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General Characteristics Crew List Cruise Books COs of USS John S. McCain About the Ship's Name Image Gallery to end of page |  |
Laid down as DD 928, the JOHN S. McCAIN was redesignated DL 3 in 1951. Again redesignated DDG 36 on April 15, 1965, the JOHN S. McCAIN entered the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard for conversion to a guided missile destroyer in June 1966. The ship rejoined the fleet on June 21, 1969. Both decommissioned and stricken from the Navy list on April 29, 1978, the JOHN S. McCAIN was sold for scrap on December 13, 1979.
| General Characteristics: | Keel laid: October 24, 1949 |
| Launched: July 12, 1952 | |
| Commissioned: October 12, 1953 | |
| Decommissioned: April 29, 1978 | |
| Builder: Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine | |
| Propulsion system: geared turbines; 80,000 shaft horsepower | |
| Propellers: two | |
| Length: 490.5 feet (149.5 meters) | |
| Beam: 47.6 feet (14.5 meters) | |
| Draft: 21 feet (6.4 meters) | |
| Displacement: approx. 4,855 tons full load | |
| Speed: 36+ knots | |
| Aircraft: none | |
| Armament: two Mk-42 5-inch/54 caliber guns, Mk-32 torpedo tubes (two triple mounts), one Mk-16 ASROC missile launcher, one Mk-13 guided missile launcher | |
| Crew: 28 officers, 345 enlisted |
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 JOHN S. McCAIN. It is no official listing but contains the names of sailors who submitted their information.
back to top go to the end of the pageUSS JOHN S. McCAIN Cruise Books:
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USS JOHN S. McCAIN's Commanding Officers:
| Period | Name |
|---|---|
| October 12, 1953 - July 23, 1955 | Commander E. R. King, USN |
| July 23, 1955 - July 9, 1957 | Commander G. A. Gowan, USN |
| July 9, 1957 - January 7, 1959 | Commander W. D. Owen, USN |
| January 7, 1959 - December 3, 1960 | Commander L. L. Meier, USN |
| December 3, 1960 - July 17, 1962 | Commander J. L. Wohler, USN |
| July 17, 1962 - March 7, 1964 | Commander F. E. Pearson, USN |
| March 7, 1964 - September 8, 1965 | Commander J. T. Wells, USN |
| September 8, 1965 - June 25, 1966 | Commander R. E. Wilson Jr., USN |
| decommissioned for conversion June 25, 1966 - September 6, 1969 | |
| September 6, 1969 - September 17, 1971 | Commander D. N. Denton, USN |
| September 17, 1971 - April 27, 1973 | Commander D. N. Ammerman, USN |
| April 27, 1973 - April 30, 1975 | LCDR G. E. Gneckow, USN |
| April 30, 1975 - May 10, 1977 | Commander D. G. Hay, USN |
| May 10, 1977 - March 29, 1978 | Commander C. A. Anderson, USN |
back to top go to the end of the pageAbout the Ship's Name:
John Sidney McCain, Sr., was born in Teoc, Miss., 9 August 1884 and graduated from the Naval Academy in 1906. His first assignments were ships of the Asiatic Squadron. During the American occupation of Vera Cruz in the Mexican revolution he served in SAN DIEGO, and remained on the ship during 1918 while she performed Atlantic escort duty.
In the years between the World Wars, McCain served in many ships, including MARYLAND, NEW MEXICO, and NITRO. His first command was SIRIUS. In 1936, at the age of 51, he was designated a Naval Aviator, and from 1937 to 1939 he commanded carrier RANGER, contributing much to the development of carrier tactics for the war to come. For the first year of World War II he served as Commander of Air Forces for Western Sea Frontier and the South Paciffc Force. In October 1942 McCain became Chief of the Bureau of Aeronautics and in August 1943 rose to the rank of Vice Admiral as Deputy Chief of Naval Operations (Air ).
In 1944, he returned to the Pacific Theatre to command a fast carrier task force which for over a year operated almost continuously in support of the great amphibious operations. His exceedingly skillful tactics protecting CANBERRA (CA 70) and HOUSTON (CA 81) in October 1944 earned him the Navy Cross, and the daring forays of his mobile force had much to do with the eventual victory. Vice Admiral McCain died 6 September 1945, just after arriving back in the United States, and was later appointed Admiral effective that date. For his outstanding performance as an air planner and carrier task force commander he was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal with two Gold Stars, Secretary Forrestal commented: "He was a fighting man all the way through."
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USS JOHN S. McCAIN Image Gallery:
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