Home > Spruance class destroyer

The Spruance-class destroyer, developed as replacements for the large number of World War II built Allen M. Sumner- and Gearing-class destroyers, was the primary destroyer built for the US Navy during the 1970s. The class was originally designed for antisubmarineUSS Los Angeles (SSN-688)|USS Los Angeles A submarine is a specialized boat that travels under water, usually for military or scientific purposes. Most major navies of the world employ submarines. Submarines are also used for marine and freshwater science warfare with only point defense missiles for the AAW role, although subsequent upgrades have provided them with an anti-ship and land attack capability.

The class is notable for being the first large US Navy ships to use gas turbine power. Spruance-class vessels are powered by four General ElectricGeneral Electric Company or GE is a multinational technology and services company, one of the world's largest corporations. While it still uses its full name for legal purposes, it prefers to use the abbreviation GE in the names of its component businesse LM 2500 gas turbines generating approximately 80,000 horsepower (60 MW). This configuration was so successful that the entire hull and physical plant of the Spruance-class was used unchanged for the later Kidd-class destroyers and Ticonderoga classThe ''Ticonderoga class cruiser is the first warship in the world to use phased-array radar; the increased combat capability offered by the AEGIS combat system and the AN/SPY-1 radar system justified the changing of the classification of USS Ticonderoga a cruisers.

The entire class of thirty ships was contracted with a single shipyard to facilitate mass construction on 23 June 1970 although labor and technical problems delayed construction. One additional ship was ordered on 29 September 1979. Four additional ships were built for the Iranian Navy with the Mark 26/Standard AAW missile system but were completed as the Kidd classThe Kidd class destroyers are a series of vessels based upon the hull of the Spruance class destroyers. These ships were originally ordered by the Shah of Iran for service in the Persian Gulf in an air defense role. The vessels were not able to be deliver destroyers for the United States NavyThe United States Navy USN is the branch of the United States armed forces responsible for naval operations. Navy consists of slightly fewer than 300 ships and over 4,000 operational aircraft. It has over a half million men and women on active or ready re.

Of the thirty-one vessels of this class constructed, twenty-four have been decommissioned and the remaining seven ships, which have been extensively modernized, were expected to remain in active service through at least the end of the decade. However their withdrawal has been accelerated as a cost cutting measure, and they are now to be retired by 20062006 is a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). It has been designated: The International Year of Deserts and Desertification Predicted events January 9 Planned launch date of New Horizons February 28 Mardi Gras February 9 Independence r. At the end of 2004 only 4 destroyers of the class are still in service.