USS Charles F. Adams (DDG-2)

USS Charles F Adams (DDG-2)
Career (US)
Name:	Charles F Adams (DDG-2)
Namesake:	Charles Francis Adams, III
Ordered:	28 March 1957
Builder:	Bath Iron Works
Laid down:	16 June 1958
Launched:	8 September 1959
Commissioned:	10 September 1960
Decommissioned:	20 November 1992
Struck:	20 November 1992
Fate:	Museum hold
Status:	laid up, Philadelphia Naval Shipyard
General characteristics
Class and type:	Charles F. Adams-class destroyer
Displacement:	3,277 tons standard, 4,526 full load
Length:	437 ft (133 m)
Beam:	47 ft (14 m)
Draft:	15 ft (4.6 m)
Propulsion:	2 × General Electric steam turbines providing 70,000 shp (52 MW); 2 shafts 4 x Babcock and Wilcox 1,275 psi (8,790 kPa) boilers
Speed:	33 knots (61 km/h)
Range:	4,500 nautical miles (8,300 km) at 20 knots (37 km/h)
Complement:	354 (24 officers, 330 enlisted)
Sensors and processing systems:	AN/SPS-39 3D air search radar AN/SPS-10 surface search radar AN/SPG-51 missile fire control radar AN/SPG-53 gunfire control radar AN/SQS-23 Sonar and the hull mounted SQQ-23 Pair Sonar for DDG-2 through 19 AN/SPS-40 Air Search Radar
Armament:	1 Mark 11 launcher (DDG2-14) or Mark 13 single arm launcher (DDG-15-24) for Tartar SAM system or later the Standard SM-1 and Harpoon antiship missile 2x Mark 42 5in(127mm)/54 1x ASROC Launcher 6x 12.8in(324mm) ASW Torpedo Tubes (2xMark 32 Surface Vessel Torpedo Tubes)
Aircraft carried:	None
Motto:	"First in class, second to none."

USS Charles F. Adams (DDG-2), named for Charles Francis Adams, III (Secretary of the Navy from 1929 to 1933), was the lead ship of the her class of guided missile destroyers of the United States Navy.

The ship was laid down by the Bath Iron Works at Bath, Maine on 16 June 1958, launched on 8 September 1959 by Mrs. R. Homans, sister of Mr. Adams, and commissioned on 10 September 1960 and stationed in its homeport of Charleston, South Carolina.

Intended as a follow-on to the Forrest Sherman-class destroyers, the ship was originally designated as DD-952. Outwardly similar to the Sherman-class, Charles F. Adams was the first U.S. Navy ship designed from the keel up to launch anti-aircraft missiles. To reflect the increased capabilities of the ship and to distinguish her from previous destroyer designs, Charles F. Adams was re-designated DDG-2 prior to the ship's launching.

USS Charles F. Adams at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard

Following commissioning Charles F. Adams took part in recovery operations for Walter M. Schirra's Mercury 8 mission. While engaged in this operation the Cuban Missile Crisis developed and Adams moved to the Caribbean Sea as part of the quarantine forces around the Island of Cuba. In July 1969, Charles F. Adams left her homeport of Charleston and relocated to Mayport, Florida.

Charles F. Adams was decommissioned and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 20 November 1992 and held for donation at Philadelphia Naval Shipyard in Pennsylvania. The Saginaw Valley Naval Ship Museum Committee attempted to acquire the ship as a museum and memorial to be located in Bay City, Michigan; however, the cost of preparing the ship for movement through the Saint Lawrence Seaway proved too expensive and the project was abandoned.

As of September 2008 , Charles F. Adams remains at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard on Donation Hold status. She is currently scheduled to be preserved by the Adams Class Veteran's Association in Jacksonville, Florida. An application was delivered March 31, 2008.^{[citation needed]}

In October 2010 the Jacksonville City Councel supported efforts to bring the ship to that city as a museum. The preservation effort will require approximately $300,000 to tow the ship to Jacksonville; $3 million for repairs and restoration of the vessel; and $5 million to construct a pier to moor it at. So far the preservation groups have raised about $150,000.^[1]

References

• This article includes text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
• This article includes information collected from the Naval Vessel Register, which, as a U.S. government publication, is in the public domain. The entry can be found here.

1. ^ http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2010-10-16/story/adams-ship-museum-sponsors-face-8-million-task

External links

• Jacksonville Historic Naval Ship Association
• Adams Class Veterans Association
• Operational Histories, Commissioning and Decommissioning Booklets
• MaritimeQuest USS Charles F. Adams DDG-2 pages