USS Coontz (DDG-40)
_1983.jpg) The Coontz at Base Norfolk, 1983 |
|
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Order | November 18, 1955 |
| Keel laying | March 1, 1957 |
| Launch | December 6, 1958 |
| 1. Period of service |
|
| Commissioning | July 15, 1960 |
| Decommissioning | 4th October 1989 |
| Whereabouts | Canceled |
| Technical specifications | |
| displacement |
5800 tn.l. |
| length |
156.2 meters |
| width |
15.80 meters |
| Draft |
7.6 meters |
| crew |
21 officers, 356 sailors, possibly 19 staff |
| drive |
2 propellers, driven by 2 geared turbines; 85,000 hp |
| speed |
34 knots |
| Armament |
1 double-arm launcher for missiles |
The USS Coontz (DLG-9 / DDG-40) , a United States ship , was a member of the Farragut-class , a class of destroyers in the United States Navy . At the beginning of her career, the Coontz was classified as a " destroyer leader with guided weapons" ( DLG ), this was later changed to "guided weapons destroyer" ( DDG ). It is named after Admiral Robert E. Coontz . The Coontz drove missions in both the Vietnam War and the First Gulf War. Following this, it was decommissioned and then canceled.
technology
For more information on the technology, see the class article Farragut class (1960) .
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As a unit of the Farragut class , the Coontz was 156.2 meters long and 15.8 meters wide, the displacement was around 5,600 tn.l. when fully loaded. While the hull was made of steel, the superstructures were made of light metals, mainly aluminum, to make the ship lighter. The steam turbine propulsion accelerated the destroyer to speeds of up to 34 knots. At an average speed, the range was around 4,000 nautical miles. At the beginning, a zone was set up on the aft deck for the supply of the ship by hovering helicopters, later helicopters could land there as well.
The Coontz was a multi-purpose combat ship. With the RIM-2 Terrier , air targets could be intercepted, ASROC and a total of six torpedo tubes for weapons of the Mark 46 type were intended for fighting submarines. Eight AGM-84 Harpoon were later retrofitted , this anti-ship missile was intended to attack other ships. The Mark 42 at the bow was a multi-purpose gun and could also be used to attack land targets. The main task of the Coontz was the guarding of aircraft carriers , its staff room also allowed it to be used as a flagship for small destroyer units.
Name and insignia
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The destroyer was named after Robert E. Coontz . Born in 1864, Coontz was a Navy Admiral who fought in the Spanish-American War , sailed the Great White Fleet , and served as Chief of Naval Operations from 1917 to 1923 . He was the second CNO in the Navy.
As a result of the reclassification and the associated change in identification and identification number, the Coontz had two different insignia over the years. At the beginning, when the Coontz was DLG-9 , the coat of arms consisted of a big nine (which of course represented the identification number). A wavy surface of water can be seen approximately below the end of the ring of nine. Both above and below the surface of the water there is a trident pointing away from the surface , the weapon of the sea god Poseidon , who is supposed to symbolize the ship's abilities in anti- submarine hunting and air defense. The guided missiles are indicated by a flash that twitches behind the upper trident. The word Coontz is emblazoned above the nine .
After switching to DDG-40 , this emblem was obsolete as it showed the old identification number. A new one was designed that focused on the new number 40. A white number 40 can be seen in front of a plain blue background, a lightning bolt flashes again between the two digits, here in strong red. In the center of the lightning bolt, an explosion can be seen, from which eight guided missiles are launched, pulling yellow lines behind them. The missiles fly past 40, only four can still be seen. At the top is the Coontz lettering , under the scene DDG .
history
Construction and commissioning
The Coontz was ordered in 1955 and laid down on March 1, 1957 in the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard . At that time her designation was still DLG-9 , so the ship was a destroyer leader with guided missiles . After a construction period of 21 months, the ship was launched on St. Nicholas Day 1958 and was christened by Mrs. Robert J. Coontz, the wife of the grandson of the ship's namesake.
The official commissioning of the Coontz took place on July 15, 1960. Exercises and training drives followed by April 1961, then the Coontz reported fully operational in the Pacific fleet . The ship became the flagship of Destroyer Division 152 and, in the meantime, of Destroyer Squadron 15 . The home port of the Coontz was San Diego , California .
First trips
In August 1961 the Coontz relocated for the first time. The voyage went to the Western Pacific, on the 55,000 nautical miles long and seven-month tour, the ship stopped at ports in Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Australia and American Samoa. Back in March 1962, the Coontz served as the flagship for various associations and flotillas for the rest of the year. In October, the destroyer was also designated as a reserve ship for NASA's salvage operation. Mercury-Atlas 8 did not fall in the region around the Coontz , but watered only nine kilometers from the aircraft carrier USS Kearsage (CVS-33) and was picked up by this. This was followed by another voyage into the west Pacific with lay times in Japan and Hong Kong. After returning in May 1963, another big performance followed in June: In a demonstration for President John F. Kennedy , the Coontz demonstrated the capabilities of their anti-aircraft missiles in an exercise against drones.
This was followed by the first modernization, in which the guided weapon systems in particular were renewed. From October 1963 to April 1964 the ship was in the Long Beach Naval Shipyard .
Vietnam War
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From August 1964, the Coontz served again in the 7th Fleet in the Western Pacific. In addition to visits to Japan and China, this time there were also trips to the South China Sea as part of the Vietnam War . This first Vietnam tour lasted until February 1965, the rest of the year the destroyer conducted exercises in domestic waters. At the turn of the year 1965/1966, the aft deck of the Coontz was converted for helicopter missions, for which a flat surface was created and all parts that could come into contact with the tail rotor were removed. In addition, fuel and electrical systems have been retrofitted to support helicopters.
This was followed by a six-month transfer to the waters around Vietnam, Japan and to the United States Naval Base Subic Bay in the Philippines, which lasted until August 1966. The fifth tour to the Western Pacific began around a year later, in July 1967. In August, the Coontz was still visiting Jakarta , making it the first American warship to moor in Indonesia since 1963. Two separate Combat Search and Rescue operations , each lasting 30 days, followed later , during which nine pilots were "fished out of the stream". The voyage home began in January 1968, and the destroyer reached San Diego on February 8, 1968 via Sydney and Wellington . TEAMS was tested at the Coontz for the next six months . This acronym stands for Test and Evaluation Monitoring System , a system that automatically assesses the performance of a ship and which was later used on the Knox-class frigates .
On November 15, 1968, the destroyer finally left for its second Vietnam tour and celebrated Christmas at Yankee Station in the Gulf of Tonkin . After a Lockheed EC-121 Warning Star was shot down, the Coontz rushed into the Sea of Japan to conduct CSAR . However, all 31 people on board were killed in the crash. The mission ended on May 18, 1969. This was followed by exercises for the rest of the year, until the next relocation, which began on March 3, 1970. This mission took place in waters around Japan. Since the Soviet Union had started the worldwide naval exercise Okean at the same time , the Coontz was busy observing and recording the performance of the Pacific Red Banner Fleet .
Entry into the Atlantic
Immediately after the mission, the Coontz left San Diego for the last time and entered the Atlantic through the Panama Canal . Once there, the destroyer docked in the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard and was temporarily decommissioned on February 23 as part of the modernization that followed. After extensive changes to the ship's electronics and the air defense system, it was returned to service on March 18, 1972 and Newport , Rhode Island was assigned as the new home port. This was followed by six months of tests in Guantánamo Bay and then a trip into the waters of South Africa and then Africa. After these long test drives, the Coontz was subjected to another three-month docking phase as standard, which took place in the Boston Naval Shipyard . On July 6, the Coontz began its first regular deployment from the east coast. This led the ship into the Mediterranean and lasted until the beginning of 1974. Following this mission, the ship changed her home port to Norfolk , Virginia . After voyages in the waters around the port, the next mission took place from November 1974, which led the ship to NATO exercises in the Mediterranean.
First trips as a guided missile destroyer
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On July 1, 1975, the designation destroyer leader was completely dissolved, which also had an impact on the Coontz . It was reclassified as a guided missile destroyer, whereby the identification number changed to DDG-40 . The number had to be changed because DDG-9 had already been assigned to the USS Towers , a guided missile destroyer of the Charles F. Adams class . In January 1976, the new DDG-40 started its first mission, it became part of NATO's permanent fleet in the Atlantic for six months ( STANAVFORLANT for Standing Naval Forces Atlantic ). As such, the Coontz operated in the Caribbean and off the US east coast and Canada, where exercises were carried out with four NATO marines. Then the destroyer steamed across the Atlantic and visited eight European ports.
The Coontz spent 1977 for an overhaul in the Norfolk Naval Shipyard . New weapons were also installed on board. A quadruple launcher for anti-ship missiles AGM-84 Harpoon was set up on both sides of the aft deckhouse . In July 1978, tests began with this and the other weapon systems in Guantánamo Bay. The rest of the year the Coontz operated in local waters. In 1979 the Coontz was again assigned to STANAVFORLANT, where it docked as a flagship in eight countries and saw 35,000 visitors walk through its premises. Operations took place in the North and Baltic Seas and in the Northern European Sea . It was not until 1981 that the ship moved again, this time off the west coast of Africa and then in the Mediterranean and Black Seas. 1982 were followed by trips to Central America and then again an overhaul in the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, which lasted until July 1983.
In October 1983 test drives should again be carried out in the Caribbean. During these test drives, however , the Coontz received a mission update and was tasked with providing protection for the amphibious operations in the context of the US invasion of Grenada . For 10 days the destroyer provided gun support and protection against small boats for the thick ships .
Last operations
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1984 began for the Coontz with refresher training and fleet exercises in domestic waters, the next relocation followed at the end of the year, which led the ship to the Mediterranean Sea, off the coast of Lebanon , and into the Black Sea until May 1985 . The ship spent the summer of the year in the shipyard again, and in November the Coontz took part in Operation Bold Eagle , an exercise in the Gulf of Mexico together with the United States Army . The Coontz worked with AWACS aircraft and Army ground forces during this exercise . In 1986 another interservice exercise followed , together with the United States Coast Guard , DDG-40 carried out blockade exercises in the Caribbean and requalified itself on Vieques Island for gun operations. At the end of the year, preparations began for the next installation.
This relocation began on February 5, 1987 and, for the first time for the Coontz , had the Persian Gulf as its destination. As part of Operation Earnest Will, the destroyer protected reflagged, formerly American, Kuwaiti supertankers against attacks by the armed forces of Iran during the Iran-Iraq war . After the May 17 attack on the Oliver Hazard Perry frigate USS Stark (FFG-31) , the Coontz's firefighting teams helped rescue the ship. The mission ended on August 5, 1987. This was the last transfer of the Coontz , until it was decommissioned, it only carried out local operations in the Atlantic.
On October 4, 1989, the destroyer in Philadelphia was officially decommissioned. The ship was part of the reserve fleet until January 26, 1990 , but was then removed from the Navy's register of ships. In April 1994 the ship was sold for demolition, but was returned to the Navy in October 1996 because the company could not carry out the order. The Coontz was sold to Metro Machine in February 1999 , which was able to finish the demolition of the ship on March 26, 2003. The metal was resold to Camden Iron and Metal .
