USS Charles F. Adams

USS Charles F Adams (DDG-2)
History
United States
Name:	Charles F Adams (DDG-2)
Namesake:	Charles Francis Adams, III
Ordered:	28 March 1957
Builder:	Bath Iron Works
Laid down:	16 June 1958
Launched:	8 September 1959
Commissioned:	10 September 1960
Decommissioned:	1 August 1990
Motto:	"First in class, second to none."
Fate:	Museum hold
Status:	laid up, Philadelphia Naval Inactive Ship Facility
General characteristics
Class and type:	Charles F. Adams-class destroyer
Displacement:	3,277 tons standard, 4,526 full load
Length:	437 ft (133 m)
Beam:	47 ft (14 m)
Draft:	15 ft (4.6 m)
Propulsion:	2 × General Electric steam turbines providing 70,000 shp (52 MW); 2 shafts 4 × Babcock & Wilcox 1,275 psi (8,790 kPa) boilers
Speed:	33 knots (61 km/h)
Range:	4,500 nautical miles (8,300 km) at 20 knots (37 km/h)
Complement:	354 (24 officers, 330 enlisted)
Sensors and processing systems:	AN/SPS-39 3D air search radar AN/SPS-10 surface search radar AN/SPG-51 missile fire control radar AN/SPG-53 gunfire control radar AN/SQS-23 Sonar and the hull mounted SQQ-23 Pair Sonar for DDG-2 through 19 AN/SPS-40 Air Search Radar
Armament:	1 Mk 11 missile launcher (DDG2-14) or Mk 13 single arm missile launcher (DDG-15-24) for RIM-24 Tartar SAM system, or later the RIM-66 Standard (SM-1) and Harpoon antiship missile 2 × 5"/54 caliber Mark 42 (127 mm) gun 1 × RUR-5 ASROC Launcher 6 × 12.8 in (324 mm) ASW Torpedo Tubes (2 x Mark 32 Surface Vessel Torpedo Tubes)

USS Charles F. Adams (DDG-2), named for Charles Francis Adams, III (Secretary of the Navy from 1929 to 1933), was the lead ship of the her class of guided missile destroyers of the United States Navy.

The ship was laid down by the Bath Iron Works at Bath, Maine on 16 June 1958, launched on 8 September 1959 by Mrs. R. Homans, sister of Mr. Adams, and commissioned on 10 September 1960 and stationed in its homeport of Charleston, South Carolina.

Intended as a follow-on to the Forrest Sherman-class destroyers, the ship was originally designated as DD-952. Outwardly similar to the Sherman-class, Charles F. Adams was the first U.S. Navy ship designed from the keel up to launch anti-aircraft missiles. To reflect the increased capabilities of the ship and to distinguish her from previous destroyer designs, Charles F. Adams was re-designated DDG-2 prior to the ship's launching.

USS Charles F. Adams at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard

Following commissioning Charles F. Adams took part in recovery operations for Walter M. Schirra's Mercury 8 mission. While engaged in this operation the Cuban Missile Crisis developed and Adams moved to the Caribbean Sea as part of the quarantine forces around the Island of Cuba. In July 1969, Charles F. Adams left her homeport of Charleston and relocated to Mayport, Florida.

Charles F. Adams was decommissioned and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 August 1990 and is being held for donation at Philadelphia Naval Shipyard in Pennsylvania. The Saginaw Valley Naval Ship Museum attempted to acquire the ship as a museum and memorial to be located in Bay City, Michigan; however, the cost of preparing the ship for movement through the Saint Lawrence Seaway proved too expensive and the project was abandoned.

As of September 2008, Charles F. Adams remains at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard on Donation Hold status. She is currently scheduled to be preserved by the Adams Class Veteran's Association and the Jacksonville Historic Naval Ship Association (JHNSA) in Jacksonville, Florida. An application was delivered 31 March 2008.

In October 2010 the Jacksonville City Council supported efforts to bring the ship to that city as a museum. The preservation effort will require approximately $300,000 to tow the ship to Jacksonville; $3 million for repairs and restoration of the vessel; and $5 million to construct a pier to moor it. As of late 2013, the preservation groups had raised about $1.4 million.^[1] On 27 August 2014 the Jacksonville City Council approved a lease of city-owned riverfront property to the JHNSA and authorized the Downtown Investment Authority to manage the project. The groups expect to have the ship moored downtown on the St. Johns River by the end of 2015.^[2] Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shad Khan's proposal to develop the riverfront includes a location for the USS Adams.^[3]

References

• This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
• 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.

1. Lyons, Mike (23 November 2013). "Plans for USS ADAMS Naval warship museum moving forward". Gannett. First Coast News WTLV. Retrieved 29 August 2014.
2. Davis, Clifford (28 August 2014). "City OKs use of USS Adams for maritime museum in Jacksonville on St. Johns River". Florida Times Union. Retrieved 29 August 2014.
3. "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" no more: Jags owner unveils proposal to redevelop Jacksonville Shipyards. Retrieved 18 February 2015.

External links

• Jacksonville Historic Naval Ship Association
• Adams Class Veterans Association
• Operational Histories, Commissioning and Decommissioning Booklets
• MaritimeQuest USS Charles F. Adams DDG-2 pages