This article needs additional citations for verification. (October 2013) |
![]() USS The Sullivans on 29 October 1962
| |
History | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Name | The Sullivans |
Namesake | The Sullivan brothers |
Builder | Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation |
Laid down | 10 October 1942 |
Launched | 4 April 1943 |
Sponsored by | Mrs. Thomas F. Sullivan |
Commissioned | 30 September 1943 |
Decommissioned | 7 January 1965 |
Stricken | 1 December 1974 |
Identification |
|
Motto | We Stick Together |
Honors and awards | See Awards |
Status | Museum ship at Buffalo Naval & Military Park |
Badge | ![]() |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Fletcher-class destroyer |
Displacement | 2,050 long tons (2,080 t) |
Length | 376 ft 6 in (114.76 m) |
Beam | 39 ft 8 in (12.09 m) |
Draft | 17 ft 9 in (5.41 m) |
Installed power |
|
Propulsion |
|
Speed | 35 knots (65 km/h; 40 mph) |
Range | 6,500 nmi (12,000 km; 7,500 mi) at 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) |
Complement | 336 |
Armament |
|
![]() | |
Location | Buffalo, New York |
Coordinates | 42°52′40″N 78°52′50″W / 42.8777°N 78.8806°W |
NRHP reference No. | 86000085 |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | 14 January 1986 |
Designated NHL | 14 January 1986 |
USS The Sullivans (DD-537) is a retired United States Navy Fletcher-class destroyer. The ship was named in honor of the five Sullivan brothers (George, Francis, Joseph, Madison, and Albert) aged 20 to 27 who died when the light cruiser, USS Juneau, was sunk by a Japanese submarine during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal on 13 November 1942. This was the greatest military loss by any one American family during World War II.[1] She was also the first ship commissioned in the Navy that honored more than one person.
After service in both World War II and the Korean War, The Sullivans was assigned to the 6th Fleet and was a training ship until she was decommissioned on 7 January 1965.
In 1977, she and cruiser USS Little Rock were processed for donation to the Buffalo and Erie County Naval & Military Park in Buffalo, New York. The ship now serves as a memorial museum ship and is open for public tours. On 13 April 2022, the USS The Sullivans partially sank from a severe hull breach.