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Guided Missile Destroyer
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DLG 8 / DDG 39 - USS Macdonough
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USS Macdonough (DDG 39)
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US Navy photo
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Type,
Class:
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Guided Missile Destroyer; Farragut (Coontz) - class;
planned as DL 8; built and
commissioned as DLG 8; redesignated to DDG 39; |
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Builder:
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Bethlehem Steel
Corporation, Quincy, Massachusetts, USA; |
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STATUS:
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Awarded: January 27, 1956; Laid down: April 16, 1958 (as DLG 8); Launched: July 9, 1959; Commissioned:
November 4, 1961 / redesignated to DDG 39: June 30, 1975; Decommissioned:
October 23, 1992; Fate: Stricken November 30, 1992; sold for scrap: December
16, 1994; as of 2004 scrapping is in
progress by Metro Machine, Philadelphia; |
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Homeport:
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-
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Namesake:
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Named after and in honor of Commodore Thomas
Macdonough (1783 – 1825); > see history, below; |
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Ship’s
Motto:
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Technical Data:
(Measures, Propulsion, Armament,
Aviation, etc.)
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see: INFO > Guided Missile
Destroyer / Farragut (Coontz) - class |
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Pictures,
photos & more ...
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Thomas
Macdonough |
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Thomas Macdonough |
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Photo credits: US Navy, US Naval
Historical Center, |
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Namesake
& History: |
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Commodore Thomas Macdonough
(December 31, 1783 – November 10, 1825): |
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Thomas Macdonough, Jr. was
born in Trap (now: McDonough), Delaware on December 31, 1783, the sixth child
and second son of Thomas, Sr. & Mary Vance McDonough. Thomas, Sr. was a
well respected physician in Delaware. In March of 1776, Delaware elected Dr.
McDonough to be a major in a battalion in the Revolutionary War. He served as
a commander at the battle of Long Island in August, where he won the praise
of General Washington for gallantry, and also in the battle of White Plains,
NY. During the battle of White Plains, he received a wound which
incapacitated him from active duty. Dr. McDonough later served as a Justice
of the Court of Common Pleas. Dr. McDonough died at the age of 48 when
Thomas, Jr. was only 12. Thomas, Jr. worked as a clerk
in a store in Middletown while a teenage. He requested an appointment to the
United States Navy with the help of U.S. Senator Latimer of Delaware. On
February 5, 1800, at the age of 16, he received a warrant as a midshipman in
the navy. Prior to entering the the Navy, Thomas, Jr., for unknown reasons,
changed the spelling of his last name from "McDonough" to "Macdonough."
He was ordered to the U.S.
Ship Granges, a 24-gun corvette on May 15, 1800. They sailed to the West
Indies, where the U.S. and France were fighting. The Granges crew captured
three French ships and sent them all back to the U.S. Thomas was assigned to
the Constellation on October 20, 1801, for its cruise of the Mediterranean
sea. During this cruise they fought with Tripolitanian gunboats at Tripoli.
He later served in 1803 on the new ship Philadelphia, a 38-gun frigate. In
October of 1803, the Philadelphia was captured and taken to Tripoli. Luckily,
Thomas was on shore leave at the time of capture. On December 14, 1803, he was
assigned to the Enterprise, a 12-gun schooner. The Enterprise along with the
Constitution was sent out to either retake the Philadelphia or destroy it so
that Tripoli could not use her against the U.S. They decided it was to risky
of an operation too retake her so they set her a fire. Thomas, along with
others, volunteered to sail to the Philadelphia and set her on fire. They
sailed up to the Philadelphia and stated to the Tripolitanian crew that they
were a merchant ship having trouble and requested to tie up to the
Philadelphia. They did exactly that....boarded the ship and after fighting
with the Tripolitanian crew, set her on fire and quickly left. This was the
last action in which he was involved during the war with Tripoli. In 1805 or
1806, Thomas was appointed a lieutenant of the Enterprise. During the coming years the
British began impressing American sailors. This act, of course, helped lead
the United States into the war of 1812. While in Liverpool, England Thomas
Macdoungh was impressed into the English Navy. The story is related that he
was taken on board a British Ship and assigned sleeping quarters with the
corporal of the guard. Once the corporal fell asleep Macdonough put on his
clothes and went out onto the deck. Shortly thereafter, he saw the corporal
poke his head out of the hatchway. Macdonough immediately knocked him down,
jumped into a small boat, broke loose and was on his way. The sentry shot at
Macdonough but he safely made his way to shore. Thomas swore "If I live,
I'll make England remember the day she impressed an American soldier."
.....and he did! In October of 1806, Macdonough
was ordered to Middletown, Connecticut, to work under Captain Isaac Hull
superintending the construction of gunboats. It was here that he met and fell
in love with his future wife, Lucy Ann Shaler. However it would be six more
years before they finally wed. On June 18, 1812, the United
States declared war on Great Britian. On June 26, Thomas Macdonough wrote the
following note to the Secretary of the Navy, Alexander Hamilton: Sir: The United States now
being at war, I solicit your order for service in the navy and hope you will
favor me with such a situation as in your opinion I am suited to hold. I have
the honor to be, your most obt. (obedient) sert. (servant)
T.
Macdonough In August, Macdonough received
orders to command a division of gunboats, this time in Burlington, Vermont.
This division included 6 sloops and 2 gunboats. These vessels were located on
Lake Champlain, between New York and Vermont. When he first arrived he saw
the gunboats "one was partly sunk and the seams of both were so open as
almost to admit the hand." He immediately hired carpenters to prepare
the vessels for war. After repairs he took his converted, patched-up warships
down the lake to the Plattsburgh, NY area to start patrols of Lake Champlain.
On June 2, 1813, Macdonough
ordered Lt. Sidney Smith with the sloop Growler and Sailing Master Loomis
with the Eagle to sail north to the Canadian border. There they were to block
the mouth of the Richelieu River to prevent British warships from entering
Lake Champlain. Macdonough gave specific orders not to cross the border.
However, Lt. Smith deliberately sailed into British territory where they met
up with British warships. After a four hour battle the British captured both
sloops and sent all the men to prison. Now that the British could add two
more sloops to their fleet, they had complete control of the Lake. At this
point Macdonough moved his fleet farther down the lake to Burlington,
Vermont. On June 17th, after receiving
a full report from Macdonough, the new Secretary of the Navy, William Jones,
sent the following orders to Macdonough: ....regain by every possible
exertion the ascendancy which we have lost, for which purpose you are
authorized to purchase, arm and equip two of the best sloops to be procured
on the lake. You have unlimited authority to procure the necessary resources
of men, material and munitions for that purpose. I rely upon your efficient
and prudent use of the authority vested in you. The naval command is exclusively
vested in you and for which you are held responsible. On July 24, 1813, Lt. Thomas
Macdonough was designated Master Commandant. He was there after called
"Commodore" out of respect or courtesy even though that rank did
not exist at that time. The last of July 1813, a
British flotilla landed at Plattsburgh's wharf with 1,000 soldiers. They
promised the frightened citizens that they would not destroy private
property. However, they started burning public property and stole the
contents of many of the private homes in the area. They then sailed south and
attacked Macdonough at Burlington. After a small battle they sailed on and
continued to raid villages. The American fleet was no where near ready to
battle on the open lake at this time. After repairs were completed
on his fleet, he moved the fleet to Vergennes, Vermont for the winter. There
he received authorization in January, 1814 from Secretary Jones to construct
a new ship. The brothers Adam & Noah Brown of New York promised to construct
a ship within 60 days. To everyone's delight the Browns completed the new
ship in 40 days. On April 11, 1814, Lucy Ann Macdonough, Thomas' wife,
christened the 26-gun ship Saratoga. Macdonough was not ready to do battle
with the enemy..... Commodore Macdonough anchored
his fleet in Plattsburg Bay in a line northeast to southwest. The Eagle was
at that north end, then Macdonough's flagship Saratoga; next the Ticonderoga
and last the Preble at the south end. While Macdonough prepared his fleet,
General Alexander Macomb prepared his small army to defend Plattsburgh from
the British Army. About nine
o'clock Sunday morning, September 11, 1814, British Captain George Downie
brought his fleet around Cumberland Head into Plattsburgh Bay. Since his
ships had to tack into the north wind, Downie had trouble lining up his
vessels between Macdonough's ships and Cumberland Head as Macdonough had
expected. The British ships were now in a trapped position. Rodney Macdonough
wrote the following description of the scene on his grandfather's ship
minutes before the battle commenced: There was now a hushed,
expectant moment like the stillness which precedes the storm. Macdonough,
whose manly courage was supported by a childlike faith, knelt on the deck of
the flagship with his officers around him and repeated the following prayer:
"Stir up Thy strength, O Lord, and come and help us, for Thou givest not
always the battle to the strong, but canst save many or few....through Jesus
Christ, our Lord." Macdonough fired and his fleet
opened fire..... British Captain Downey was killed during the battle.
Macdonough was knocked down twice due to explosions, once remaining senseless
for a few minutes. Another shot cut off the head of the captain of the gun
and drove it against Macdonough with such force that he was knocked across
the deck and fell between two guns. The Saratoga caught fire twice during the
battle. Julius Hubbell, a young lawyer
from nearby Chazy, was among the spectators and wrote this description: The firing was terrific,
fairly shaking the ground, and so rapid that it seemed to be one continuous
roar, intermingled with the spiteful flashing from the mouths of guns, and
dense clouds of smoke soon hung over the two fleets..... At 11:20 a.m. the British
ships struck their colors. Victory belong to the Americans! However the decks
of all ships had torn hulls, masts and spars and they held those that had
parished in this terrific battle. It was obvious that Macdonough's foresight,
valor, ingenuity and perserverance won the day. The entire country praised
Macdonough's victory as equal to Commodore Perry's on Lake Erie September 10,
1813. The Battle of Plattsburgh is one of the decisive battles in American
History. It prevented the invasion and conquest of New York State as
effectively in 1814 as the surrender of the British under Burgoyne in 1777. Commodore Macdonough continued
in the service of his country after the war of 1812 finally ended. On October
20, 1824, Macdonough, commanding the frigate Constitution, set sail for the
Mediterranean to take charge of the United States naval force. There in the
fall of 1825, he received the news that his wife, Lucy Ann had died. However,
Thomas was sick as well with tuberculosis, weighing only sixty pounds. The
news devastated him. Thomas was carried from the Constitution to the Edwin
for the long journey home, one journey he was not to complete. On November
10, 1825, Commodore Thomas Macdonough, the hero of Lake Champlain, died six
hundred miles from his homeland. He was forty-one years old. Thomas and his wife are
interred in the Riverside Cemetery in Middletown, Connecticut. Together they
had 5 children: James, Charles Shaler, Augustus Rodney, Thomas, and
Charlotte. There have been four U.S. Navy
Destroyer's named in honor of Commodore Macdonough. DD 9 / DD 331 / DD 351/ DDG 39 (DLG 8); |
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USS Macdonough
(DDG 39): |
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The fourth
Macdonough was projected as DL-8, but redesignated DLG-8 prior to keel laying
by the Fore River Shipyard, Bethlehem Steel Co., Quincy, Mass., 16 April
1958; launched 9 July 1959, sponsored by Mrs. Agnes Macdonough Wilson,
great-gr anddaughter of Commodore Thomas Macdonough; and commissioned 4
November 1961, Comdr. Wm. G. Hurley in command. June 1, 1962 July 1, 1962 October 22, 1962 January 17, 1963 through March
17, 1963 January, 1964 January 25, 1966 May 9, 1968 June 6, 1968 August 15, 1969 July 29, 1971 April 6, 1973 May 4, 1974 July 1, 1975 Through 8 Dec
1975 July 10, 1976 Through 18 Nov
1976 November 21, 1977 20 Dec 1978MACDONOUGH sinks ex-USS
THORNHILL (DE-191). June 30, 1980 October 6, 1981 June 7, 1982 October 31, 1983 11 Jun 1984 Through 8 Nov 1984 May 3, 1985 August 1985 January 4, 1989 October 28, 1990 Through
January 17, 1991 January 17, 1991 Through 12
Feb 1991 February 22, 1991 March 22, 1991 October 23, 1992 Commanding Officers of USS
MACDONOUGH (DLG 8 / DDG 39): CDR W G Hurley 4 Nov 1961 - 21
Feb 1963 CDR F S Bergan 21 Feb 1963 - 1
Jul 1964 CDR W O McDaniel 1 Jul 1964 -
15 Jul 1966 CDR G L Wineman 15 Jul 1966 -
5 Apr 1968 CDR J T Parker Jr 5 Apr 1968 -
30 Sep 1969 CDR R R Clarke 30 Sep 1969 -
14 Mar 1971 CDR J K Parker 24 Jun 1972 - 6
Apr 1973 -- Decommissioned for major
weapons upgrade 6 Apr 1973 - 4May 1974 CDR G S Allen 4 May 1974 - 7
May 1976 CDR R K Beggs 7 May 1976 - 28
Jun 1978 CDR R C Jones 28 Jun 1978 - 14
Jul 1980 CDR J G Wilkinson Jr 14 Jul
1980 - 16 Aug 1982 CDR E C Long III 16 Aug 1982 -
25 Jul 1984 CDR W H Lecompte 25 Jul 1984 -
26 Aug 1986 CDR M J Worley 26 Aug 1986 - 9
Nov 1988 CDR A T Cooper 9 Nov 1988 - 8
Feb 1991 CDR G A Glover 8 Feb 1991 - 23
Oct 1992 During thirty one years of
service the USS MACDONOUGH was awarded the following decorations: Combat Action Ribbon Navy Unit Commendation Meritorious Unit Commendation Coast Guard Meritorious Unit
Commendation Battle Efficiency Ribbon Navy Expeditionary Medal National Defense Service Medal
Armed Forces Expeditionary
Medal Southwest Asia Campaign Medal
with two Campaign Stars Humanitarian Service Medal Sea Service Deployment Ribbon
with Silver Star Coast Guard Special Operations
Service Ribbon Kuwait Liberation Medal |
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