USS Merrill (DD-976)
Spruance-class destroyer / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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For other ships with the same name, see USS Merrill.
USS Merrill (DD-976), named for Rear Admiral Aaron Stanton Merrill USN (1890–1961), was a Spruance-class destroyer that entered service with the United States Navy in 1978. Merrill served as the US Navy's test platform for the Tomahawk cruise missile. In the 1980s, the destroyer took part in Operation Earnest Will in the Persian Gulf during heightened tensions with Iran. The destroyer was decommissioned in 1998. The vessel was used as a target ship in 2003 and sunk off Hawaii in 2003.
Quick Facts History, United States ...
USS Merrill underway on 1 June 1991 | |
History | |
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United States | |
Name | Merrill |
Namesake | Aaron S. Merrill |
Ordered | 26 January 1972 |
Builder | Ingalls Shipbuilding |
Laid down | 16 June 1975 |
Launched | 1 September 1976 |
Acquired | 30 January 1978 |
Commissioned | 11 March 1978 |
Decommissioned | 26 March 1998 |
Stricken | 26 March 1998 |
Identification |
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Motto | Spirit of '76 |
Fate | Sunk as target, 1 August 2003 |
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 × Sikorsky SH-60 Seahawk LAMPS III helicopters. |
Aviation facilities | Flight deck and enclosed hangar for up to two medium-lift helicopters |
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