Missile Loadouts: Spruance-class Destroyers (1975-2005)

The Spruance-class destroyers have probably the most complex missile loadout history of any non-air defense ship. Unfortunately, the numerous changes and variation have surprisingly little available documentation and I have been forced to rely heavily on photographs to fill in the gaps. Therefore, many of the dates in this post are only estimates.

The Spruance-class was designed during the late 1960’s as a modern warship to replace the large number of WWII-era Fletcher, Allen M Sumner, and Gearing-class class destroyers that were swiftly becoming obsolete. Force structure analysis during the design process revealed that while air defense systems significantly increased unit cost, it was ASW that drove force size requirements. Therefore, it was decided to supplement DDG and DLG production with a more affordable DD design that eventually became the Spruance-class. In a drive for greater efficiency, the DD would also share its hull with a DDG design. While the related DDG was never produced (although the philosophy behind it later led to the Kidd-class and Ticonderoga-class), the requirement for the Spruance-class hull to be able to accommodate air warfare systems led to a ship that was 50% longer and had twice the displacement of the WWII-era destroyers that it was replacing.

The Original Armament

When Spruance (DD-963) herself entered service in 1975, she was equipped with a decidedly underwhelming missile armament that consisted of an eight-cell ASROC box launcher forward and an eight-cell Sea Sparrow box launcher aft. This was effectively the same armament as the Knox-class ocean escorts that were half her size and led to numerous complaints about the new destroyer being severely underarmed. However, this was not the full story, as Spruance carried 16 reloads for each weapon system, giving her far greater magazine depth than on the proceeding DD and DE classes. Interestingly, the builder was only responsible for the ASROC system and the Navy installed Sea Sparrow after receiving the ships. Thus, you will see pre-commissioning photographs of the ships without the Sea Sparrow launcher.

Spruance in 1975: 24x Sea Sparrow, 24x ASROC

The first upgrade to this armament was the addition of eight Harpoon antiship missiles in canister launchers amidships, giving the class a serious offensive capability. Harpoon installation appears to have begun in 1978 with Hewitt (DD-966) and all ships seem to have been equipped with the weapon by 1985.

Hewitt in 1978: 24x Sea Sparrow, 8x Harpoon, 24x ASROC

In this same time period, the USN began fielding the Tomahawk missile and was trying to find space for it on anything that floated. Naturally, the large Spruance-class hulls were near the top of the list, and in 1980, Merrill (DD-967) conducted the first surface launch of Tomahawk. The initial installation consisted of a pair of four-round Armored Box Launchers (ABL), one on each side of the ASROC launcher (interestingly, Merrill only had the port ABL mounted during the 1980 trials). By the mid-1980's, a total of seven destroyers were modified to this configuration. It does not appear that Merrill was equipped with Harpoon until several years after she received Tomahawk.

It should be remembered that at that time Tomahawk was not the conventional land attack missile we know today and production consisted almost entirely of the antiship and nuclear land attack variants. When combined with the nuclear ASROC variant, this meant that a single Spruance-class destroyer could carry staggering destructive power.

Merrill in 1984: 24x Sea Sparrow, 4x TLAM, 4x TASM, 8x Harpoon, 24x ASROC

Adding the Mk 41 VLS

However, the ABL was not an entirely satisfactory solution. While it sufficed for getting Tomahawk to sea rapidly, it was heavy and limited the number of weapons that could be carried. The solution was the now ubiquitous Mk 41 VLS. This new launcher was first installed aboard Spruance herself in 1986, with a single 61-cell module (3 cells being dedicated to the reloading crane) replacing the ASROC launcher and magazine forward. Such a significant change was only possible because of the space and weight reserved for the planned DDG variant.

This modification proved successful, and a total of 24 of the 31 Spruance-class destroyers were eventually modified (one of these, Deyo (DD-989), was converted from the ABL configuration), with the last installations being completed in the late 1990’s. But while the VLS installation vastly increase the antiship and land attack capabilities of the Spruance-class, it meant sacrificing ASROC. Although development of a Vertically Launched ASROC (VLA) had begun in 1983, the program was delayed by the promise of the far more capable Sea Lance missile and would not enter service until a decade later.

Spruance in 1986: 24x Sea Sparrow, 37x TLAM, 24x TASM, 8x Harpoon

The next several changes in armament came in quick succession during the early 1990’s, as the end of the Cold War reduced budgets and changed operational requirements. The most significant change was the conversion of the antiship and nuclear land attack Tomahawks into conventional land attack weapons, radically changing the capabilities of the Spruance-class even though the ships themselves were unaltered.

In 1993, the VLS ships finally received VLA and had their standoff ASW capability restored. However, with the vastly reduced submarine threat, only a small number of VLA were procured and they had to be shared with the Ticonderoga-class cruisers and Arleigh Burke-class destroyers. This meant that it was unlikely each ship could have more than four of the new missile - a far cry from the 24 ASROC they originally carried.

Spruance in 1993: 24x Sea Sparrow, 57x TLAM, 8x Harpoon, 4x VLA

Other Armament Changes

At the same time VLA was entering service, the older ASROC was being withdrawn from service, leaving the 7 destroyers that had not received the VLS upgrade without a standoff ASW weapon. On these ships the ASROC box launcher was simply removed and the magazine plated over.

Merrill in 1993: 24x Sea Sparrow, 8x TLAM, 8x Harpoon

Particularly hard hit was Harry W Hill (DD-986), which was unique in having received neither the ABL nor the VLS upgrade and was now left with just Harpoon and Sea Sparrow.

Harry W Hill in 1993: 24x Sea Sparrow, 8x Harpoon

The final upgrade to the Spruance-class came in the late 1990’s, when 10 of the VLS ships were equipped with a 21-round Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) launcher on the fantail. Although RAM lacked the range of Sea Sparrow, the older missile was badly handicapped by its semi-active radar guidance and single illumination channel. In contrast, the passive-homing RAM could engage multiple targets simultaneously and was better suited to countering sea-skimming antiship missiles. The first RAM launcher appears to have been installed in 1997 aboard Oldendorf (DD-972), while the last may have been added as late as 2003.

Oldendorf in 1997: 24x Sea Sparrow, 21x RAM, 57x TLAM, 8x Harpoon, 4x VLA

While the final missile armament of the Spruance-class was vastly more capable than its original weapons fit, the ships remained highly vulnerable to air and missile attack. Further, their large size meant high operating costs and retaining the ships was simply unsustainable in an era of shrinking naval budgets. Ultimately, the ships were swiftly decommissioned between 1998 and 2005, with several not even reaching 20 years of service.