Guided Missile Destroyer
DLG 11 / DDG 42 - USS Mahan
Type, Class:		Guided Missile Destroyer; Farragut (Coontz) - class; planned as DL 11; built and commissioned as DLG 11; redesignated to DDG 42;
Builder:		San Francisco Naval Shipyard, San Francisco, California, USA
STATUS:		Awarded: November 18, 1955 Laid down: July 31, 1957 (as DLG 11) Launched: October 7, 1959 Commissioned: August 25, 1960 redesignated to DDG 42: June 30, 1975 Decommissioned: June 15, 1993 Fate: Stricken June 15, 1993; sold for scrap August 31, 1995 / repossessed October 1, 1996, scrapping 5% completed; As of 9 June 2003, at Sparrows Point (Bethlehem Steel) in Baltimore, MD for scrapping. Metro Machine, Philadelphia took contract in September 2003 and Mahan’s scrapping is in progress; scrapping completed in May 2004.
Homeport:		-
Namesake:		Named after and in honor of Rear Admiral Alfred Thayer Mahan (1840 - 1914) > see history, below;
Ship’s Motto:		PAX PER MARIS POTESTATEM
Technical Data: (Measures, Propulsion, Armament, Aviation, etc.)		see: INFO > Farragut (Coontz) - class Guided Missile Destroyer see also: USS Mahan (DDG 72)
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Alfred Thayer Mahan
Namesake & History:
Rear Admiral Alfred Thayer Mahan (September 27, 1840 - December 1, 1914):
Early life and service Born at West Point, New York to Dennis Hart Mahan (a professor at the United States Military Academy) and Mary Helena Mahan, he went to Columbia University for two years where he was a member of the Philolexian Society and then, against his parents' wishes, transferred to the Naval Academy, where he graduated second in his class in 1859. Commissioned as a Lieutenant in 1861, Mahan served the Union in the American Civil War as an officer on Congress, Pocahontas, and James Adger, and as an instructor at the Naval Academy. In 1865 he was promoted to Lieutenant Commander, and then to Commander (1872), and Captain (1885). Despite his success in the Navy, his skills in actual command of a ship were not exemplary; and a number of vessels under his command were involved in collisions, with both moving and stationary objects. Naval War College and writings He was appointed commander of the new United States Naval War College in 1886, where in 1887 he met and befriended a young visiting lecturer named Theodore Roosevelt. During this period Mahan organized his lectures into his most influential books, The Influence of Sea Power upon History, 1660-1783, and The Influence of Sea Power upon the French Revolution and Empire, 1793-1812, published 1890 and 1892, respectively. The books' premise was that in the contests between France and England in the 18th century, domination of the sea via naval power was the deciding factor in the outcome, and therefore, that control of seaborne commerce was critical to domination in war. To a modern reader this may seem obvious and repeatedly demonstrated, but the notion was much more radical in Mahan's time, especially in a nation entirely obsessed with landward expansion to the west. His books were received with great acclaim, and closely studied in Britain and Germany, influencing their buildup of forces in the years prior to World War I. Mahan's influence sowed the seeds for events such as the naval portion of the Spanish-American War and the battles of Tsushima, Jutland and the Atlantic. Later career Between 1889 and 1892 he was engaged in special service for the Bureau of Navigation, and in 1893 Mahan was appointed to command the powerful new protected cruiser Chicago on a visit to Europe, where he was received and feted. He returned to lecture at the War College and then, in 1896, he retired from active service. Mahan continued to write voluminously and received honorary degrees from Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Dartmouth, and McGill. He became Rear Admiral in 1906 by an act of Congress promoting all retired captains who had served in the Civil War. Works - The Gulf and Inland Waters (1883) - The Influence of Sea Power Upon History, 1660-1783 (1890) [available online from Project Gutenberg] - The Influence of Sea Power upon the French Revolution and Empire, 1793-1812 (1892) - Admiral Farragut (1892) - The Interest of America in Sea Power, Present and Future (1897) - Lessons of the War with Spain, and Other Articles (1899) - The Problem of Asia and Its Effect Upon International Policies (1900) - Types of Naval Officers Drawn from the History of the British Navy, with Some Account of the Conditions of Naval - Warfare at the Beginning of the Eighteenth Century, and of Its Subsequent Development During the Sail Period (1901) - Sea Power in Its Relations to the War of 1812 (1905) - Naval Administration and Warfare: Some General Principles, with Other Essays (1908) - Armaments and Arbitration; or, The Place of Force in the International Relations of States (1912) - The Influence of Sea Power Upon History, 1660-1805 (abridged ed, 1980)
USS Mahan (DDG 42):
The third Mahan (DLG-11/DDG-42) was laid down 31 July 1957 by the San Francisco Naval Shipyard; launched 7 October 1969; sponsored by Mrs. H. P. Smith, wife of Vice Adm. H. Page Smith; and commissioned 25 August 1960, Comdr. Wm. S. Busik in command. During the first year and a half of her commissioned service, Mahan's primary assignment was the testing and evaluation of her weapons systems, ASROC and Terrier missiles. A unit of the Pacific Fleet's Cruiser-Destroyer Force, she operated out of San Dieg o, participating in local and fleet exercises off the west coast and in Hawaiian waters. Leaving San Diego 6 June 1962, she commenced her first western Pacific deployment. For the nest 6 months she cruised with other units of the 7th Fleet, taking part in antisubmarine, antiaircraft, and amphibious exercises as well as making good will calls on ports in the Far East. Included in these latter visits was a stop at Saigon 24 to 28 October for the Republic of Vietnam's Independence anniversary celebrations. 1963 brought Mahan's entrance into the standard schedule of the Pacific Fleet, beginning with a shipyard overhaul at Long Beach Naval Shipyard. Following her yard period, she conducted training exercises off the west coast She then departed San Die go 6 August for deployment in the western Pacific. In addition to assignments in Japanese and Philippine waters, she spent, on this tour, a total of 4 weeks cruising off South Vietnam before returning to California 10 March 1964. Remaining on the west coast until late 1965, the guided missile frigate underwent a 5-month overhaul, 1 May to 20 October, followed by test and training exercises and a demonstration of her antisubmarine warfare capabilities before members of the United S tates-Canadian Military Cooperation Committee 9 December. During the summer of 1965, she embarked midshipmen from the Naval Academy and various NROTC units for summer training. Departing San Diego 19 October, she sailed to Pearl Harbor for antisubmarine t raining operations and then continued on to the western Pacific, arriving at Subic Bay 22 November. Mahan operated with the 7th Fleet, spending alternate monthly periods on patrol off Vietnam, until returning to California in April 1966. Upon arrival at San Diego 28 April, Mahan continued her previous west coast activities, local and fleet training operations, missile firing exercises at the Pacific Missile Range, and, as during the summer of 1965, the training of midshipmen during June and July. August brought the installation of a helicopter flight deck. The period 1 December 1966 through 4 June 1967 again saw Mahan In the western Pacific where, as before, she operated off Vietnam, patrolling and providing gunfire support in the fight to prevent the aggressive spread of communism. Arriving back at San Diego 17 June, Mahan sailed on 31 July to represent the Navy at Seattle's annual Sea Fair. Following further coastal operations, she entered Long Beach Naval Shipyard 1 November for overhaul. This was completed late in April 1968 and Mahan remained off the west coast until departing for the western Pacific in August. She remained as a part of the 7th Fleet into 1969. -- more DDG-42 history wanted -- Decommissioned 15 June 1993. Stricken same day. Berthed at Philadelphia PA awaiting sale for scrap.
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