USS Chandler (DDG-996)

For other ships of the same name, see USS Chandler.

Career (USA)
Class and type:	Kidd-class destroyer
Namesake:	R.Adm. Theodore E. Chandler
Ordered:	23 March 1978
Builder:	Litton Ingalls, Pascagoula, Mississippi
Laid down:	7 May 1979
Launched:	28 June 1980
Commissioned:	13 March 1982
Decommissioned:	23 September 1999
Struck:	23 September 1999
Builder:	Refit for ROCN Detyens Shipyard, North Charleston, South Carolina
Fate:	Sold to Taiwan, 30 May 2003; commissioned as ROCS Ma Kong (DDG-1805)
General characteristics
Class and type:	Kidd-class destroyer
Displacement:	9,783 tons full
Length:	171.6 m (563 ft)
Beam:	16.8 m (55 ft)
Propulsion:	4 × General Electric LM2500-30 gas turbines, 80,000 shp total
Speed:	33 knots (61 km/h)
Complement:	31 officers 332 enlisted
Sensors and processing systems:	AN/SPS-48E 3D air search radar AN/SPS-49 2D air search radar SPG-60 gun fire control radar AN/SPG-51 missile fire control radar AN/SPS-55 surface search radar AN/SPQ-9A gun fire control radar SQS-53 sonar
Electronic warfare and decoys:	AN/SLQ-32(V)3 Outboard II
Armament:	2 × Mark 26 RIM-66 Standard missile launchers 2 × Mark 141 quad launcher with 8 × RGM-84 Harpoon 2 × Mark 15 20 mm Phalanx CIWS 2 × Mark 45 5 in (127 mm) / 54 caliber gun 2 × Mark 32 triple tube mounts with 6 × Mark 46 torpedoes 1 × Mark 112 ASROC launcher
Aircraft carried:	1 × SH-3 Sea King or 2 × SH-2 Seasprite

USS Chandler (DDG-996) was the final ship in the Kidd class of guided-missile destroyers operated by the U.S. Navy. Derived from the Spruance class, these vessels were designed for air defense in hot weather. She was named after Rear Admiral Theodore E. Chandler.

Originally named Andushirvan, the ship was originally ordered by the Shah of Iran, but was undelivered when the 1979 Iranian Revolution occurred. Subsequent to this, the U.S. Navy elected to commission her for service in the Persian Gulf and Mediterranean Sea, as she was equipped with heavy-duty air conditioning and was also well suited to filtering sand and the results from NBC warfare. She was commissioned in 1982.

Chandler was decommissioned in 1999. She was transferred to the Republic of China, renamed Wu Teh (DDG-1805) in 2004, and finally recommissioned as ROCS Ma Kong (DDG-1805) in 2006.

Accident

In June 1985, Chandler was involved in an accident on the Columbia River. The ship itself was sued under Admiralty law in the United States by a barge owner who claimed that Chandler's negligent action on the Columbia River caused a dangerous swell called a soliton.

The District Court of Oregon heard the case and held that the officers on Chandler breached their duty to exercise reasonable care in avoiding creation of the dangerous swell and the plaintiff was able to recover for the damages.^[1][2]

References

1. ^ Bernert Towboat Co. v. USS Chandler (DDG 996), 666 F. Supp. 1454, 1987 A.M.C. 2919 (D. Ore. 1987).
2. ^ Birmingham, Robert L.; Tara Shaw, Carolyn Shields (2003). "Daubert, Proof of a Prior, and the Soliton: Bernert Towboat Co. v. USS CHANDLER (DDG996)". Journal of Maritime Law and Commerce 34: 173. 

• 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.

External links

• Navysite.de page