USS Sellers DDG 11 / Admiral David Foote
Sellers / Charles F. Adams class Guided Missile Destroyer – US Navy
|
|
s e a f o r c e s – online
|
Naval Forces
Technology, History & Information
|
|
|||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||
|
|
|
|||||||||
Guided Missile Destroyer
|
||||||||||
DDG 11 - USS Sellers
|
||||||||||
|
|
|
|||||||||
USS Sellers (DDG 11)
|
US Navy photo
|
|||||||||
Type,
Class:
|
|
Guided Missile Destroyer; Charles F. Adams - class;
planned and built as DDG
11; |
||||||||
Builder:
|
|
Bath Iron Works, Bath,
Maine, USA; |
||||||||
STATUS:
|
|
Awarded: January 17, 1958 Laid down: August 3, 1959 Launched: September 9, 1960 Commissioned:
October 28, 1961 Decommissioned:
October 31, 1989 Fate: Stricken
November 20, 1992; Sold for scrap. |
||||||||
Homeport:
|
|
-
|
||||||||
Namesake:
|
|
Named after and in honor of Admiral David Foote Sellers (1874 – 1949); > see history, below; |
||||||||
Ship’s
Motto:
|
|
> GUARDIAN OF FREEDOM
< |
||||||||
Technical Data:
(Measures, Propulsion, Armament,
Aviation, etc.)
|
|
see: INFO
>> Guided
Missile Destroyer / Charles F. Adams – Class |
||||||||
|
|
||||||||||
Pictures,
photos & more ...
|
||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||
|
David
Foote Sellers |
||||||||||
|
|
David Foote Sellers |
|
||||||||
|
Photo credits: US Navy, US Naval
Historical Center |
||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||
|
Namesake
& History: |
||||||||||
|
Admiral David Foote Sellers
(4. Februar 1874 – 27. Januar 1949); |
||||||||||
|
David Foote Sellers was born
in Austin, Texas at an Army Post, on 4 February 1874, the son of Major Edwin
E. Sellers and Mrs. (Olive Lay Foote) Sellers. He was appointed to the United
States Naval Academy as a Naval Cadet from New Mexico and entered the Academy
on 1 May 1890. Graduated on 8 June 1894, fifth in his class, he served the
two years at sea then required by law, and was commissioned Ensign in the
United States Navy on 1 July 1896. Through subsequent promotions, he attained
the rank of Rear Admiral on 2 June 1927, held the temporary rank of Vice
Admiral in 1932-1933, and that of Admiral in 1933-1934. After his retirement
on 1 March 1938, he was commissioned in the grade of Admiral on the Retired
List of the Navy effective 16 June 1942 (Act of Congress). After graduation from the
Naval Academy in 1894, he had continuous sea duty until May 1898, serving in
USS MASSACHUSSETS, USS ESSEX and USS ALLIANCE. On 24 May 1898, he reported to
the Receiving Ship INDEPENDENCE, and when detached on 9 July, reported aboard
USS PHILADELPHIA, in which he served during the Spanish-American War. He took
part in the Samoan Campaign in 1899, and was in Philippine waters during the
Philippine Insurrection, on board USS NEW YORK, while serving in the staff of
Rear Admiral Frederick Rodgers. Detached from duty aboard NEW YORK in October
1904, he assumed command of the Torpedo Boat Destroyer STEWART, serving as
Commanding Officer until May 1907. Serving next in the Bureau of
Navigation of the Navy Department in Washington, D.C., he had additional duty
as Naval Aide to the White House, serving until June 1908. Later that month,
he joined the crew of USS NEW HAMPSHIRE, to serve as Aide on the staff of
Rear Admiral William S. Cowles, Commander in Chief, Asiatic Fleet. He was
detached from this duty by orders dated 30 November 1909, and after duty in
connection with the fitting out of USS MICHIGAN at the Navy Yard in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, served in that Battleship from her commissioning
in 1910 until he was detached on 16 May 1912. Reporting to Hampton Roads,
Virginia, he served temporarily as Aide to the Commander of a Division of
German ships which was visiting the United States at that time, and on 9 July
was sent to San Francisco for duty in connection with the Panama Pacific
International Exposition. From 4 February 1914 until 19 May 1915, he served
as Executive Officer of USS ARKANSAS, then successively commanded USS SALEM
and USS BIRMINGHAM, completing his tour of BIRMINGHAM on 9 June 1916. He
attended the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island during the next nine
months, and on 23 April 1917, just after the United States entered World War
I, he was detached to command of USS AGAMEMNON, an Atlantic Fleet transport
ship, remaining in command through the last months of hostilities. He was
awarded the Navy Cross for service during World War I, the award accompanied
by the following citation: "For exceptionally meritorious service in a duty
of great responsibility as Commanding Officer, USS AGAMEMNON, engaged in the
important, exacting and hazardous duty of transporting troops and supplies to
European ports through waters infested with enemy submarines and mines, and
as Commanding Officer, USS WISCONSIN in the Atlantic Fleet..." After the War, he served for a
year on the staff of the Naval War College, then on 12 April 1920, was
ordered to the Navy Department for a second tour of duty in the Bureau of Navigation.
While there, he also served as Aide to the Secretary of the Navy, the
Honorable Edwin Denby, from 30 September 1921 until 28 February 1922. On 1
March he assumed command of USS MARYLAND. Upon completion of that tour in
command, he reported as Commander of the Naval Training Station in San Diego,
California. Completing that tour in September 1926, he then reported as Chief
of Staff to the Commander, Scouting Fleet, continuing in that duty until he
was promoted to the grade of Rear Admiral on 2 June 1927. On 8 July 1927, he was
assigned as Commander, Special Service Squadron. He served in that capacity
until May 1929, during the uprisings in Nicaragua. He was awarded the
Distinguished Service Medal by the President of the United States with the following
citation: "For exceptionally meritorious service to the Government in a
position of great responsibility as Commander, Special Service Squadron from
8 July 1927 to 12 May 1929 during the disturbed conditions in the Republic of
Nicaragua. Throughout this time, Rear Admiral Sellers handled with great
skill and diplomacy the many delicate situations which arose incident to the
pacification of Nicaragua prior to the presidential election on 4 November
1929, during the election and subsequent to it. As the Senior Officer
Present, he coordinated the activities of the Marine Brigade on shore, which
was a part of his command, with the activities of the Nicaraguan Government,
the Guardia National and the officers of the United States Army on election
duty. In the discharge of his duty of protecting lives and property, he
displayed strength and initiative coupled with wisdom and tempered by
kindness and humanity." In June 1929, he was appointed
Judge Advocate General of the Navy for a four year term, but on 1 August
1931, was instead ordered to report on 15 September as Commander Battleship
Division ONE, Battle Force, U.S. Fleet. A year later, he was designated
Commander Battleships, Battle Force, with the accompanying rank of Vice
Admiral; and on 10 June 1933, he became Commander in Chief. United States
Fleet with the rank of Admiral. He served as Commander in Chief until 18 June
1934 when he reported as Superintendent of the Naval Academy, in which
capacity he served until his retirement from active duty on 1 March 1938. Retired in his permanent grade
of Rear Admiral, he was advanced to the grade of Admiral on the Retired List
on 16 July 1942, according to the Act of Congress of that date. That Act
allowed an officer to retire in the highest grade in which he served on
active duty. Admiral Sellers died at the Naval Hospital, Bethesda, Maryland,
on 27 January 1949; and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery. He was
survived by his wife, the former Anita Clay Evans of Chattanooga, Tennessee,
who resided in Washington, D.C. until her death there on 2 August 1954. In addition to awards of the
Navy Cross and the Distinguished Service Medal, Admiral Sellers had been
awarded a Special Letter of Commendation by the War Department for service
during World War I, and was awarded the Spanish Campaign Medal, Philippine
Campaign Medal, Mexican Service Medal, Second Nicaraguan Campaign Medal, and
World War I Victory Medal with Transport Clasp. He also had been awarded the
Marine Corps Expeditionary Medal for service as a member of the Landing Force
from USS PHILADELPHIA during the Samoan Insurrection from 14 March until 18
May 1899. Admiral Sellers wore the following foreign decorations: Gold Medal
of Merit and the Medal of Merit, both from the government of Nicaragua; and
the Order of Abdon Calderon from the government of Equador. Admiral Sellers was staunch
advocate of battle training under realistic conditions, and of the Navy air
arm. He insisted on the most modern flight equipment, and recognized the
importance of air power in strategic planning. Following his retirement from
active duty, he was known for the active interest he took in civic, welfare
and church affairs. He was a long-time member of the Board of Directors of
Children’s Hospital in Washington, D.C., the city in which he and his wife
maintained a home for almost fifty years. |
||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||
|
USS Sellers (DDG
11): |
||||||||||
|
Sellers (DDG-11) was laid down
on 3 August 1959 by Bath Iron Works Corp., Bath, Me.; launched on 9 September
1960; sponsored by Mrs. Hugh Scott; and commissioned on 28 October 1961,
Comdr. William R. Johnson in command. |
||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||
|
… and patches … |
||||||||||
|
|
|
|
||||||||
|
|
|
|
||||||||
|
|
||||||||||
