USS Gearing (DD 710)

- decommissioned -

USS Gearing after her FRAM I conversion.

USS GEARING was the first of the 98 GEARING - class destroyers and the first ship in the Navy to bear the name. Throughout her 28 years of service, the GEARING was a member of the Atlantic Fleet and regularly deployed to the Mediterranean. Extensively converted as part of the Navy's FRAM I program from December 1961 - October 1962, the ship remained in service until decommissioned and stricken from the Navy list on July 2, 1973. The GEARING was sold for scrapping in November 1974 and was broken up in Chester, Penn.

General Characteristics:	Awarded: 1942
	Keel laid: August 10, 1944
	Launched: February 18, 1945
	Commissioned: May 3, 1945
	Decommissioned: July 2, 1973
	Builder: Federal Shipbuilding, Kearny, NJ
	FRAM I Conversion Shipyard: Boston Naval Shipyard, Boston, Mass.
	FRAM I Conversion Period: December 1961 - October 1962
	Propulsion system: four boilers, General Electric geared turbines; 60,000 SHP
	Propellers: two
	Length: 391 feet (119.2 meters)
	Beam: 41 feet (12.5 meters)
	Draft: 18.7 feet (5.7 meters)
	Displacement: approx. 3,400 tons full load
	Speed: 34 knots
	Aircraft after FRAM I: two DASH drones
	Armament after FRAM I: one ASROC missile launcher, two 5-inch/38 caliber twin mounts, Mk-32 ASW torpedo tubes (two triple mounts)
	Crew after FRAM I: 14 officers, 260 enlisted

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Crew List:

This section contains the names of sailors who served aboard USS GEARING. 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 GEARING memorabilia are currently for sale on ebay.

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USS GEARING Cruise Books:

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Accidents aboard USS GEARING:

Date	Where	Events
July 11, 1959	Chesapeake Bay, Va.	USS GEARING is damaged in a collision with a freighter while passing through Chesapeake Bay.

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About the Ship's Name:

USS GEARING was named for three generations of naval men. Henry Chalfant Gearing, born 9 June 1855 at Pittsburgh, Pa., graduated from the Naval Academy in 1876. Gearing served on various ships of the Navy during his early years, including LACKAWANA, TUSCARORA, and ESSEX. He spent tours of duty at the Naval Academy and on board GLACIER. After being promoted to Commander in 1905, Gearing commanded the naval stations at Cavite and Olongapo, P.I., until his retirement in 1909. He died 16 August 1926 at Charlottesville, Virginia.

Henry Chalfant Gearing, Jr., born 22 January 1887 at Boston, Massachusetts, graduated from the Naval Academy in 1907. He served on CALIFORNIA, ILLINOIS, and other ships besides commanding a long list of destroyers, among them WOOLSEY, DOBBIN, and MAURY. He was appointed Captain in 1934. Subsequently, he commanded Destroyer Squadron 4 and Naval Training Station, San Diego, before his death 24 February 1944 at San Diego Naval Hospital.

Henry Chalfant Gearing III was born 16 August 1912 at Vallejo, Calif., and graduated from the Naval Academy in 1935. After serving several ships as a young officer, he joined JUNEAU (CL 52) as a Lieutenant in 1942, and was lost with his ship when it was torpedoed and sunk in the Solomon Islands 13 November 1942.

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