View source for USS Capps

{{Short description|Fletcher-class destroyer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2021}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=USS Capps (DD-550) off San Pedro CA in September 1945.jpg
|Ship caption=USS ''Capps'' (DD-550) in September 1945
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country= United States
|Ship flag= {{USN flag|(1947)}}
|Ship name= ''Capps''
|Ship namesake=[[Washington L. Capps]]
|Ship ordered=
|Ship builder=[[Gulf Shipbuilding Corporation]], [[Chickasaw, Alabama]]
|Ship laid down= 12 June 1941
|Ship launched= 31 May 1942
|Ship commissioned= 23 June 1943
|Ship decommissioned= 15 January 1947
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header= yes
|Ship struck= 1 October 1972
|Ship reinstated=
|Ship honours=
|Ship fate= Transferred to [[Spain]], 15 May 1957
|Ship notes=
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=title
|Ship country= Spain
|Ship flag= {{shipboxflag|Spain|naval}}
|Ship name= ''Lepanto''
|Ship namesake= [[Battle of Lepanto (1571)|Battle of Lepanto]]
|Ship acquired= 15 May 1957
|Ship commissioned=
|Ship decommissioned=
|Ship struck= 31 December 1985
|Ship honours=
|Ship fate= Scrapped
|Ship notes=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
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|Header caption=
|Ship class=*{{sclass|Fletcher|destroyer}}
*{{sclass|Lepanto|destroyer}}
|Ship displacement= 2,050 tons
|Ship length={{convert|376|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{convert|39|ft|8|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship draft={{convert|17|ft|9|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship propulsion=*{{convert|60000|shp|lk=in|abbr=on}};
*2 propellers
|Ship speed= {{convert|35|kn|lk=in}}
|Ship range= {{convert|6500|nmi|lk=in}} at {{convert|15|kn}}
|Ship complement= 273
|Ship sensors=
|Ship EW=
|Ship armament={{Fletcher class destroyer armament}}
|Ship armor=
|Ship notes=
}}
|}
'''USS ''Capps'' (DD-550)''', a {{sclass|Fletcher|destroyer}}, was a ship of the [[United States Navy]] named for [[Rear Admiral]] [[Washington L. Capps]] (1864–1935).

''Capps'' was [[Ship naming and launching|launched]] 31 May 1942 by [[Gulf Shipbuilding Corp.]], [[Chickasaw, Alabama|Chickasaw, Ala.]], sponsored by Mrs. C. G. Stokes; [[ship commissioning|commissioned]] 23 June 1943 and reported to the [[United States Atlantic Fleet|Atlantic Fleet]].

==Service history==
===United States Navy===
''Capps'' cleared [[New York, New York|New York]] 7 September 1943 to begin the operations which would see her fighting the [[Axis powers]] on both sides of the world, sailing in [[convoy]] for [[Scapa Flow]], Scotland. She arrived 17 September for exercises with the [[British Home Fleet]]. In a mixed task force of American and other [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] ships, led by the [[aircraft carrier]] {{USS|Ranger|CV-4|2}}, ''Capps'' stood out of Scapa Flow 3 October to cross the [[Arctic Circle]] for the first raid on [[Nazi Germany|German]] shipping at [[Norway]]'s port of [[Bodø]], where [[coal]] and [[iron ore]] were loaded for Germany. Ships and docks were left burning and sinking, and ''Capps'' returned to Scapa Flow unscathed by German air attack. On 7 October, ''Capps'' sailed with three other destroyers in a dash to [[Gibraltar]], from which they escorted two [[Royal Navy|British]] [[battleship]]s and two aircraft carriers back to Scapa Flow. Thus augmented, the Home Fleet, with ''Capps'' in company, swept into northern waters from 29 October to 8 November to guard the movement of a convoy for [[Murmansk]], and to hunt for the German battleships {{Ship|German battleship|Tirpitz||2}} and {{Ship|German battleship|Scharnhorst||2}}.

''Capps'' was detached at Scapa Flow 22 November 1943 and sailed to [[Boston]], arriving 4 December. Twenty days later she got underway for [[New Orleans, Louisiana|New Orleans]], where she joined the escort of a troop convoy bound for [[Pearl Harbor]], arriving 20 January 1944. Guarding another convoy, ''Capps'' sailed on to [[Funafuti]], from which she put out for patrol duty off [[Tarawa Atoll|Tarawa]], [[Butaritari Atoll|Makin]], and [[Kwajalein]] as these islands were assaulted to open the [[Marshall Islands campaign|Marshall Islands operation]]. Forced back to [[San Francisco, California|San Francisco]] by a boiler casualty, ''Capps'' returned to action at [[Majuro]] 23 April, and was assigned to area escort, antisubmarine, and antiaircraft patrols. Convoy duty took her to Pearl Harbor in May, returning to [[Eniwetok]] 14 June. Based there, the destroyer screened service forces supporting the [[Mariana Islands campaign|invasion of the Marianas]], then moved forward to [[Manus Island|Manus]] in August to continue operations with the screen of the [[United States Third Fleet|3rd Fleet]] logistics group in the western [[Caroline Islands|Carolines]] operations. The ships whose service forces ''Capps'' protected carried out the crucial attacks on Japanese bases which prepared for the [[Battle of Leyte|Leyte operation]], and ''Capps'' herself joined the screen of a carrier group for air strikes on [[Manila]] on 25 November. She continued her activities with the 3rd Fleet until the close of the year, when she reported for a month of duty on [[radar picket]] station, in air-sea rescue, and escorting convoys from [[Saipan]] to [[Guam]], Eniwetok, and [[Ulithi]]. On 1 February 1945, she reported at Ulithi to train with [[underwater demolition team]]s for the [[Battle of Iwo Jima|invasion of Iwo Jima]], for which she sailed 14 February.

Arriving off [[Iwo Jima]] 16 February 1945, ''Capps'' fired in the intensive preinvasion bombardment. Her underwater demolition teams were skillfully landed and began their work of preparing the beaches for assault, and ''Capps'' remained on the firing line for 3 weeks, hurling more than 2,600 five-inch projectiles into the caves and hillsides of the tenaciously defended island. Her antiaircraft guns fought off almost nightly air attacks and bombing raids, and each night almost constant illumination fire was thrown up to prevent surprise attacks ashore.

With only 8 days of resupply behind her, ''Capps'' sailed in the screen of [[escort aircraft carrier|escort carrier]]s bound for the [[Battle of Okinawa|invasion of Okinawa]]. For the next 82 days, broken only by 6 hours at anchor in [[Kerama Retto]]. ''Capps'' sailed through the mined waters south of the [[Nansei Shoto]], guarding the escort carriers, rescuing downed aviators, and fighting back ''[[kamikaze]]'' attacks. Although a kamikaze exploded close aboard on 3 April 1945, ''Capps'' came through the operation unscathed. Ordered back to a stateside overhaul, ''Capps'' arrived at [[San Pedro, California|San Pedro, Calif.]], 9 July. She was decommissioned and placed in reserve at [[Naval Station Long Beach|Long Beach]] 15 January 1947, and was loaned to [[Spain]] under the Military Assistance Program 15 May 1957.
[[File:Spanish destroyer Lepanto (D-21) underway at sea, circa in the 1970s.jpg|thumb|''Capps'' as the Spanish ''Lepanto'' (D21).]]

===Spanish Navy===
{{Main|Lepanto-class destroyer}}

The ship served in the [[Spanish Navy]] as '''''Lepanto'' (D21)''', named after the 1571 [[Battle of Lepanto (1571)|Battle of Lepanto]], in which the [[Holy League (1571)|Holy League]] led by Spain defeated the [[Ottoman Empire]]. She was stricken 31 December 1985 and scrapped.

==Awards==
''Capps'' received seven [[battle star]]s for her [[World War II]] service.

==References==
*{{DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/c/capps.html}}

==External links==
*{{navsource|05/550}}
*[http://www.hazegray.org/danfs/destroy/dd550txt.htm hazegray.org: USS ''Capps'']
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20041216115756/http://www.destroyersonline.com/usndd/info/infdf550.htm  destroyersonline.com: USS ''Capps'']
*[http://www.penny-arcade.com/2007/12/07/#22334 Interview with Ralph Percan, who served on ''Capps'']

{{Fletcher class destroyer}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Capps (Dd-550)}}
[[Category:Fletcher-class destroyers of the United States Navy]]
[[Category:Ships built in Chickasaw, Alabama]]
[[Category:1942 ships]]
[[Category:World War II destroyers of the United States]]
[[Category:Fletcher-class destroyers of the Spanish Navy]]