USS Somers DDG 34 (DD 947) / Lieutenant Richard Somers / Decatur (ex Forrest Sherman – DD) class Guided Missile Destroyer – US Navy
s e a f o r c e s – online
Naval Forces Technology, History & Information

 

 

 

 

 

 

Guided Missile Destroyer

DD 947 / DDG 34   -   USS Somers

USS Somers (DDG 34)

US Navy photo

Type, Class:

 

Guided Missile Destroyer; Decatur (converted Forrest Sherman DD) - class;

built as DD 947; converted to DDG 34;

Builder:

 

Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine, USA;

STATUS:

 

Laid down: March 4, 1957

Launched: May 30, 1958

Commissioned: as DD 947: April 9, 1959; as DDG 34: February 10, 1968;

Decommissioned: as DD 947: April 11, 1966; as DDG 34: May 15, 1984;

 

Fate: Stricken April 26, 1988;

finally sunk as a target July 22, 1998 during exercise RIMPAC 1998 –

at location: 22° 21’ N / 160° 58’ W / Pacific;

Homeport:

 

-

Namesake:

 

Named after and in honor of Lieutenant Richard Somers (1778 – 1804);

> see history, below;

Ship’s Motto:

 

> <

Technical Data:

(Measures, Propulsion,

Armament, Aviation, etc.)

 

see: INFO > Guided Missile Destroyer / Decatur (ex Forrest Sherman) - class.

 

Pictures, photos & more ...

Richard Somers

 

Photo credits: US Navy, US Naval Historical Center,

 

Namesake & History:

Richard Somers (1778 or 1779 – September 4, 1804);

 

was an officer of the United States Navy, killed during a daring assault on Tripoli.

 

Born at Great Egg Harbor, New Jersey, he was appointed midshipman on 25 April 1797 and served in the West Indies during the Quasi-War with France in frigate United States commanded by Captain John Barry. Promoted to lieutenant on 21 May 1799, Somers was detached from United States on 13 June 1801 and ordered to Boston on 30 July 1801. He served in the latter frigate in the Mediterranean. After Boston returned to Washington, DC, Somers was furloughed on 11 November 1802 to await orders.

 

On 5 May 1803, Somers was ordered to Baltimore, Maryland, to man, fit out, and command Nautilus, and when that schooner was ready for sea, to sail her to the Mediterranean. Nautilus got underway on 30 June, reached Gibraltar on 27 July, and sailed four days later to Spain. He then returned to Gibraltar to meet Commodore Edward Preble, in Constitution, who was bringing a new squadron for action against the Barbary pirates. Nautilus sailed with Preble on 6 October to Tangier where the display of American naval strength induced the Europeans of Morocco to renew the treaty of 1786. Thereafter, Tripoli became the focus of Preble's attention.

 

Somers' service as commanding officer of Nautilus during operations against Tripoli won him promotion to Master Commandant on 18 May 1804. In the summer, he commanded a division of gunboats during five attacks on Tripoli.

 

On 4 September 1804, Somers assumed command of bomb ketch Intrepid which had been fitted out as a "floating volcano" to be sailed into Tripoli harbor and blown up in the midst of the corsair fleet close under the walls of the city. That night, she got underway into the harbor, but she exploded prematurely, killing Somers and his entire crew of volunteers.

 

Somers is buried near Tripoli in Libya. In 2004, the New Jersey state assembly pass two resolutions calling for the return of his remains.

 

Several ships of the US Navy have since been named USS Somers in his honor.

 

USS Somers (DDG 34):

 

USS SOMERS DD-947 was built by the Bath Iron Works Corporation, Bath, Maine. The Forrest Sherman class destroyer was originally launched on Memorial Day, 30 May 1958, and was commissioned on 3 April 1959 at Boston Naval Shipyard. After completion of a North Atlantic cruise she transited the Panama Canal and arrived at her homeport of San Diego, California on 27 July 1959.

 

SOMERS operated with the U.S. First and Seventh Fleets in the Pacific, including four deployments to the Western Pacific.In 1960, On the first of what turned out to be many trips to South East Asia, the Somers steamed up the Saigon River to make a port Call at Saigon. No other visits to the region would be quite the same. On Friday, 18 August 1961 the USS Somers arrived on the scene of a ship that had run aground and was in danger of breaking up. The MV Basco, a Philippine passenger-cargo ship, had run aground about 100 yards off of one of the Philippine Islands. (Occidental, Mindoro)

 

The Somers dispatched a motor whaleboat with a rescue crew that was capsized by a huge swell. After getting the rescue crew back to the Somers, a second and successful rescue was accomplished. With the Basco passengers now safely ashore, the Somers returned to Subic Bay.

 

In March of 1965, SOMERS participated in the landings at Chu Lai. On 21 May 1965 SOMERS fired her first shots in anger in support of the South Vietnamese Army units at Pham Thiet and was credited with stopping a Vet Cong attack on a government district headquarters. For this action, SOMERS Des Ron 7's battle efficiency "E" and a Vietnamese Unit Commendation. She also received a writeup in Time Magazine. The "South Vietnam" section of the Asia Edition of TIME magazine for June 4, 1965 opens with this paragraph:

 

"A new element of firepower joined the growing weight of U. S. arms in Viet Nam. Into the shoaling waters of South Viet Nam's east coast swept the slim destroyers of the U. S. Seventh Fleet, searching out Viet Cong concentrations with their hard-hitting 5-in. guns. In half a dozen operations, naval artillery socked more than 370 rounds onto targets as deep as four miles inland. The big rifles proved effective: sharpshooting by the U.S.S. SOMERS broke the back of a Communist assault on a district headquarters in Binh Thuan province, killing twelve and wounding 20..."

 

This was the second gunfire support mission by a U.S. Navy ship in the Vietnam conflict. Unfortunately, this shelling led to the death of a crew member. Seaman Jimmy Stinnett of Charlottesville VA was killed when a 5 inch shell prematurely exploded inside the gun, blowing off the muzzle.

 

Very shortly afterward, the Somers also unfortunately lost her C.O. In the words of Lt. Richard Lindenauer, who was aboard the Somers at the time,

 

"The CO of the SOMERS, CDR Jackson E. Vereen, was incapacitated by a serious brain tumor during operations at sea in June 1965. (This only about a month after the gun barrel explosion on Mount 51 which killed Seaman Jimmy Stinnett, who I believe was the sound-powered phone talker for the Gun Boss on the AA Station just above the bridge.)

 

The Captain turned over command to the Executive Officer, LCDR Tyrone G. Martin, and the ship put in to Yokosuka, Japan. The skipper was transferred to the Naval Hospital there, his wife was flown out from San Diego, and he died in the hospital shortly thereafter. A successor, CDR Herbert Reichert, was flown out and assumed command.

 

In early July, the ship returned to the Vietnam area of operations, her scheduled return to San Diego having been delayed for a month or two."

 

On 11 April 11, 1966, SOMERS was decommissioned at Hunters Point Naval Shipyard in San Francisco to undergo conversion to a Guided Missile Destroyer. She was recommissioned as DDG-34 on 10 February 1968, as the fourth Forrest Sherman class destroyer to be converted to a DDG-31 class destroyer. The conversion involved removing approximately ninety percent of the ship’s superstructure to accommodate the new weapons systems, the Tartar missile aft and the Anti Submarine Rocket (ASROC) amidships. In order to obtain the maximum effectiveness from the new weapons systems, the most modern electronic equipment was added to the ship. SOMERS is also equipped with a dual purpose rapid fire 5”/54 caliber gun mount that may be used against both air and surface targets.

 

The newly commissioned DDG-34 made her first WESTPAC from 18 November 1969, to 8 May, 1970. This cruise saw port visits to Pearl Harbor, Midway Island, Guam, Subic, Okinawa, Sasebo Japan, (Where the crew spent Christmas,) Hong Kong, Manila, and Bangkok. The crew also carried out lifeguard duties for Naval Aviators returning from missions over Vietnam, and also carried out Naval Gunfire Support off the coast of Vietnam. SOMERS also participated in Exercise Sea Rover, which was a multinational training exercise. SOMERS and other US ships joined ships from New Zealand, the Philippines, Thailand, Australia, and Great Britain.

 

On 15 October 1973, SOMERS arrived at her new homeport, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, enroute to her eighth Western Pacific deployment. In 1975, Somers was off the coast of South East Asia in support of Operation Eagle Pull where Americans were evacuated from Cambodia.

 

SOMERS deployed in November 1978 for her tenth Western Pacific deployment. Upon her return from deployment, she entered the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard to undergo a scheduled overhaul (ROH). SOMERS remained in the shipyard for fifty-one weeks and returned to sea on 4 August 1980.

 

The months following her return to sea were devoted to Engineering, Operations and Weapons System shakedown, tests and ultimate certifications which demonstrated her worthiness to return to Fleet Service. This time was marred by the death of two crewmembers while on liberty. While on a swimming outing, OSSN Eugene Fanich and OSSN David Mick were lost at sea and presumed drowned.

 

In early 1981, , SOMERS joined Battle Group Charlie and participated in READIEX 5-81 in preparation for the Battle Group’s deployment. SOMERS was also a participant in the July 1981 FLEETEX 1-81, the largest U.S. Navy exercise in history.

 

On 3 November 1981, she deployed with Battle Group Delta headed by USS CONSTELLATION (CV-64). During her eleventh and final deployment, SOMERS operated primarily in the Indian Ocean and made port calls in Guam, the Philippines, Diego Garcia, Australia, Maldive Islands and Singapore. After successfully participating in READIEX 2-82 in May 1982, she returned home arriving in Pearl Harbor on 16 May 1982.

 

During her service, USS SOMERS earned two Marjorie Sterrett Battleship awards, a meritorious Unit Commendation, three Battle Efficiency ‘E” awards and presently wears departmental excellence awards.for Supply, Gunnery, Missiles, ASW, CIC, Communications, Electronic Warfare and Damage Control.

 

SPECIAL NOTE: Although the Somers was decommissioned on November 19, 1982, her service to the Navy did not end there. While most ships are eventually sold and broken up for scrap, SOMERS served the Navy until the very end. SOMERS was relocated to the Inactive Ship Facility at Pearl Harbor until approximately 1988. From there, she was sold to the U.S. Maritime Administration.

 

She was in use at Port Hueneme California for many years as an experimental ship. On May 20, 1998, The Somers was towed from Port Hueneme for the last time. She was sunk on July 22, 1998 as part of the RIMPAC multinational naval exercise.

 

… and patches …

 

… patches wanted …

 

 

 

 

 

>> seaforces.org