- USS Claude V. Ricketts (DDG-5)
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USS Claude V. Ricketts (DDG-5)Career (US) 
Name: Biddle DDG-5 Namesake: Claude V. Ricketts Ordered: 28 March 1957 Builder: New York Shipbuilding Corporation Laid down: 18 May 1959 Launched: 14 June 1960 Acquired: 2 May 1962 Commissioned: 5 May 1962 Decommissioned: 31 October 1989 Renamed: Claude V. Ricketts (DDG-5) 28 July 1964 Struck: 1 June 1990 Fate: Disposed of by scrapping 8 November 2002 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 × Westinghouse steam turbines providing 70,000 shp (52 MW); 2 shafts
4 x Foster-Wheeler 1,275 psi (8,790 kPa) boilersSpeed: 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 RadarArmament: 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 USS Claude V. Ricketts (DDG-5), previously Biddle and DD-955, was a Charles F. Adams-class guided missile destroyer of the United States Navy.
Originally to be designated as DD-955, the ship was laid down as DDG-5 by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation at Camden, New Jersey on 18 May 1959, launched on 4 June 1960 and commissioned as USS Biddle on 5 May 1962, at Philadelphia Naval Shipyard CDR Paul Roth in command.
Biddle was renamed to Claude V. Ricketts on 28 July 1964 in honor of Admiral Claude V. Ricketts, who had died on 6 July 1964.
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Multilateral Force
From June 1964 to end of 1965 Claude V. Ricketts was part of a mixed-manning experiment for a proposed Multilateral Force (MLF). Its crew consisted of 10 officers and 164 crew from the US Navy with the remainder filled by sailors from West Germany, Italy, Greece, United Kingdom, Netherlands, and Turkey. Though the MLF never was created, Secretary of the Navy Paul Nitze stated that the project on Claude V. Ricketts was successful.[1] The ship's crest includes the NATO insignia.[2]
Belknap collision
The Claude V. Ricketts (DDG-5) served as the rescue unit and tied up alongside USS Belknap after her collision with USS John F. Kennedy on 22 November 1975 - the twelfth anniversary of the assassination of the president so named. The cruiser was ablaze with exploding ammunition and magazines, but the guided-missile destroyer and her crewmen fought and limited damage. In the end, CG-26 was knocked and melted to her 01 level, which is the next level above the main deck. Seven crewmembers aboard Belknap and one aboard the Kennedy were killed.
Decommissioning
Claude V. Ricketts was decommissioned on 31 October 1989 at Norfolk Naval Station, Norfolk, VA, stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 June 1990 and sold for scrap on 15 April 1994, to NR Acquisitions of NYC and towed to Bethlehem Steel's old Fairfield yard in Baltimore, MD for scrapping by Wilmington Resources, Inc. of Wilmington, NC. Sale price $ 184,550.66.[citation needed] The scrap contract was terminated on 1 October 1996, and the Navy repossessed the ship on 18 October, and returned to NISMF Philadelphia and the ship was resold to Metro Machine, Incorporated, of Philadelphia Pennsylvania on 5 December 2001 . Scrapping was completed on 8 November 2002.
For other ships named Biddle, see USS Biddle. As of 2007, There have been no other ships named for Claude V. Ricketts.
References
- ^ Lundquist, Edward. Sea Classics. Mixed Manning Demonstration was a Success: Guided-Missile Destroyer Sailed with Multinational Crew. September 2006.
- ^ http://www.charlesfadams.com/crests/ddg5crest.jpg
- 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.
- This article includes text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
External links
- MaritimeQuest USS Biddle/USS Claude V Ricketts DDG-5 pages
- NavSource.org - USS Claude V. Ricketts (DDG-5)
- USS Claude V. Ricketts DDG-5/USS Biddle DDG-5 Crew Members website
United States NavyCharles F. Adams · John King · Lawrence · Biddle ⁄ Claude V. Rickets · Barney · Henry B. Wilson · Lynde McCormick · Towers · Sampson · Sellers · Robison · Hoel · Buchanan · Berkeley · Joseph Strauss · Conyngham · Semmes · Tattnall · Goldsborough · Cochrane · Benjamin Stoddert · Richard E. Byrd · Waddell
German Navy
Lütjens class
Royal Australian Navy
Perth class
Hellenic Navy
List of destroyers of the United States Navy · List of destroyer classes of the United States NavyCategories:- Cold War destroyers of the United States
- Ships built in New Jersey
- 1960 ships
- Charles F. Adams class destroyers of the United States Navy
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