New US Navy ship commissioned in Key West

[Go2GuyFL]

ubPsQHZOqd8

[Bluerauder]

U.S.S. Spruance, DDG 111 --- Named after this guy, no doubt ....

Raymond Ames Spruance (July 3, 1886 – December 13, 1969) was a United States Navy admiral in World War II.

Spruance commanded US naval forces during two of the most significant naval battles in the Pacific theater, the Battle of Midway and the Battle of the Philippine Sea. The Battle of Midway was the first major victory for the United States over Japan and is seen by many as the turning point of the Pacific war. The Battle of the Philippine Sea was also a significant victory for the US. The Navy's official historian said of the Battle of Midway " ...Spruance's performance was superb...(he) emerged from this battle one of the greatest admirals in American naval history". After the war, Spruance was appointed President of the Naval War College, and later served as American ambassador to the Philippines.

FYI -- in the 1976 movie "Midway", Admiral Spruance was played by actor Glenn Ford. Admiral Halsey (Robert Mitchum) recommended to Admiral Nimitz that Spruance take command of the Pacific fleet. Halsey was laid up in the hospital at Pearl Harbor at the time. True story .....

[Spruance is visiting Halsey in the hospital]

RAdm. Raymond A. Spruance: I just want to thank you for recommending me to take your task force to sea. Now I have a question for you- Did that *itch* go to your *head*?

Vice Adm. William F. 'Bull' Halsey Jr.: [amused] Stop underestimating yourself, Ray. Any Skipper who could keep his cruisers and destroyers alongside of my carriers, from one end of the Pacific to the other, is *definitely* the man for the job.

RAdm. Raymond A. Spruance: You and I are uh- aw, Bill, we're kind of different! Do you think *I* can pull it off the same way *you* could have?

Vice Adm. William F. 'Bull' Halsey Jr.: [calmly] I can only tell you this Ray- You play it the way you *feel* it, not the way you think *I'd* play it. You go to sea, you find Yamamoto, and *chew his ass*! Now, that's all there is to it.

[MyTMerc]

We had an entire class of DD's named after Admiral Spruance in the mid 70's through 2005. I think they've all, or most, been sunk (on purpose) for training.

[knine]

Can CBT put a "Hi salor" here? Seems appropriate.

[Bluerauder]

We had an entire class of DD's named after Admiral Spruance in the mid 70's through 2005. I think they've all, or most, been sunk (on purpose) for training.

Yep, Spruance Class DD 963-997 ...

Ship Name Hull No. Commission–
Decommission Disposition Link
Spruance DD-963 1975–2005 Disposed of in support of Fleet training exercise [1]
Paul F. Foster DD-964 1976–2003 Active, in service as EDD-964 [2] [3]
Kinkaid DD-965 1976–2003 Disposed of in support of Fleet training exercise [4]
Hewitt DD-966 1976–2001 Disposed of by scrapping, dismantling [5]
Elliot DD-967 1977–2003 Disposed of in support of Fleet training exercise [6]
Arthur W. Radford DD-968 1977–2003 Stricken, to be disposed of as artificial reef [7]
Peterson DD-969 1977–2002 Disposed of in support of Fleet training exercise [8]
Caron DD-970 1977–2001 Disposed of in support of Fleet training exercise [9]
David R. Ray DD-971 1977–2002 Disposed of in support of Fleet training exercise [10]
Oldendorf DD-972 1978–2003 Disposed of in support of Fleet training exercise [11]
John Young DD-973 1978–2002 Disposed of in support of Fleet training exercise [12]
Comte de Grasse DD-974 1978–1998 Disposed of in support of Fleet training exercise [13]
O'Brien DD-975 1977–2004 Disposed of in support of Fleet training exercise [14]
Merrill DD-976 1978–1998 Disposed of in support of Fleet training exercise [15]
Briscoe DD-977 1978–2003 Disposed of in support of Fleet training exercise [16]
Stump DD-978 1978–2004 Disposed of in support of Fleet training exercise [17]
Conolly DD-979 1978–1998 Disposed of in support of Fleet training exercise [18]
Moosbrugger DD-980 1978–2000 Disposed of by scrapping, dismantling [19]
John Hancock DD-981 1978–2000 Disposed of by scrapping, dismantling [20]
Nicholson DD-982 1979–2002 Disposed of in support of Fleet training exercise [21]
John Rodgers DD-983 1979–1998 Disposed of by scrapping, dismantling [22]
Leftwich DD-984 1979–1998 Disposed of in support of Fleet training exercise [23]
Cushing DD-985 1979–2005 Disposed of in support of Fleet training exercise [24]
Harry W. Hill DD-986 1979–1998 Disposed of in support of Fleet training exercise [25]
O'Bannon DD-987 1979–2005 Disposed of in support of Fleet training exercise [26]
Thorn DD-988 1980–2004 Disposed of in support of Fleet training exercise [27]
Deyo DD-989 1980–2003 Disposed of in support of Fleet training exercise [28]
Ingersoll DD-990 1980–1998 Disposed of in support of Fleet training exercise [29]
Fife DD-991 1980–2003 Disposed of in support of Fleet training exercise [30]
Fletcher DD-992 1980–2004 Disposed of in support of Fleet training exercise [31]
Hayler DD-997 1983–2003 Disposed of in support of Fleet training exercise [32

[Vortex]

Im a "plankowner" on DD-978. Very nice ships, easy to work on. They sunk the Stump as a target, what a damn waste.

[Hotrauder]

Built at Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine up the Kennebec River from our summer hide out on the coast. We watched progress the past past 2 summers and the launch a month ago. They are building 2 Zumwalt class now. Dennis

[-Matt-]

Im surprized they only get about 20 years out of em

[CBT]

Im surprized they only get about 20 years out of em
I'm not. They spend more time teaching sailors how to be politically correct than teaching them how to maintain thier own equipment.