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General Characteristics Crew List Memorabilia Cruise Books About the Ship's Coat of Arms About the Name "Hayler" History Accidents aboard the Ship Patch Gallery Image Gallery to end of page
USS HAYLER was the final ship in the SPRUANCE - class of destroyers. The ship was last homeported in Norfolk, Va. Decommissioned on August 25, 2003, the HAYLER was sunk as a target on November 13, 2004, during a multi-national SINKEX 300 miles off the US east coast. Participating in the exercise were the USS SAIPAN (LHA 2) Expeditionary Strike Group (ESG) and several units of NATO's Standing Naval Force Atlantic (STANAVFORLANT).
| General Characteristics: | Keel Laid: October 20, 1980 |
| Launched: March 2, 1982 | |
| Commissioned: March 5, 1983 | |
| Decommissioned: August 25, 2003 | |
| Builder: Ingalls Shipbuilding, West Bank, Pascagoula, Miss. | |
| Propulsion system: four General Electric LM 2500 gas turbine engines | |
| Propellers: two | |
| Blades on each Propeller: five | |
| Length: 564,3 feet (172 meters) | |
| Beam: 55,1 feet (16.8 meters) | |
| Draft: 28,9 feet (8.8 meters) | |
| Displacement: approx. 9,200 tons full load | |
| Speed: 30+ knots | |
| Aircraft: two | |
| Armament: two | |
| Crew: approx. 340 |
back to top go to the end of the pageback to top go to the end of the pageCrew List:
This section contains the names of sailors who served aboard USS HAYLER. It is no official listing but contains the names of sailors who submitted their information.
back to top go to the end of the pageback to top go to the end of the pageUSS HAYLER Cruise Books:
back to top go to the end of the pageAbout the Ship's Coat of Arms:
HAYLER's crest is representative of Vice Admiral Hayler's inspiring leadership, his dedication to his country, his proficiency as a naval officer, and of the history and traditions of the naval service.
The gold stars on the blue background in the upper area of the shield symbolize the many Pacific Island Campaigns Admiral Hayler participated in as a Commanding Officer, and as a Commander of a cruiser division during World War II. The stars also represent the numerous awards he received, some repeated two and three times. The chevron is a symbol of strength and support, and the blue crosses represent the Admirals's three Navy Crosses, an award for valour exceeded only by the Medal of Honor.
The crossed red battle axes are a symbol of strength and resourcefulness under fire, and represent Admiral Hayler's wartime service. The two stars they bear are in recognition of the Silver and Bronze Star Medals awarded to Admiral Hayler for valour. The bomb represents naval firepower, gunfire support and anti-aircraft fire, and symbolizes the contributions of Admiral Hayler to the development of naval ordnance at the outbreak of World War II.
The anchor refers to the Fleet, and Admiral Hayler's efforts toward its strength and safety. The predominant colors, red, white, and blue, are representative of the National Flag, and Admiral Hayler's patriotism and loyalty to the flag and the nation it represents.
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back to top go to the end of the pageAbout the Destroyer's Name, about Admiral Robert W. Hayler:
Admiral Hayler was born in Sandusky, Ohio in 1891, but moved to Muncie, Indiana when only a few years old. He graduated from Muncie High School in 1909, and worked for a year prior to entering the Naval Academy, from which he graduated in 1914. At the Academy, he was manager of the football team.
His first ship was the battleship USS GEORGIA, which he joined during the campaign at Vera Cruz, Mexico. During World War I, he was aboard the battleship USS OKLAHOMA, which was based in Scapa Flow with the British Grand Fleet. After the war, he was ordered to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston as a student in ordnance engineering.
Following M.I.T., he was ordered to the San Diego-based destroyer Force, where he had command of the USS HOWARD and USS MELVIN. Subsequent sea assignments were aboard destroyers and cruisers. He had three tours of shore duty at the Naval Torpedo Station at Newport, Rhode Island.
At the outbreak of World War II, Admiral Hayler, then a Captain, was in command of the newly reopened Torpedo Station at Alexandria, Virginia. He was charged with reopening this factory, which had been idle since the end of World War I.
In June 1942, after the manufacture of torpedoes had started, he was ordered to sea in command of the cruiser USS HONOLULU, which he joined two months later in the Aleutian Islands. He remained in HONOLULU until March 1944 and participated in some of the heaviest fighting in the Pacific around Guadalcanal. On the night of 30 November 1942, the HONOLULU was credited with helping turn back the Japanese forces of Savo Island, and was one of the few heavy U.S. ships which was not damaged. ADM Hayler received a Navy Cross for this action. On 5 - 6 July 1943, the HONOLULU helped support the landings at New Georgia Island, and became engaged with numerically-superior, hostile forces. ADM Hayler led a column of ships into this action, which became known as the Battle of Kula Gulf. For this, he received a Gold Star in lieu of a second Navy Cross. A week later at the Battle of Kolombangara, the HONOLULU again lead the battle, and helped in the destruction of at least four Japanese ships. This time, though, the HONOLULU was severely damaged, and had her bow blown off as far back as her forward turret, and also received a torpedo hit in her stern. Fortunately, the torpedo was a dud, and did not explode, although it holed the stern. No one was killed, and the HONOLULU returned safely to port. Admiral Hayler received a Silver Star for this action.
In March 1944, Admiral Hayler left the HONOLULU, was promoted to Rear Admiral, and given command of Cruiser Division Twelve, the USS MONTPELIER, USS DENVER, USS COLUMBIA, and USS CLEVELAND. By this time, the war had moved to the Central Pacific, and the Cruiser Division participated in the assaults of Saipan, Tinian, and Palau.
Cruiser Division Twelve provided bombardment and fire support for the landings at Leyte Gulf on 20 October 1944. This was the largest amphibious operation in the Southwest Pacific area. For this, ADM Hayler received a Gold Star in place of a second Legion of Merit, his first Legion of Merit having been awarded for his services in the Southern Marianas. On 25 October 1944, ADM Hayler was in command of the left flank of our forces at Surigao Strait, and was the first to receive, and return fire, from the advancing enemy ships. Surigao resulted in the annihilation of a large and vital portion of the Japanese Fleet. For this action, ADM Hayler received a Gold Star in lieu of a third Navy Cross. In December 1944, he was ordered to the Navy Department in Washington, where he was a member of the General Board, and later Senior Member of the Board of Decorations and Medals.
In 1948, Admiral Hayler was ordered to Charleston, South Carolina, where he became Commandant of the Sixth Naval District. He was retired in 1951, but remained on active duty as President, Permanent General Court Martial, Great Lakes, Illinois, until 1953. He was then permanently retired, and placed on inactive duty, with the rank of Vice Admiral by virtue of his combat decorations. He moved to Carmel, California, where he had his home. His decorations include the Navy Cross with two Gold Stars, the Silver Star Medal, the Legion of Merit with one Gold Star, the Bronze Star Medal with one Gold Star, the Navy Commendation Medal, which he received for his services at the Alexandria Torpedo Station, and the Navy Unit Commendation for the HONOLULU.
back to top go to the end of the pageHistory of USS HAYLER:
USS HAYLER was laid down on 20 October 1980 at Ingalls Shipbuilding, Pascagoula, Mississippi; launched on 2 March 1982 with two granddaughters of Vice Admiral Robert W. Hayler as co-sponsors; and commissioned at Pascagoula on 5 March 1983 with Cmdr. Paul W. Ecker in command, the last unit of the SPRUANCE-class to join the fleet. Homeported at Naval Station Norfolk, she completed acceptance trials in late February 1983 and then carried out a Caribbean shakedown cruise, working up her propulsion plant, combat systems, and LAMPS III flight operations before entering the Atlantic Fleet operating cycle.
After post-shakedown training and type exercises, HAYLER made her first overseas deployment in the fall of 1984, a roughly six-month cruise that took her across the Atlantic for presence operations spanning the Mediterranean, the Arabian Sea, and the broader Indian Ocean at the height of the Iran-Iraq War's "tanker war". The ship conducted patrols and exercises that underscored U.S. and allied sea-lane security interests from the Red Sea approaches to the Arabian Sea, then returned to the United States in early 1985. The crew's performance in the first years of service was recognized with the Atlantic Fleet's "Golden Anchor" for retention in 1985.
In 1986, HAYLER left Norfolk to take part in UNITAS XXVII, the long-running series of multinational exercises with South American navies. Through that cycle she practiced anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare, underway replenishment, and amphibious support in company with regional partners while strengthening interoperability in the Western Hemisphere during the final years of the Cold War.
The following year, on 31 August 1987, HAYLER got underway again for a three-month Northern European deployment to the Baltic Sea and North Sea, reflecting NATO's emphasis on maritime reinforcement and freedom of navigation from the Greenland-Iceland-UK gap to the Baltic approaches. Operating in high-latitude seas and visiting Northern European ports, she trained with allied surface and air units in cold-water anti-submarine and air-defense scenarios before returning to Norfolk late in the year.
On 20 June 1988, HAYLER sailed back to Northern Europe to serve as flagship for the Commander, Standing Naval Force Atlantic (STANAVFORLANT), NATO's continuous multinational surface squadron. In that role she operated in close company with allied frigates and destroyers - including Canadian units such as HMCS GATINEAU - during a program of port visits and at-sea exercises across the North Sea and surrounding waters. On 23 October 1988, while exercising in the North Sea, HAYLER collided with the West German replenishment tanker RHÖN (A 1443), suffering significant damage to her stern. She proceeded to Rosyth Dockyard, Scotland, for repairs that were completed on 20 November.
Through 1989, HAYLER continued Northern European operations. She deployed to Norway and England for exercise NORTHSTAR 89, a major NATO reinforcement drill in northern waters that rehearsed convoy escort, anti-submarine warfare, and coastal air defense in the Norwegian Sea and fjords, reflecting alliance focus on the North Atlantic battle space as the Cold War waned. Later that spring she joined the Atlantic Fleet's presence events at New York City's "Fleet Week '89", underscoring public outreach after a demanding period of North Atlantic operations.
In June 1990, HAYLER began another Western Hemisphere cruise as part of UNITAS XXXI, working from the Caribbean down both coasts of South America alongside regional partner navies. During the deployment she transited the Strait of Magellan and operated in the South Pacific and South Atlantic, conducting combined anti-submarine and surface-action exercises, coordinated air operations with embarked SH-60 detachments, and repeated logistics evolutions in austere ports that tested interoperability and endurance at range. She closed the year having completed that circumnavigation of South America and returned to the Atlantic Fleet's inter-deployment training cycle at Norfolk.
In 1991 the destroyer entered Bath Iron Works' Shipyard in Maine for a major overhaul that installed the Mk 41 vertical launching system. With that modernization, HAYLER emerged as a VLS-equipped SPRUANCE capable of firing Tomahawk land-attack missiles. Follow-on trials and training through 1992 and into 1993, reset the ship for higher-end tasking.
HAYLER deployed from Norfolk in September 1993 to the Red Sea for United Nations sanctions enforcement against Iraq, part of the maritime interception effort that followed the 1991 Gulf War. Over this cruise the ship set a service record - 327 vessel boardings - to interdict embargo violators and control contraband flows into Iraqi ports, a tally that made the destroyer a workhorse of the boarding campaign. The patrols framed the strategic transition from DESERT STORM to the long sanctions regime and required coordination with other U.S. and coalition ships cycling through Red Sea and Gulf choke points. HAYLER returned to the Western Atlantic at the turn of spring.
Within days, HAYLER shifted south to the Caribbean for the Haiti crisis. From 16 April 1994 to 30 April 1994, the ship supported Operation SUPPORT DEMOCRACY, the U.S. Navy component of the multinational embargo that preceded and then dovetailed with Operation UPHOLD DEMOCRACY - the intervention that restored the elected government of Haiti. Maritime patrols and boardings in those two weeks were the sea-based part of a pressure campaign authorized by U.N. Security Council action later that summer, before the non-combat landing in September.
Back in Norfolk for only nine days in May, HAYLER sortied again - this time to the Baltic as flagship for BALTOPS '94, a U.S.-sponsored multinational exercise that brought together 52 ships from 12 nations in the first post-Cold-War at-sea training cycle with former Warsaw Pact navies. Port calls during the cruise included Kiel, Germany, where the ship hosted senior officers (among them Russian Vice Admiral Viktor Litinov), and Gdynia, Poland. The exercise featured boarding demonstrations, seamanship drills, and helicopter operations - at one point including one of the first U.S. Navy recoveries of a Russian Navy helicopter - signaling the changing geopolitics of the Baltic. On 4 July 1994, HAYLER marked Independence Day pierside at Portsmouth, England.
A six-month maintenance period followed at Metro Machine Corporation in Norfolk from November 1994 to May 1995, after which HAYLER began a long work-up cycle through 1996. On 25 November 1996 the destroyer deployed with the THEODORE ROOSEVELT (CVN 71) battle group to the Mediterranean, serving as flagship for COMDESRON 32. Over the cruise, HAYLER took part in seven major exercises and made eighteen port visits while the carrier group provided Mediterranean presence and rotated to the Northern Arabian Gulf for Operation SOUTHERN WATCH coverage over Iraq. The group completed its deployment in May 1997 and returned to Hampton Roads.
After a three-month shipyard availability in 1997 and another round of work-ups, HAYLER deployed again on 13 July 1998 for a six-month Middle East Force tour (MEF 98-3) with the frigate CARR (FFG 52). The destroyer operated first in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden and then in the Persian Gulf during a period of rising friction over Iraqi weapons inspections. In mid-December the crisis culminated in Operation DESERT FOX (16-19 December 1998). As part of the ENTERPRISE (CVN 65) battle group, HAYLER launched Tomahawk land-attack missiles against targets in Iraq while operating alongside GETTYSBURG (CG 64), STOUT (DDG 55), NICHOLSON (DD 982), CARR, MIAMI (SSN 755) and the fast combat support ship DETROIT (AOE 4). HAYLER returned to Norfolk on 13 January 1999.
In the first half of 1999, the ship completed a maintenance period at Marine Hydraulics International (MHI) in Norfolk, bracketed by short visits - Boston in March, Newport in the spring for a Surface Warfare Officers School visit, and Annapolis for U.S. Naval Academy graduation - before rejoining East Coast training. Late the next year, HAYLER sailed for UNITAS XLI-00, a three-and-a-half-month circumnavigation of South America with partner navies from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay. During the Chilean phase, in the pre-dawn of 12 September 2000, the tank landing ship LA MOURE COUNTY (LST 1194) grounded in Caleta Cifuncho Bay during a joint amphibious event with the Chilean VALDIVIA. HAYLER provided manpower and damage-control equipment to assist in the immediate response. UNITAS concluded after the Atlantic phase in October, and HAYLER returned to the United States near Thanksgiving.
On 19 September 2001, HAYLER deployed again with the THEODORE ROOSEVELT battle group in the immediate aftermath of the 11 September attacks, supporting early phases of Operation ENDURING FREEDOM. Embarked was a detachment from HSL-46 for surface surveillance and ASW/counter-smuggling flights in the Mediterranean and approaches to the Suez. On 12 March 2002, one of the ship's SH-60B Seahawks crashed roughly 80 nautical miles west of Greece during a routine flight. A broad search - joined by USS ROSS (DDG 71), a U.S. Navy P-3, and British and Greek aircraft - found debris and an oil slick but no survivors, and three crew members were lost. The battle group completed its extended OEF deployment in spring 2002.
HAYLER's final operational chapter opened on 4 April 2003 when she sailed to the eastern Pacific for counter-drug detection and monitoring under U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command. During this patrol, the ship disrupted the transfer of 600 kg of cocaine after a high-speed chase that ended with the suspect vessel beaching and setting itself ablaze. In mid-May the crew rescued 75 people from a distressed craft and transferred them safely ashore. After port visits that included Ecuador, Panama, and Mexico, HAYLER returned home on 6 June 2003.
The Navy announced on 19 August 2003 that HAYLER would leave service the following week. The destroyer was decommissioned on 25 August 2003 at Norfolk, Virginia, closing two decades of operations that had ranged from sanctions enforcement and multinational training in the 1990s to the opening naval moves of the post-9/11 era.
back to top go to the end of the pageAccidents aboard USS HAYLER:
| Date | Where | Events | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| October 23, 1988 | North Sea | USS HAYLER collides with the West German Navy replenishment tanker RHÖN while exercising in the North Sea. Both vessels take on water. HAYLER receives a gash on her starboard side and proceeds to Rosyth, Scotland, for emergency repairs. The photos below were taken by Robby Henrichs who served aboard HAYLER at the time of the accident.
| |||
| March 12, 2002 | 80 nautical miles west of Greece | One of HAYLER's HAYLER lost radar contact and communications with the Mayport, Fla., homeported SH-60B Seahawk helicopter, approximately 80 nautical miles west of Greece. The helicopter was a part of Helicopter Squadron Light (HSL) 46. On March 13, at 12:15 p.m. (local time) the search for the three crew members of the helicopter was called off. None of the crew was recovered. They were identified as Lt. Terri Sue Fussner, 27, of Manchester, Mo.; Lt. Wayne Francis Roberts, 34, of Brooklyn, N.Y.; and Aviation Warfare Systems Operator 2nd Class Jason Edward Lawson, 21, of Smyrna, Ga. |
back to top go to the end of the pageUSS HAYLER Patch Gallery:
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back to top go to the end of the pageUSS HAYLER Image Gallery:
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The photo below was taken by Brian Barton when USS HAYLER was at Naval Base Norfolk on July 23, 2002.
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