The Influence of History

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 neve...

Lebanon. The engagements mentioned below all occurred within 35 kilometers of Beirut. The 1982-1984 multinational intervention in the Lebanese Civil War has largely disappeared from the pages of history. When it is remembered at all, it is for the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing. In many ways this neglect is understandable as the mission was both a complete failure and was overshadowed by the many high profile events of that period. However, this little-known conflict marked the most extensive use of naval gunfire since Vietnam, with at least eight warships conducting some fourteen missions and expended well over one thousand five hundred rounds of ammunition Today, the 5" deck gun on American warships is widely regarded as a relic, but in the early 1980's it was the only land attack weapon available. Tomahawk was not declared operational until March 1983, and for the duration of the Lebanon intervention there were just two active Tomahawk ships - the test ship Merill (D...