en en

Destroyer USS John Young (DD-973)

Destroyer USS John Young (DD-973) 0Destroyer USS John Young (DD-973) 1Destroyer USS John Young (DD-973) 2

Classification

Ship class:
Spruance-class destroyer
Type:
Destroyer

Basic information

Operator:
United States NavyUnited States Navy
Country of build:
Builder:
Ingalls ShipbuildingIngalls Shipbuilding
Laid down:
Launched:
Commissioned (service):
Decommissioned (out):
Status:
Sunk
Fate:
Sunk as target, 13 April 2004

Ship measurements

Displacement:
8,040 t
Length:
161 m
Beam:
16.8 m
Draft:
8.8 m

Machine

Propulsion system:
COGAG
Propulsion:
  • 4 * General Electric LM2500 gas turbines
  • 2 * shafts, 80,000 shp (60 MW)
Speed:
32.5 knots
Range:
6,000 nautical miles (11,000 km; 6,900 mi) at 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph)

Personnel

Complement:
334

Combat assets

Electronics:
  • AN/SPS-40 air search radar
  • AN/SPG-60 fire control radar
  • AN/SPS-55 surface search radar
  • AN/SPQ-9 gun fire control radar
  • Mark 23 TAS automatic detection and tracking radar
  • AN/SPS-65 Missile fire control radar
  • AN/SQS-53 bow mounted Active sonar
  • AN/SQR-19 TACTAS towed array Passive sonar
  • Naval Tactical Data System
  • AN/SLQ-32 Electronic Warfare System
  • AN/SLQ-25 Nixie Torpedo Countermeasures
  • Mark 36 SRBOC Decoy Launching System
  • AN/SLQ-49 Inflatable Decoys
Armament:
  • 2 * 5 in (127 mm) 54 calibre Mark 45 dual purpose guns
  • 2 * 20 mm Phalanx CIWS Mark 15 guns
  • 1 * 8 cell ASROC launcher (removed)
  • 1 * 8 cell NATO Sea Sparrow Mark 29 missile launcher
  • 2 * quadruple Harpoon missile canisters
  • 2 * Mark 32 triple 12.75 in (324 mm) torpedo tubes (Mk 46 torpedoes)
  • 1 * 61 cell Mk 41 VLS launcher for Tomahawk missiles
  • 1 * 21 round RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile
Aircraft:
  • 2 * Sikorsky SH-60 Seahawk LAMPS III helicopters

USS John Young (DD-973), honoring Captain John Young, USN, represented a Spruance-class destroyer within the United States Navy, crafted by the Ingalls Shipbuilding Division of Litton Industries in Pascagoula, Mississippi.

In 1987, John Young ventured off the Iranian coast to support Operation Earnest Will and was part of Operation Nimble Archer. Sailing alongside Battle Group Echo, which encompassed the aircraft carrier Ranger, battleship Missouri, cruisers Long Beach, Bunker Hill, destroyers Leftwich and Hoel, frigates Curts, Harold E. Holt, Robert E. Peary, Schofield, and auxiliaries Shasta, Wichita, Kansas City, and Hassayampa.

After Congressional approval, John Young became one of eight combat ships to integrate female crewmembers starting in 1994.

As part of the Pacific Fleet's restructuring into six core battle groups and eight destroyer squadrons by October 1995, John Young joined Destroyer Squadron 23. In 1996, during a Persian Gulf deployment, the ship faced a critical situation when a massive fuel oil leak resulted in extensive engineering space refits. Pre-deployment repairs were ongoing, disabling firefighting systems and temporarily removing fire-proof escape doors, posing potential catastrophic risks.

In April 1998, John Young's Navy and Coast Guard inspectors boarded a merchant ship, marking the 10,000th such boarding in support of UN sanctions against Iraq in the Persian Gulf. The vessel they inspected, an Indian-flagged dhow, was empty and allowed to proceed.

Further deployments and collaborations followed, including teaming up with a Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment for a significant sea-based drug bust in March 2001. Ultimately decommissioned in September 2002 and later sunk during RIMPAC 04 in April 2004 by a Mark 48 torpedo launched by the submarine Pasadena, resulting in the destroyer splitting in half, the John Young concluded its active service.

No comments yet