Charles F. Adams class Guided Missile Destroyer – DDG / US Navy

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US Navy Ships / DDG
DDG 2 > Charles F. Adams – Class
The Charles F. Adams class of guided missile destroyers was a group of twenty-nine built between 1958 and 1967. Twenty-three of these ships were built for the United States Navy, three for the Royal Australian Navy, and three for the West German Bundesmarine. The ships were based on the existing Forrest Sherman class, but were the first destroyers designed to serve as missile destroyers. The destroyers of this class served in the Cuban blockade of 1962 and the Vietnam War. The United States Navy decommissioned its last Charles F. Adams destroyer, the USS Goldsborough, on April 29, 1993. The Australian and German navies had also decommissioned their last ships of this class by 2003. Four ships of this class were transferred to the Hellenic Navy in 1992. All four have since been decommissioned. The USS Charles F. Adams has been placed on inactive hold status and there are attempts by private groups to have it preserved as a museum ship. The USS Hoel has been sold to a private corporation which is attempting to use it as a power generating plant in Brazil. With the exception of these two ships and the Kimon, all of the ships in this class have been sunk as targets, sold for scrap, or are scheduled for one of the two fates.
	Specifications (US Navy ships only):
Builders:	DDG 2-3, 10-11 Bath Iron Works; DDG 4-6, 15-17 New York Shipbuilding; DDG 7-8, 12-13 Defoe Shipbuilding; DDG 9,14, 23-24 Todd Shipyards; DDG 18-19 Avondale Shipyards; DDG 20-22 Puget Sound Bridge and Drydock
Displacement	3,190-3,647 tons (light) 4,500 tons (full load)
Length	133,20 meters
Beam	14,30 meters
Draft	6,10 meters
Max Speed	31+ knots / max.
Power Plant	4 1200 psi boilers; 2 General Electric geared gas turbines; 2 shafts; 2 propellers; 70,000 shaft horsepower;
Aircraft	None - VERTREP capable only
Armament	1 - Mk 11 Tartar Missile Launcher w/42 missiles (DDG 15-24) 1 - Mk 13 Mod 5/6 Missile Launcher w/40 missiles (DDG 15-24) Standard Missiles (MR) Harpoon missiles (from Standard launcher) ASROC (from MK 16 launcher) 2 - MK 32 triple tube mounts w/ six Mk-46 torpedoes) 2 - 5-inch / 54 caliber MK 42 gun
Systems	2 - AN/SPG-51 Fire Control Radar 1 - AN/SPS-10 Surface Search Radar 1 - AN/SPS-29 B,C Band Air Search Radar (DDG 2-14) 1 - AN/SPS-37 (2D) B,C Band Air Search Radar (DDG 2-14) 1 - AN/SPS-39 (3D) E,F Band Air Search Radar (DDG 15-24) 1 - AN/SPS-40 (2D) UHF Band Air Search Radar (DDG 15-24) 1 - Mk 4 or 13 weapon director 1 - Mk 68 gun fire control w/SPG-53A (DDG 2-18) 2 - Mk 74 missile fire control 1 - Mk 86 fire control w/SPG 60D & SPQ 9A (DDG 19-24) 1 - Mk 111 antisubmarine fire control (DDG 2-15) 1 - Mk 114 antisubmarine fire control (DDG 16-24) 1 - AN/SQQ-23 active/passive hull mounted Sonar (DDG 16-19) 1 - AN/SQS-23 active long range hull mounted Sonar (DDG 2-16) 1 - AN/SQS-24 bow mounted Sonar (DDG 20-24) 1 - AN/SLQ-25 Nixie towed torpedo decoy 1 - AN/WLR-1 ESM/ECM [initially] 1 - AN/SLQ-32 ESM/ECM [later]
Complement	up to 383 (20 officers, 363 enlisted)
Ships of the Charles F. Adams class:
	US Navy (23 ships)
	DDG 2 USS Charles F. Adams (1960)
	DDG 3 USS John King (1961)
	DDG 4 USS Lawrence (1962)
	DDG 5 USS Claude V. Ricketts (1962) (ex USS Biddle)
	DDG 6 USS Barney (1962)
	DDG 7 USS Henry B. Wilson (1960)
	DDG 8 USS Lynde McCormick (1961)
	DDG 9 USS Towers (1961)
	DDG 10 USS Sampson (1961)
	DDG 11 USS Sellers (1961)
	DDG 12 USS Robison (1961)
	DDG 13 USS Hoel (1962)
	DDG 14 USS Buchanan (1962)
	DDG 15 USS Berkeley (1962) – transferred to Greece as HS Themistoklis / D 221
	DDG 16 USS Joseph Strauss (1963) – transferred to Greece as HS Formion / D 220
	DDG 17 USS Conyngham (1963)
	DDG 18 USS Semmes (1962) – transferred to Greece as HS Kimon / D 218
	DDG 19 USS Tattnall (1963)
	DDG 20 USS Goldsborough (1963)
	DDG 21 USS Cochrane (1963)
	DDG 22 USS Benjamin Stoddert (1964)
	DDG 23 USS Richard E. Byrd (1964)
	DDG 24 USS Waddell (1964) – transferred to Greece as HS Nearchos / D 219
	Foreign customers of Charles F. Adams class Guided Missile Destroyers
	Royal Australian Navy (Perth class) – US built (3 ships)
DDG 25	D 38 HMAS Perth (1965)
DDG 26	D 39 HMAS Hobart (1965)
DDG 27	D 41 HMAS Brisbane (1967)
	German Navy (Lütjens class) – US built (3 ships)
DDG 28	D 185 FGS Lütjens (1969) (laid down as USS Tolman / DDG 28)
DDG 29	D 186 FGS Mölders (1969) (laid down as USS Henry A. Wiley / DDG 29)
DDG 30	D 187 FGS Rommel (1970) (laid down as USS Shea / DDG 30)
last update: 14-03-2008
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