USS David R. Ray
Spruance-class destroyer / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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USS David R. Ray (DD-971), was a Spruance-class destroyer named for United States Navy Hospital Corpsman Second Class David Robert Ray who was killed in action in 1969 while assigned to a Marine Corps artillery unit during the Vietnam War and posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.
USS David R. Ray on 27 June 1989 | |
History | |
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United States | |
Name | David R. Ray |
Namesake | David R. Ray |
Ordered | 15 January 1971 |
Builder | Ingalls Shipbuilding |
Laid down | 23 September 1974 |
Launched | 23 August 1975[1] |
Acquired | 31 October 1977 |
Commissioned | 19 November 1977 |
Decommissioned | 28 February 2002 |
Stricken | 6 November 2002 |
Identification |
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Motto | Determined, Ready, Resourceful |
Fate | Sunk as target, 11 July 2008 |
Badge | |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Spruance-class destroyer |
Displacement | 8,040 (long) tons full load |
Length | 529 ft (161 m) waterline; 563 ft (172 m) overall |
Beam | 55 ft (16.8 m) |
Draft | 29 ft (8.8 m) |
Propulsion | 4 × General Electric LM2500 gas turbines, 2 shafts, 80,000 shp (60 MW) |
Speed | 32.5 knots (60.2 km/h; 37.4 mph) |
Range |
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Complement | 19 officers, 315 enlisted |
Sensors and processing systems |
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Electronic warfare & decoys |
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Armament |
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Aircraft carried | 2 × SH-2F or 2 × SH-60B |
Aviation facilities | Flight deck and enclosed hangar for up to two medium-lift helicopters |
The David R. Ray was built by the Ingalls Shipbuilding Division of Litton Industries at Pascagoula, Mississippi, and commissioned on November 19, 1977, in Pascagoula. The principal speaker at the event was James R. Sasser, U.S. Senator from Tennessee and the ships sponsor was Mrs. Donnie M. Ray, HM2 Ray's mother. The David R. Ray was decommissioned in 2002 and sunk as a target in 2008.