USS Farragut (DDG-37)
USS Farragut (DLG-6/DDG-37) was the lead ship of her class of guided-missile destroyers (originally destroyer leaders) built for the United States Navy during the 1950s.
_underway_in_the_Atlantic_Ocean_on_2_July_1982_(6349812).jpg.webp) USS Farragut (DDG-37) | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name: | Farragut |
| Namesake: | Admiral David Farragut |
| Ordered: | 27 January 1956 |
| Builder: | Bethlehem Steel Corporation, Quincy, Massachusetts |
| Laid down: | 3 June 1957 |
| Launched: | 18 July 1958 |
| Acquired: | 8 December 1960 |
| Commissioned: | 10 December 1960 |
| Decommissioned: | 30 October 1989 |
| Reclassified: | 30 June 1975 |
| Stricken: | 20 November 1992 |
| Motto: | Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead! |
| Fate: | Dismantled |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Farragut-class guided missile frigate |
| Displacement: | 5,800 tons |
| Length: | 512.5 ft (156.2 m) |
| Beam: | 52 ft (15.8 m) |
| Draught: | 25 ft (7.6 m) |
| Propulsion: | 4 1200psi boilers, 2 geared turbines |
| Speed: | 36.5 knots (67.6 km/h; 42.0 mph) |
| Range: | 4,500 nautical miles (8,300 km; 5,200 mi) at 20 knots (20 mph; 40 km/h) |
| Complement: | 377 (21 officers + 356 enlisted) |
| Sensors and processing systems: | |
| Electronic warfare & decoys: | 2 x Mark 36 Super Rapid Bloom Off-board Chaff (SRBOC) launchers |
| Armament: |
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Design and description
The Farragut class was the first class of missile-armed carrier escorts to be built as such for the USN.[1] The ships had an overall length of 512 feet 6 inches (156.2 m), a beam of 52 feet 4 inches (16.0 m) and a deep draft of 17 feet 9 inches (5.4 m). They displaced 5,648 long tons (5,739 t) at full load. Their crew consisted of 23 officers and 337 enlisted men.[2]
The ships were equipped with two geared steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft, using steam provided by 4 water-tube boilers. The turbines were intended to produce 85,000 shaft horsepower (63,000 kW) to reach the designed speed of 32 knots (59 km/h; 37 mph). The Farragut class had a range of 5,000 nautical miles (9,300 km; 5,800 mi) at a speed of 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph).[1]
The Farragut-class ships were armed with a 5"/54 caliber Mark 42 gun forward and two twin mounts for 3"/50 caliber guns, one on each broadside amidships. They were fitted with an eight-round ASROC launcher between the 5-inch (127 mm) gun and the bridge. The Farragut (DDG-37) was the only ship of her class that had an ASROC magazine mounted behind the launcher. The class was already top-heavy and the addition of the magazine reportedly made it worse, so the decision was made not to equip the other nine ships with magazines. Close-range anti-submarine defense was provided by two triple sets of 12.75-inch (324 mm) Mk 32 torpedo tubes. The primary armament of the Farraguts was the Terrier anti-aircraft missile designed to defend the carrier battle group. They were fired via the dual-arm Mark 10 launcher and the ships stowed a total of 40 missiles for the launcher.[1]
Construction and career
Farragut, named for Admiral David Glasgow Farragut, was laid down as DLG-6 by the Bethlehem Steel Corporation at Quincy, Massachusetts, on 3 June 1957, launched on 15 July 1958 by Mrs. H. D. Felt, wife of the Vice Chief of Naval Operations and commissioned on 10 December 1960. Farragut was reclassified as a guided missile destroyer on 30 June 1975 and designated DDG-37. USS Farragut was decommissioned on 31 October 1989, stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 20 November 1992 and sold for scrap on 16 December 1994. On 26 September 2006 a contract to dismantle ex-Farragut was awarded to International Shipbreaking Limited of Brownsville, Texas. The ship's bell is currently being kept and preserved at Admiral Farragut Academy in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Notes
- Gardiner, Chumley & Budzbon, p. 580
- Friedman, p. 423
References
- Friedman, Norman (1982). U.S. Destroyers: An Illustrated Design History. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-733-X.
- Gardiner, Robert; Chumbley, Stephen & Budzbon, Przemysław (1995). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1947-1995. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-132-7.
- This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
External links
- This article includes information collected from the Naval Vessel Register, which, as a U.S. government publication, is in the public domain. The entry can be found here.