The DD 963 SPRUANCE - class (original) (raw)

Development and History:

At the end of the 1960th the US Navy started a competition for a new class of guided missile ships which should be more suitable to contribute in carrier battle groups as the ships of the KNOX-class.

This program was called DDX and at the end Ingalls Shipbuilding was awarded the contract to build all ships of that class.

The thirty-one SPRUANCE class destroyers were developed for the primary mission of anti-submarine warfare, including operations as an integral part of attack carrier forces. The SPRUANCE-class ships are more than twice as large as a World War II destroyer and as large as a World War II cruiser.

Utilizing highly developed weapons systems, the SPRUANCE class destroyers are designed to hunt down and destroy high speed submarines in all weather, but can also engage ships, aircraft, and shore targets. These multi-purpose combatants are also capable of providing naval gunfire support in conjunction with Marine amphibious operations worldwide.

Built with future growth in mind, their design is modular in nature, allowing for easy installation of entire subsystems within the ship. Space and power reservations have been made to accommodate future weapons and electronics systems as they are developed. Originally developed as Anti-Submarine (ASUW) destroyers, 24 ships of this class were upgraded with the installation of a 61 cell Vertical Launch Missile System (

<ahref=".. launcher="" vls.htm"="">VLS) capable of launching <ahref=".. weapons="" tomahawk.htm"="">Tomahawk missiles.

Navy destroyers have historically been retired by 30 years of service. But in 1998 the seven SPRUANCE class destroyers which did not receive the

<ahref=".. weapons="" tomahawk.htm"="">Tomahawk VLS upgrade were decommissioned after only two decades of service, to accommodate the introduction of the improved <ahref=".. weapons="" aegis.htm"="">AEGIS-capable ARLEIGH BURKE destroyers. All decommissioned ships are scheduled to be scrapped.

The SPRUANCE class destroyers were the first class of ships in the US Navy to have gas turbine power. The four General Electric LM-2500 engines are marine shaft power versions of the TF39 turbofan used on DC-10 and C-5A aircraft. Producing a total of 80,000 shaft horsepower, they can drive the ship in excess of 30 knots, but it does not happen very often that all four engines work at the same time. One engine is able to accelerate the ship to 19 knots, two engines reach 27 knots. The two other engines are only activated when the ship shall reach its high speed of 33 knots. From the cold start of the engines to the high speed it takes just twelve minutes.

The whole engine installations are insulated against the own noise and that promotes the ASUW and the operation of the sonar installations.

The SPRUANCE class destroyers are equipped with three gas turbine generator. Each of the three gas turbine generators produces 2,000 kilowatts of power.

Twin controllable-reversible pitch propellers provide these ships with a degree of maneuverability unique among warships of its size.

A high degree of automation permits a reduced crew of 30 officers and 352 enlisted to operate the ship. Comfort and habitability are integral elements to the ship's design, which includes amenities such as a crew's lounge, ATM machine, gymnasium, class room, and ship's store.

</ahref="..></ahref="..></ahref="..></ahref="..>

DD 974, DD 976, DD 979, DD 983, DD 984, DD 986 and DD 990 with the Tomahawk box launchers and the ASROC launcher

SPRUANCE class destroyers equipped with the Mk-41 VLS