The “Spru-Cans”
20 SEPTEMBER 1975 – 21 SEPTEMBER 2005
THE “SPRU-CANS”
By the 1960s our aging fleet of WWII Allen M. Sumner and Gearing-class destroyers was increasingly inadequate against the growing threat of Soviet submarines. A more capable platform for convoy escort and to counter submarine-launched ballistic missiles was needed. In response, the Major Fleet Escort Study of 1967 called for a fundamental technological re-design of our surface escorts. That vision materialized 50 years ago this day with the commissioning of USS SPRUANCE (DD-963).
The Spruances were the largest post-WWII destroyers in any navy, stretched to a size more typical of a cruiser. They were the first in our Navy to be powered by gas turbines, with later modifications installing General Electric LM-2500 aircraft engines in their four engine rooms. Each carried 16 anti-submarine rockets (ASROC) and six Mk-46 torpedoes in addition to sophisticated submarine detection and tracking equipment. Due to their predominant ASW mission they mounted only fore and aft 5″/54 guns and twin Phalanx 20mm CIWS mounts–small enough anti-surface weaponry to class them as “destroyers.” (In traditional nomenclature surface ships are differentiated by the size of their guns. Battleships mount 10″ guns or larger; heavy cruisers, 8″ guns; light cruisers, 6″ guns; and destroyers carry 5″ guns).
The Spruance platform had enduring utility and formed the backbone of our surface Cold War anti-submarine capabilities. Thirty-one units were launched, from DD-963 to HAYLER (DD-997), commissioned 5 March 1983. They served in every action of the latter decades of the Cold War. Four additional hulls were laid down in 1978-79 intended for the Shah of Iran and fitted with more robust anti-air capabilities. But after his abdication to the Ayatollah Khomeni in 1979, the four were retained in our Navy as the Kidd-class. They took our Navy past the turn of the 21st century and remained popular with our allies thereafter. Their versatile hulls, power plants, and auxiliary systems are their legacy, being retained for the later Ticonderoga-class cruisers and Arleigh Burke DDGs.
It was the emergence of this latter DDG that eclipsed the venerable “Spru-cans.” Thirty years and one day after the lead ship was commissioned, our last Spruance left service. On 21 September 2005 CDR Steven A. Mucklow, Commanding Officer of USS CUSHING (DD-985), accepted his ship’s commissioning pennant in ceremonies in San Diego timed to the 25th anniversary of that warship’s commissioning. An era of superlative destroyers for whom crews still emote undying affection thus ended. “I could not have asked for better duty.” summed-up SH3 (SW) Eric Browning at the CUSHING ceremony, echoing the feelings of many “Spru-can” sailors.
Watch for more “Today in Naval History” 25 SEP 25
Global Security website. DD-963 Spruance-class.” AT: http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ship/dd-963-specs.htm, 29 September 2005.
Polmar, Norman. The Ships and Aircraft of the U.S. Fleet, 14th ed. Annapolis, MD: USNI Press, 1987, pp. 150-55.
Smith, Cynthia. “Navy’s Last Spruance-Class Destroyer Decommissioned.” Military.com electronic news release, 27 September 2005.
ADDITIIONAL NOTES: USS SPRUANCE remembers ADM Raymond A. Spruance (1886-1969), who commanded US Naval forces in WWII at the battles of Midway and the Philippine Sea. Near the end of WWII, Congress authorized the 5-star rank of Fleet Admiral, allotting 4 billets to the Navy. Chester Nimitz, Ernest King, and William Leahy were obvious choices. For the fourth billet, both William Halsey and Raymond Spruance were considered. Halsey was chosen, to which Spruance reacted, “…if I had received it instead of Bill Halsey, I would have been very unhappy over it.”
