Forrest Sherman class destroyer
For other ships with the same name, see
USS Hull
.
|
History
|
United States
|
Namesake
| Isaac Hull
|
Builder
| Bath Iron Works
|
Laid down
| 12 September 1956
|
Launched
| 10 August 1957
|
Acquired
| 25 June 1958
|
Commissioned
| 3 July 1958
|
Decommissioned
| 11 July 1983
|
Stricken
| 15 November 1983
|
Fate
| Sunk as a weapons test platform, 7 April 1998
|
General characteristics
|
Class and type
| Forrest Sherman
-class
destroyer
|
Displacement
|
- 2,800 tons standard.
- 4,050 tons full load.
|
Length
| 407 ft (124 m) waterline, 418 ft (127 m) overall.
|
Beam
| 45 ft (14 m)
|
Draft
| 22 ft (6.7 m)
|
Propulsion
| 4 x 1,200 psi (8.3 MPa)
Babcock & Wilcox
boilers w/Bailey 'Iowa type' ACC,
General Electric
steam turbines; 70,000 shp (52 MW); 2 x shafts.
|
Speed
| 32.5
knots
(60.2 km/h; 37.4 mph)
|
Range
| 4,500
nautical miles
(8,300 km) at 20 knots (37 km/h)
|
Complement
| 15 officers, 218 enlisted.
|
Armament
| 3 × 5 in (127 mm) 54 calibre dual purpose Mk 42 guns; 4 × 3 in (76 mm) 50 calibre Mark 33 anti-aircraft guns; 2 × mark 10/11
Hedgehogs
; 6 × 12.75 in (324 mm) Mark 32
torpedo tubes
.
|
USS
Hull
(DD-945)
, named for
Commodore
Isaac Hull
USN (1773 to 1843), was a
Forrest Sherman
-class destroyer
built by the
Bath Iron Works
Corporation at
Bath
in
Maine
. Laid down on 12 September 1956 and launched 10 August 1957, by Mrs.
Albert G. Mumma
.
[1]
History
[
edit
]
She was commissioned 3 July 1958 and transited the
Panama Canal
a few months later to begin a long career with the
Pacific Fleet
.
[1]
Between April and August 1959
Hull
conducted the first of her fifteen deployments to serve with the
Seventh Fleet
in the Western Pacific. She made three more cruises in that area in 1960, 1961?1962 and 1963?1964. During October and November 1962 the
destroyer
escorted Pacific-based
amphibious forces
to the Panama Canal Zone as part of the
US Navy
's
Cuban Missile Crisis
operations.
Hull's
1965 Seventh Fleet tour was the first of six
Vietnam War
deployments, during which she fired tens of thousands of five-inch shells in support of forces ashore and helped rescue several downed U.S. aviators. Additionally,
Hull
served as plane guard for
carriers
on
Yankee Station
in the
Tonkin Gulf
, participated in
Operation Sea Dragon
operations, and patrolled on search and rescue duties and carried out
Naval Gunfire Support
missions during the Vietnam War.
Hull
made her eleventh WestPac cruise in 1973, after the direct U.S. role in the Vietnam War had ended.
[2]
USS
Hull
test fired the new 8 inch/55 caliber MCLW gun off San Clemente Island, California, September 17, 1975
During her major overhaul in 1974?75, her forward 5 in/54 Mark 42 gun mount was replaced with an
8 in/55 Mark 71 gun mount
. This Major Caliber Lightweight Gun ("MCLWG") was the result of a project dating back to the 1960s, when it was realized that heavy gunfire support for amphibious operations would die with the existing force of
heavy cruisers
unless a big gun could be developed for destroyer-size ships. A prototype gun and mounting had been built and tested ashore during the early 1970s.
Hull
was its test ship for seagoing trials, after which it was expected that several of these guns would be installed on board destroyers of the new
Spruance class
.
[3]
[4]
Hull's
eight-inch gun began firing tests in April 1975. These lasted into the following year, and were reportedly successful. The ship carried the Mark 71 mounting during her 1976-77 and 1978 deployments to the Western Pacific, and conducted more firing tests during that time. However, the MCLWG project was cancelled in 1978. The prototype gun was removed from
Hull
during her 1979-80 overhaul
[3]
and she spent the rest of her days with the three five-inch gun mounts that were typical of her class.
[4]
In February?September 1981
Hull
served again in Asian waters. She began her final deployment in September 1982, steaming to the Western Pacific by way of
Alaska
, rescuing five Vietnamese refugees at sea in October and then moving further west to serve in the
Indian Ocean
and
Arabian Sea
as part of the battle group built around the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier
Enterprise
.
[5]
Fate
[
edit
]
Returning to the
United States West Coast
in April 1983,
Hull
immediately commenced inactivation preparations. She was
decommissioned
on 11 July 1983 and stricken on 15 October 1983. During a weapon and tactics test, she was sunk on 7 April 1998. The test was designed around a
Harpoon missile
fired from a
Lockheed S-3B Viking
,
[6]
but many different weapons were used throughout the exercise. Her final resting place is
32°35′00.9″N
120°32′00.3″W
/
32.583583°N 120.533417°W
/
32.583583; -120.533417
(
"USS
Hull
(DD-945)"
)
at a depth of 2,096 fathoms (12,576 feet; 3,833 meters).
[
citation needed
]
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in 1998
|
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Shipwrecks
| |
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Other incidents
| |
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|
32°35′00.9″N
120°32′00.3″W
/
32.583583°N 120.533417°W
/
32.583583; -120.533417