 km/h; 37.4 mph)
Range	6,000 nmi (11,000 km; 6,900 mi) at 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph)
Complement	19 officers, 315 enlisted
Sensors and processing systems	AN/SPS-40 air search radar AN/SPG-60 fire control radar AN/SPS-55 surface search radar AN/SPQ-9 gun fire control radar Mark 23 TAS automatic detection and tracking radar AN/SPS-65 missile fire control radar AN/SQS-53 bow-mounted active sonar AN/SQR-19 TACTAS towed array passive sonar Naval Tactical Data System
Electronic warfare & decoys	AN/SLQ-32 electronic warfare system AN/SLQ-25 Nixie torpedo countermeasures Mark 36 SRBOC decoy launching system AN/SLQ-49 inflatable decoys
Armament	2 × 5 in (127 mm) 54 caliber Mark 45 dual purpose guns 2 × 20 mm Phalanx CIWS Mark 15 guns 1 × 8 cell ASROC launcher (removed) 1 × 8 cell NATO Sea Sparrow Mark 29 missile launcher 2 × quadruple Harpoon missile canisters 2 × Mark 32 triple 12.75 in (324 mm) torpedo tubes (Mk 46 torpedoes) 1 × 61 cell Mk 41 VLS launcher for Tomahawk missiles
Aircraft carried	2 × Sikorsky SH-60 Seahawk LAMPS III helicopters
Aviation facilities	Flight deck and enclosed hangar for up to two medium-lift helicopters

USS Paul F. Foster (DD-964), named for Vice Admiral Paul F. Foster USN (1889–1972), is a Spruance-class destroyer built by the Ingalls Shipbuilding Division of Litton Industries at Pascagoula, Mississippi. She was commissioned on 21 February 1976 and decommissioned on 27 March 2003. She is now ex-Paul F. Foster, serving as a Self Defense Test Ship for experimental U.S. Navy weapons and sensors. She is the last Spruance-class destroyer still afloat.