Tag Archives: Spruance class destroyer

Sting Ray

Posted on by Leave a comment

Frozen in time, some 30 years ago.

A port bow view of the Spruance-class destroyer USS David R. Ray (DD-971) underway off San Diego, 8 January 1995.

Photo by PH3 Brewer. DN-SC-87-11564. National Archives Identifier 6419151.

Named in honor of HM2 Ray, who earned a posthumous MoH in Vietnam at the ripe old age of 24, DD-971, as with the rest of her class, was constructed at Pascagoula.

Commissioned 19 November 1977, she had an active career in the Pacific Fleet, conducting numerous Westpac cruises, extending to the sandbox where she ran interference with the Iranians in the Persian Gulf and clocked in during Desert Shield, earning a Southwest Asia Service Medal for the latter.

A test bed ship of sorts, she was the first ship to intercept a supersonic drone with the NATO RIM-7 Sea Sparrow then later became the Navy’s primary test platform for the Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) System, which you can see on her stern in the above shot, just aft of her No. 2. 5″/54 Mk 45 mount. She was later one of just two dozen “Sprucans” to substitute her 1970s ASROC mousetrap for a 61-cell VLS to sling Tomahawks.

Earning a trio of both Navy Meritorious Unit Commendations and Navy Expeditionary Medals across her abbreviated 23-year career, she was decommissioned in 2002 and later expended in a SINKEX.

Sprucan Desert Shield Watercolors

Posted on by Leave a comment

While assigned to the Middle East Force from September to December 1990, the Pascagoula-built Spruance-class destroyer USS O’Brien (DD-975) participated in maritime interdiction as part of Operation Desert Shield. Conducting Persian Gulf patrols in support of the United Nations embargo on Saddam’s Iraq, O’Brien investigated over 400 vessels.

Aboard for part of that cruise was naval artist John Charles Roach who chronicled some of the work.

“50-Caliber Watch,” oil on canvas board, John Charles Roach, 1991. Two armed sailors in protective gear stand watch near a .50-caliber machine gun on board USS O’Brien (DD-975) in the Persian Gulf (91-049-D). “On the bridge wing of USS O’Brian (DD 975), two crewmen man the 50-caliber machine gun. They will fire cover during boarding for ship identification or a threat of small boat attack to the ship during the enforcement of sanctions against Iraq.”

“Interdiction and Confirmation,” watercolor by John Charles Roach, 1991. Maritime interdiction operations (MIO) in the Persian Gulf during Operation Desert Shield (99-049-C). “USS O’Brien (DD-975), is moving in close to the Star of South America. Only by a close look can USS O’Brien inspect the weld marks of the ship. Weld marks are as unique as a fingerprint in identifying a ship. USS O’Brien is looking to see if the name on the ship’s transom matches its welds, or if it has been altered recently in an attempt to disguise the ship.”

“Flight to Baghdad,” watching TLAMs head in at the beginning of Desert Storm. Watercolor on Paper; by John Charles Roach; 1991

“Up Romeo” Painting, Watercolor on Paper; by John Charles Roach; 1991

Decommissioned while still in her prime on 24 September 2004 with only 27 years on the Navy List, O’Brien was sunk as a target off Hawaii by USS Lake Erie (CG-70), HMCS Vancouver, and USN aircraft, on 9 February 2006.