USS The Sullivans (DD-537)

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "USS The Sullivans" DD-537 – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (October 2013) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

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	Call sign: NIDU Hull number: DD-537
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	4 × oil-fired Babcock & Wilcox boilers 60,000 shp (45,000 kW)
Propulsion	2 × General Electric-geared steam turbines 2 × shafts
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	(as built) 5 × 5 in (130 mm)/38-caliber guns, 10 × 40 mm (1.6 in) Bofors AA guns (5 × 2), 7 × 20 mm (0.79 in) Oerlikon AA cannons (7 × 1), 10 × 21 in (530 mm) torpedo tubes (2 × 5), 6 × K-gun depth charge throwers, 2 × depth charge tracks (as preserved) 4 × 5 in/38 caliber guns, 2 × 3 in (76 mm)/50-caliber guns (1 × 2), 4 × 40 mm Bofors AA guns (2 × 2), 4 × 20 mm Oerlikon AA cannons (2 × 2), 2 × Mark 32 triple torpedo tubes, 2 × Hedgehog, 1 × depth charge track
Buffalo and Erie County Naval & Military Park
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. National Historic Landmark
Location	Buffalo, New York
Coordinates	42°52′40″N 78°52′50″W / 42.8777°N 78.8806°W / 42.8777; -78.8806
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.