USS Caron (DD-970)
_and_USS_Mahan_(DDG-42)_at_anchor_off_Toulon,_France,_on_12_November_1979_(6349052).jpg) The Caron in the port of Toulon |
|
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Order | 15th January 1971 |
| Keel laying | July 1, 1974 |
| Launch | June 24, 1975 |
| 1. Period of service |
|
| Commissioning | 1st October 1977 |
| Decommissioning | October 15, 2001 |
| Whereabouts | sunk as a target ship |
| Technical specifications | |
| displacement |
9100 standard tons |
| length |
171.6 meters |
| width |
16.8 meters |
| Draft |
9.8 meters |
| crew |
30 officers, 350 sailors |
| drive |
2 propellers, driven by 4 gas turbines; 80,000 wave horsepower |
| speed |
33 knots |
| Armament |
2 × Mark 45 lightweight guns , 2 x 20 mm Phalanx CIWS , 2 x Harpoon starters , 1 anti-aircraft missile starter, 2 torpedo tubes 324mm, 1 ASROC starter, later replaced by 61-cell VLS |
The USS Caron (DD-970) was a destroyer in the United States Navy and belonged to the Spruance class . It was named after Hospital Corpsman Third Class Wayne Caron (1946–1968), who died in the Vietnam War and posthumously received the Medal of Honor .
history
construction
In 1971 the DD-970 was commissioned and laid down on July 1, 1974 at Ingalls Shipbuilding . After less than a year in dry dock, the ship was launched and was put into service with the Navy on October 1, 1977 after the final equipment.
First years and collision
After the first voyages that led the Caron into the Mediterranean and Black Seas, she took part in the US invasion of Grenada in October 1983 as part of the combat group for the USS Independence (CV-62) . Immediately afterwards, the high command moved the destroyer to the Mediterranean, where it crossed the coast of Lebanon . 1986 followed a mission with the carrier USS America (CV-66) , which led the Caron into the Great Syrte . On March 23, she crossed with the USS Ticonderoga (CG-47) and the USS Scott (DDG-995) the "line of death" declared by Libya , which provoked an exchange of fire with units of the Libyan armed forces , in which the Caron, however was not involved.
_collision2.jpg)
When the incident in the Black Sea in 1988 , the Caron was in the Black Sea, where she wanted to exercise together with the USS Yorktown (CG-48) her right to peaceful passage through waters that were within the twelve-mile zone of the Soviet Union. This right allows any ship to cross the territorial waters of a foreign state if this is the shortest route out of and into international waters. However, the Soviet Union refused this right at certain points, including here in front of the Crimea . Since the Caron also had radar signal reception and evaluation equipment on board operated by the National Security Agency , the Soviet Union sent two ships, a light frigate of the Mirka II class and a guided missile frigate of the Kriwak class , to the American ships to push away. There were slight collisions between the Yorktown and the Kriwak-I frigate Bessawetni and between the Caron and the Mirka frigate, but no major damage occurred.
Last years and sinking
Until 1990, the ship was then in the shipyard, where an overhaul, which had been scheduled anyway, took place. From January 14, 1991 until the end of the conflict, the Caron took part in Operation Desert Storm . Operations followed in 1993 to enforce the UN embargo on the Caribbean island of Haiti . After exercises with NATO units off Denmark were carried out in 1995 , the Caron moved to the Persian Gulf in 1996, where she took part in Operation Southern Watch . In 1998 exercises followed in the Mediterranean and the Eastern Atlantic. At the beginning of the year the ship was brought to the Newport News Shipbuilding , where another overhaul was taking place. In 2000, the last mission with the USS George Washington (CVN-73) followed , in autumn 2001 the Caron was finally decommissioned.
On December 4, 2002, the Caron was towed off the coast of Puerto Rico , where shock tests were to be carried out to investigate the effect of underwater explosions on the hull of a warship. In 2003 the Caron was finally to be sunk in a SINKEX , an exercise specially arranged for this purpose. However, the destroyer sank unexpectedly during the 2002 shock tests.
