USS Biddle (CG 34)

- formerly DLG 34 -
- decommissioned -

USS BIDDLE was the ninth and last ship in the BELKNAP - class of guided missile cruisers and the fourth ship in the Navy to bear the name. Decommissioned and stricken from the Navy list on November 30, 1993, the BIDDLE was later sold for scrapping.

General Characteristics:	Awarded: January 16, 1962
	Keel laid: December 9, 1963
	Launched: July 2, 1965
	Commissioned: January 21, 1967
	Decommissioned: November 30, 1993
	Builder: Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine
	Propulsion system:4 - 1200 psi boilers; 2 General Electric geared turbines
	Propellers: two
	Length: 548 feet (167 meters)
	Beam: 55 feet (16.8 meters)
	Draft: 28,5 feet (8.7 meters)
	Displacement: approx. 8,100 tons
	Speed: 30+ knots
	Aircraft: one SH-2F (LAMPS 1) helicopter
	Armament: two Mk 141 Harpoon missile launchers, one Mk-42 5-inch/54 caliber gun, two 20mm Phalanx CIWS, one Mk-10 missile launcher for Standard missiles (ER) and ASROC, Mk 46 torpedoes from two Mk-32 triple mounts
	Crew: 27 officers and 450 enlisted

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Crew List:

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

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

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USS BIDDLE Cruise Books and Pamphlets:

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Accidents aboard USS BIDDLE:

Date	Where	Events
January 10, 1981	Norfolk, Va.	USS BIDDLE and the USS RALEIGH (LPD 1) are slightly damaged when the BIDDLE strikes the moored RALEIGH while approaching a pier in Norfolk, Va.

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USS BIDDLE's Commanding Officers:

Period	Name
January 1967 - September 1968	Captain Maylon T. Scott, USN
September 1968 - May 1970	Captain Alfred R. Olsen, USN
May 1970 - June 1971	Captain Louis J. Collister, USN
June 1971 - July 1972	Captain William O. McDaniel, USN
July 1972 - August 1974	Captain Edward W. Carter III, USN
August 1974 - August 1976	Captain Francis L. Carreli, USN
August 1976 - August 1978	Captain Albert L. Henry, USN
August 1978 - September 1980	Captain John N. Ryan, USN
September 1980 - September 1982	Captain Hollis E. Robertson, USN
September 1982 - June 1984	Captain Alvaro R. Gomez, USN
June 1984 - June 1986	Captain Joseph T. Hock, USN
June 1986 - October 1988	Captain Benjamin E. Allen, Jr., USN
October 1988 - September 1990	Captain Grant D. Fulkerson, USN
September 1990 - May 1992	Captain Louis F. Harlow, Jr., USN
May 1992 - November 1993	Captain Larry Gionet, USN

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About the Ship's Name:

Captain Nicholas Biddle was born 10 September 1750 in Philadelphia. At the age of 13 he went to sea in the merchant service, and in 1772 entered the British Navy as a midshipman. As tension mounted between the Colonies and the Crown, Biddle resigned his commission and returned to America, volunteering his services to his home state of Pennsylvania. On 1 August, 1775 he became Commanding Officer of the armed galley FRANKLIN, which had been fitted out by the Pennsylvania Committee of Safety to defend the Delaware.

In December 1775, Captain Biddle took command of the 14-gun brig ANDREW DORIA and joined the fleet commanded by Esek Hopkins in the expedition against New Providence. In this action ANDREW DORIA captured numerous armed merchantmen, including two armed transports carrying 400 reinforcements for the British Army in North America.

Later, Captain Biddle assumed command of RANDOLPH, which was manned in part by paroled British prisoners of war. These prisoners mutinied shortly after the ship sailed, but the superb leadership of the 27 year old captain ended the trouble quickly.

Violent storms dismasted his ship off the Delaware Capes, but Captain Biddle's superb seamanship brought RANDOLPH into Charleston for repairs. He sailed again for the West Indies on 4 September, 1777 and enroute captured HMS TRUE BRITON, along with her three ship convoy. Captain Biddle took his fourth prize back to Charleston and blockaded there until late February 1778, when he successfully eluded the British patrol and escaped to the open sea.

On 7 March, 1778 RANDOLPH, 32 guns, engaged HMS YARMOUTH, 64 guns. Despite his firepower disadvantage and a severe wound received early in action, Captain Biddle brilliantly directed the cannon fire of his ship, and YARMOUTH's commanding officer later reported that RANDOLPH fired three accurate broadsides to YARMOUTH's one. Tragically, however, fire penetrated RANDOLPH's powder magazines, and the ship exploded and sank instantly. Captain Biddle perished, and his 315 man crew had only four survivors.

Thus ended the brief but illustrious career of Captain Nicholas Biddle, Continental Navy. His life ended short of its twenty eighth year.

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USS BIDDLE Image Gallery:

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