USS Farragut (DDG 37)

- formerly DL 6 -
- formerly DLG 6 -
- decommissioned -

USS FARRAGUT, the fourth ship in the Navy to bear the name, was projected as DL 6, reclassified DLG 6 on November 14, 1956, and finally became DDG 37 on June 30, 1975. The FARRAGUT was decommissioned on October 31, 1989, after almost 29 years of service and was stricken from the Navy list on November 20, 1992. FARRAGUT spent the following years laid-up at the Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility (NISMF) in Philadelphia, PA, and has since been scrapped.

General Characteristics:	Awarded: January 27, 1956
	Keel laid: June 3, 1957
	Launched: July 18, 1958
	Commissioned: December 10, 1960
	Decommissioned: October 31, 1989
	Builder: Bethlehem Steel Company Shipyard, Quincy, Mass.
	Propulsion system:4 - 1200 psi boilers; 2 geared turbines
	Propellers: two
	Length: 512.5 feet (156.2 meters)
	Beam: 52 feet (15.9 meters)
	Draft: 25 feet (7.6 meters)
	Displacement: approx. 5,800 tons
	Speed: 33 knots
	Aircraft:none
	Armament: one Mk 42 5-inch/54 caliber gun, Mk 46 torpedoes from two Mk-32 triple mounts, one Mk 16 ASROC Missile Launcher, one Mk 10 Mod.0 Missile Launcher for Standard (MR) Missiles, two Mk 141 Harpoon missile launchers
	Crew: 21 officers and 356 enlisted

go to the end of the page

Crew List:

This section contains the names of sailors who served aboard USS FARRAGUT. It is no official listing but contains the names of sailors who submitted their information.

Click here to view the list.

go to the end of the page

Click here to see which USS FARRAGUT memorabilia are currently for sale on ebay.

go to the end of the page

USS FARRAGUT Cruise Books and Pamphlets:

go to the end of the page

go to the end of the page

About the Ship's Coat of Arms:

The crest of the USS FARRAGUT is based on the Farragut family Coat of Arms which dates back to the 13th century. The family Coat of Arms is the shield with the golden charger's shoe and nail emblazoned thereon. It originated with Don Pedro Farragut who was a knight with King James I of Aragon and who helped drive the Moors from Majorca and from Valencia.

The eagle carrying the shield is taken from the sternpiece of the USS HARTFORD, which was Admiral Farragut's flagship, carrying him to victory in battle. The four goki stars represent the four ships which have thus far worn his name. Admiral Farragut is remembered for the famous quote at the bottom of the crest, which was spoken by him in the heat of battle at Mobile Bay during the Civil War.

go to the end of the page

Accidents aboard USS FARRAGUT:

Date	Where	Events
October 24, 1975	Den Helder, Netherlands	USS FARRAGUT runs aground while departing Den Helder, Netherlands, for Brest, France, damaging both sonar domes. FARRAGUT proceeds with reduced speed.

go to the end of the page

About the Ship's Name:

David Glasgow Farragut, born at Campbell's Station, near Knoxville, Tenn., 5 July 1801, entered the Navy as a midshipman 17 December 1810. When only 12 years old, he was given command of a prize ship taken by ESSEX, and brought her safely to port. Through the years that followed, in one assignment after another he showed the high ability and devotion to duty which was to allow him in the Civil War to make an overwhelming contribution to victory and to write an immortal page in the history of not only the United States Navy but of military service of all times and nations.

In command of the West Gulf Blockading Squadron, with his flag in HARTFORD he disproved the theory that forts ashore held superiority over naval forces, when in April 1862 he ran past Forts Jackson and St. Philip and the Chalmette batteries to take the great city and port of New Orleans (a decisive event in the war) and later that year passed the batteries defending Vicksburg. Port Hudson fell to him 9 July 1863, and on 5 August 1864 he won a great victory in the Battle of Mobile Bay, passing through heavy minefields (the torpedoes of his famous quotation) as well as the opposition of heavy batteries in Forts Morgan and Gaines to defeat the squadron of Admiral Franklin Buchanan.

His country honored its great sailor by creating for him the rank of Admiral, never before used in the United States Navy. Admiral Farragut's last active service was in command of the European Squadron with Franklin as his flagship, and he died at Portsmouth, N.H., 14 August 1870.

go to the end of the page

USS FARRAGUT's Commanding Officers:

Period	Name
December 1960 - April 1962	Commander R. D. Spreen, USN
April 1962 - May 1963	Commander A. A. Herron, USN
May 1963 - July 1964	Commander W. R. Althoff, USN
July 1964 - April 1966	Commander R. B. Jacobs, USN
April 1966 - November 1966	Commander W. A. Kanakanui, Jr., USN
November 1967 - May 1968	Commander W. R. Martin, USN
September 1969 - December 1970	Commander W. A. Cockell, USN
December 1970 - May 1972	Commander H. W. Bergbauer, Jr., USN
May 1972 - August 1973	Commander J. F. McNulty, USN
August 1973 - August 1975	Commander J. F. Shaw, USN
August 1975 - July 1977	Commander J. M. Boorda, USN
July 1977 - August 1979	Commander S. N. Mock, USN
August 1979 - May 1981	Commander W. L. Wunderly, Jr., USN
May 1981 - June 1983	Commander J. A. Jarecki, USN
June 1983 - October 1985	Commander B. W. Renagger, USN
October 1985 - March 1988	Commander D. P. Sargent, Jr., USN
March 1988 - October 1989	Commander D. R. Shaw, USN

go to the end of the page

USS FARRAGUT History:

USS FARRAGUT was the first of a modern class of missile destroyers. She is named after the Navy's first Admiral, David Glasgow Farragut whose motto "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead" was immortalized at the Civil War Battle of Mobile Bay.

The ship was constructed by Bethlehem Steel Corporation of Ouincy, Massachusetts, and commissioned on 10 December 1960.

USS FARRAGUT, assigned to Destroyer Squadron TWO, has made numerous deployments with the Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean, including cruises in 1961, August 1962, February 1964, May 1965, June 1966, February 1972, September 1975, January 1977, July 1979, March 1986, and December 1988. After her first deployment to Northern Europe and the Mediterranean, she was the first ship on the scene of Astronaut Scott Carpenter's splashdown in April 1962. Frequently assigned to the Northern Atlantic, she was also the flagship for the UNITAS XIII deployment to South America in 1973. USS FARRAGUT's last deployment to the Mediterranean Sea ended 30 June 1989 with her return to Norfolk with other units of the THEODORE ROOSEVELT (CVN 71) Battle Group.

USS FARRAGUT participated in the Bicentennial Celebration in July 1976, joining hundreds of other sail and power vessels in a parade up New York Harbor. She served as host ship for the America's Cup Races in Newport, Rhode Island in September 1977.

In May 1980, the ship took part in the celebration of Boston, Massachusetts' 350th Birthday. The ship was awarded the Navy Unit Commendation for its service off the coast of Libya in 1986, and the Coast Guard Meritorious Unit Commendation for participation in law enforcement operations in the Gulf of Mexico in January 1987.

go to the end of the page

USS FARRAGUT Image Gallery:

Back to Destroyer list.

Back to ships list.

Back to selection page.

Back to 1^st page.