Misplaced Pages

#234765

27-505: USS  Mahan  (DDG-42) was selected to install and test the Terrier New Threat Upgrade (NTU) Combat System with the improved Standard Missile Two Block II (Extended Range). Testing lasted from October 1981- March 1985. New Threat Upgrade allowed the full use of newer Standard missiles (SM-2ER BlkII w/Mk80 booster) and improved the interoperability of the radar, computer, tracking and engagement systems aboard

54-774: A main propulsion system overhaul. Entire systems were removed and replaced, for example the AN/SPS-40 air-search radar was replaced with the AN/SPS-49 air-search radar. In 1988–90, the Kidd -class destroyers received the New Threat Upgrade, including a new superstructure and heavier mainmast cooperative engagement with Aegis Ticonderoga -class cruisers, which could control the Kidds’ surface-to-air missiles while they remained electronically silent. The Spruance class ,

81-514: A new missile, designed to greatly increase the operational capability of presently installed RIM-2 Terrier systems. Following a regular overhaul in Philadelphia from April 1980 to May 1981, Mahan was selected to install and test the Terrier New Threat Upgrade (NTU) Combat System with the improved RIM-67 Standard Missile Two Block II (Extended Range). Testing lasted from October 1981 to March 1985. This New Threat Upgrade system made Mahan

108-468: A predetermined point the aircraft dove almost vertically on the ship. Current US weapon systems weren’t capable of detecting incoming threats at such high angles. The New Threat Upgrade was intended to increase the capabilities of current weapon systems to detect and destroy this threat. The New Threat Upgrade to the Leahy class included massive remodeling of the ship from service space rehabilitation to

135-653: The Spruance class remained in service until 2005. These classes had some of their units modified with the New Threat Upgrade. The Navy of the Republic of Korea uses a NTU derived system for its Chungmugong Yi Sunshin class destroyers . USS Mahan (DDG-42) USS Mahan (DLG-11/DDG-42) , was a Farragut -class guided missile destroyer in the United States Navy . She was named for Rear Admiral Alfred Thayer Mahan USN (1840–1914). The ship

162-746: The Deputy Under-Secretary of the Navy). Mahan also served as East Mediterranean Ready Ship off of Israel and Lebanon and was involved in the Gulf of Sidra Freedom of Navigation operations off the coast of Libya. After returning from deployment in April 1986, Mahan began a 10-month regular overhaul lasting from September 1986 until August 1987. In January 1988, Mahan successfully completed refresher training in Guantánamo Bay , Cuba. In

189-754: The NTU upgrades were decommissioned within six years of their upgrade, as the Navy chose instead to order new ships with the Aegis weapon system . The Navy also accelerated the retirement of the Spruance and Kidd classes, despite their recent modifications, due to the arrival of the Aegis-equipped Arleigh Burke -class destroyers, which were more effective and cost-efficient. The four Kidd destroyers were later transferred to Taiwan (Republic of China) where they remain in service, while some members of

216-534: The Navy at Seattle 's annual Sea Fair. Following further coastal operations, she entered Long Beach Naval Shipyard on 1 November for overhaul. This was completed late in April 1968 and Mahan remained off the west coast until departing for the western Pacific in August. She remained as a part of the 7th Fleet into 1969. In 1973, after 13 years of almost continuous operations in Southeast Asia, she returned to

243-569: The Pacific Fleet, beginning with a shipyard overhaul at Long Beach Naval Shipyard . Following her yard period, she conducted training exercises off the west coast. She then departed San Diego on 6 August 1963 for deployment in the western Pacific. In addition to assignments in Japanese and Philippine waters, she spent (on this tour) a total of four weeks cruising off South Vietnam before returning to San Diego on 10 March 1964. Remaining on

270-474: The U.S. for a much needed overhaul at Bath Iron Works , Maine . On 1 April 1975, DLG-11 was recommissioned at Bath . She then joined Destroyer Squadron 4 , homeported at Charleston, South Carolina . On 1 July 1975, the ship was redesigned from DLG-11 to DDG-42 as part of a Navy-wide reclassification program. Mahan served as the test platform for the development of the CG/SM-2 (ER) missile program project;

297-537: The first Remote Track Launch on Search missile firing. Mahan celebrated her 25th birthday on 28 August 1985 and departed again to the Mediterranean. During the deployment, Mahan participated in Exercise "Ocean Safari 85": a joint U.S.-French missile exercise. She also represented Commander Sixth Fleet, serving as official starter for the inaugural Monaco-New YorkYacht race, (hosting Monaco's Crown Prince and

SECTION 10

#1732779679235

324-670: The first SM-2 Block II (ER) in Northern Europe. Mahan' s last major deployment was in support of Operation Desert Storm from 26 September 1991 through 2 April 1992. During the deployment Mahan transited through the mouth of the Suez Canal in the early morning of 13 October. After five months in the heat of the Persian Gulf , Mahan headed north, where she even crossed the Arctic Circle . The ship took part in

351-467: The full NTU modification or not; most of these warships built in the 1960s-1970s had high operational costs and manpower requirements (especially those which were nuclear-powered), compared to newer Aegis warships. The USS Texas (CGN-39) was decommissioned during the upgrade, in the midst of her reactor refueling. USS Gridley (CG-21) received NTU in 1991 at a cost of $ 55 million but was decommissioned in early 1994. Overall, all US Navy ships that received

378-484: The largest NATO exercise in over a decade, "Teamwork 92" pitted the seamanship and war-fighting skills against a multi-faceted threat. After 33 years of service she was retired from the active roll on 15 June 1993, Naval Station Charleston, South Carolina. Decommissioned and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 15 June 1993, Mahan was sold for scrap to Sigma Enterprises on 31 August 1995. Mahan

405-702: The most capable anti-air warfare ship in the U.S. Navy. The upgrade was considered for the other ships in the class, but was cancelled since modernization would not have been cost-effective given the limited service lives remaining. From April to November 1983, Mahan was deployed to the Mediterranean Sea , serving most of the deployment as a member of the Multinational Peacekeeping Force off Beirut , Lebanon. Mahan achieved another first in July 1985, as she successfully conducted

432-462: The next 6 months she cruised with other units of the 7th Fleet , taking part in antisubmarine, antiaircraft, and amphibious exercises as well as making good-will calls on ports in the Far East . Included in these latter visits was a stop at Saigon from 24 to 28 October for the Republic of Vietnam's Independence anniversary celebrations. 1963 brought Mahan' s entrance into the standard schedule of

459-532: The predecessor to and close relative of the Kidd -class, did not receive the NTU. The Cold War ended shortly after the New Threat Upgrade was initiated. The lower levels of funding available to the United States Navy after the Cold War meant that the NTU upgrade was never applied to all of the intended vessels. The NTU upgrade itself was expensive. Many of these ships were retired in the 1990s whether they received

486-520: The same day. During the first year and a half of her commissioned service, Mahan' s primary assignment was the testing and evaluation of her weapons systems, RUR-5 ASROC and RIM-2 Terriers . A unit of the Pacific Fleet's Cruiser Destroyer Force , she operated out of San Diego , participating in local and fleet exercises off the west coast and in Hawaiian waters. Leaving San Diego on 6 June 1962, she commenced her first western Pacific deployment. For

513-551: The ships. The system allows the ships to which it was fitted to time share illumination radars for multiple missile interceptions in a manner similar the Aegis Combat System . The new threat that prompted the development of The New Threat Upgrade was the deployment by the Soviet Union of their Tupolev Tu-22M “Backfire” bomber with its tactical capability of approaching a targeted ship at a very high altitude. At

540-621: The spring of 1988, Mahan participated in a joint missile exercise with U.S. and ships of the German Navy . Mahan deployed with Standing Naval Forces Atlantic , from 17 June to 16 December 1989. While acting as the U.S. representative of this NATO force, Mahan visited eight different countries and worked with fourteen ships from nine NATO nations. The crowning achievement of the cruise occurred in November 1989, when Mahan added another first to her long list of accomplishments by firing

567-424: The summer of 1965, the training of midshipmen during June and July. August brought the installation of a helicopter flight deck. The period 1 December 1966 through 4 June 1967 again saw Mahan in the western Pacific where, as before, she operated off Vietnam, patrolling the Gulf of Tonkin ( PIRAZ ) station and providing gunfire support. Arriving back at San Diego on 17 June, Mahan sailed on 31 July to represent

SECTION 20

#1732779679235

594-728: The west coast until late 1965, she underwent a 5½ month overhaul, from 1 May 1965 to 20 October 1965, followed by test and training exercises and a demonstration of her antisubmarine warfare capabilities before members of the United States-Canadian Military Cooperation Committee on 9 December 1965. During the summer of 1965, she embarked midshipmen from the Naval Academy and various NROTC units for summer training. Departing San Diego on 19 October, she sailed to Pearl Harbor for antisubmarine training operations and then continued on to

621-480: The western Pacific, arriving at Subic Bay on 22 November 1965. Mahan operated with the 7th Fleet, spending alternate monthly periods on patrol off Vietnam, until returning to San Diego in April 1966. Upon arrival at San Diego on 28 April, Mahan continued her previous west coast activities, local and fleet training operations, missile firing exercises at the Pacific Missile Range , and, as during

648-583: Was laid down as DLG-11 by the San Francisco Naval Shipyard on 31 July 1957 and launched on 7 October 1959. Mahan was sponsored by Mrs. H. P. Smith, wife of Vice Adm. Harold Page Smith , and commissioned on 25 December 1960. Mahan was reclassified as a guided missile destroyer on 30 June 1975 and designated DDG-42. USS Mahan was decommissioned on 15 June 1993 and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on

675-942: Was a United States Navy four-star admiral who served as Commander in Chief, United States Naval Forces Europe /Commander in Chief, United States Naval Forces, Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean from 1960 to 1963 and Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic/Commander in Chief, Allied Command Atlantic /Commander in Chief, United States Atlantic Fleet from 1963 to 1965. Smith attended the United States Naval Academy and graduated in its class of 1924. He served aboard USS  Idaho  (BB-42) , USS  Arizona  (BB-39) , USS  Nevada  (BB-36) , USS  Procyon  (AG-11) , USS  Farragut  (DD-348) , USS  Marblehead  (CL-12) , USS  Stewart  (DD-224) , and USS  Missouri  (BB-63) . This biographical article related to

702-412: Was repossessed for a third time after Bethlehem Steel went out of business and a new contract was issued to dismantle Mahan on 30 September 2003 to Metro Machine of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for $ 3,000,000. Mahan ceased to exist on 18 May 2004, with her steel being sold to a metal company to me melted down. Harold Page Smith Admiral Harold Page Smith (February 17, 1904 – January 4, 1993)

729-472: Was repossessed from the scrap yard and resold on 10 February 1999 to International Shipbreakers of Brownsville, Texas , for $ 97,275. Mahan was repossessed for a second time on 10 July 2000 after the scrap yard failed to take delivery of the ship in a timely manner. A contract to dismantle Mahan was issued in January 2003 to Bethlehem Steel-Sparrows Point of Baltimore , Maryland, to dismantle Mahan . Mahan

#234765