View source for USS Decatur (DD-936)

{{Short description|Sunken U.S. Destroyer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2023}}
:''See [[USS Decatur|USS ''Decatur'']] for other ships of the same name.''

{{Infobox ship
|section1={{Infobox ship/image
 |image=USS Decatur (DD-936) underway on 13 April 1963 (NH 98175).jpg
 |image_caption=''Decatur'' underway on 13 April 1963.
 }}

|section2={{Infobox ship/career
 |hide_header=
 |country=United States
 |flag={{USN flag|1983}}
 |name=
 |namesake=[[Stephen Decatur]]
 |ordered=
 |builder=[[Bethlehem Steel Corporation]], [[Fore River Shipyard]], [[Quincy, Massachusetts]]
 |laid_down=13 September 1954
 |launched=15 December 1955
 |acquired=30 November 1956
 |commissioned=7 December 1956
 |decommissioned=30 June 1983
 |in_service=
 |out_of_service=
 |struck=16 March 1988
 |reinstated=
 |honours=
 |fate=Disposed of in support of Fleet training exercise, 22 July 2004
 |badge = [[File:USS Decatur (DD-936) patch 1960.png|alt|150px]]
 |notes=
 }}

|section3={{Infobox ship/characteristics
 |hide_header=
 |header_caption=
 |class={{sclass|Forrest Sherman|destroyer}}
 |displacement=4,050&nbsp;tons
 |length=418&nbsp;ft 6&nbsp;in (128&nbsp;m)
 |beam=45&nbsp;ft (13.7&nbsp;m)
 |draught=19&nbsp;ft 6&nbsp;in (5.9&nbsp;m)
 |draft=
 |propulsion=70,000&nbsp;shp (52.2&nbsp;MW); Geared turbines, two propellers
 |speed={{convert|33|kn|lk=in}}
 |range=4500&nbsp;nautical miles (8,300&nbsp;km)
 |complement=337
 |sensors=
 |EW=5
 |armament=*(in 1956)
           * 3 × [[5"/54 caliber Mark 42 gun|5&nbsp;in (127&nbsp;mm)/54]],
           * 2 × [[3"/50 caliber gun|3&nbsp;in (76&nbsp;mm)/50 twin mounts]],
           * 2 × ASW [[Hedgehog (weapon)|hedgehogs]] (Mk 11),
           * 4 × [[American 21 inch torpedo|21 inch (533 mm)]] Mk 25 [[torpedo tube]]s
           *(in 1967)
           * 2 × [[5"/54 caliber Mark 42 gun|5&nbsp;in (127&nbsp;mm)/54]],
           * 1 × [[ASROC]] launcher
           * 2 × triple 13&nbsp;in [[Mark 32 Surface Vessel Torpedo Tubes|Mk 32 torpedo tubes]]

 |armour=
 |armor=
 |aircraft=
 |aircraft_facilities=
 |notes=
 }}
}}

The fourth '''USS ''Decatur'' (DD-936)''' was a [[Forrest Sherman class destroyer|''Forrest Sherman''-class]] [[destroyer]] of the [[United States Navy]] in service from 1956 to 1983. She was named for Commodore [[Stephen Decatur]] USN (1779&ndash;1820). ''Decatur'' was modernised as a [[guided missile destroyer]] in the mid-1960s and re-designated '''DDG-31'''. After her decommissioning in 1983, she operated as the U.S. Navy's [[Self Defense Test Ship]] from 1994 to 2003. She was finally sunk as a target the following year.

==History==

===1956-1966===
''Decatur'' was laid down by the [[Bethlehem Steel Corporation]] at [[Quincy, Massachusetts]], on 13 September 1954, launched on 15 December 1955 by Mrs. W. A. Pierce and Mrs. D. J. Armsden, descendants of Commodore Decatur and commissioned on 7 December 1956.{{citation_needed|date=August 2019}}

In 1957, she made her shakedown cruise through the [[Caribbean Sea|Caribbean]] area, ran special trials, and steamed to northern [[Europe]]. Early in 1958 the new destroyer again crossed the Atlantic to begin her first [[United States Sixth Fleet|Sixth Fleet]] tour in the [[Mediterranean Sea]]. ''Decatur'' made more such deployments during the late 1950s and early 1960s, as well as serving as a spacecraft recovery ship in September 1961 and taking part in [[Cuban Missile Crisis|Cuban Quarantine operations]] in November and December 1962. On 6 May 1964, her superstructure was heavily damaged in a collision with the [[aircraft carrier]] [[USS Lake Champlain (CVS-39)|''Lake Champlain'']] (CVS-39). The unrepaired ''Decatur'' was placed "in commission, in reserve" later in the year to await modernization, and was formally decommissioned on 15 June 1965.{{citation_needed|date=August 2019}}

===1966-1983===
[[Image:USS Decatur (DDG-31);h98177.jpg|thumb|left|''Decatur'' (DDG-31) underway off [[San Diego, California]], 24 June 1976.]]During the next two years ''Decatur'' was extensively modified at the [[Boston Naval Shipyard]], [[Massachusetts]]. She was reclassified as a [[guided missile destroyer|guided-missile destroyer]] in September 1966, receiving the new hull number DDG-31, and was recommissioned in April 1967 with CDR [[Lee Baggett Jr.]] in command.<ref>{{cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sjCJgBytgs8C&pg=PA94 |title=Department of Defense Appropriations for 1989: Hearings before a Subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations, House of Representatives, One Hundredth Congress, Second Session |chapter=Admiral Lee Baggett, Jr |date=1988 |page=94 |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |location=Washington, D.C. |access-date=2022-02-17}}</ref> In September that year she transferred to the [[US Pacific Fleet|Pacific Fleet]], her assignment for the remainder of her commissioned service. ''Decatur'''s first [[Seventh Fleet]] deployment, in the Western Pacific, took place between July 1968 and February 1969. In this, and her next two Far Eastern tours in 1970 and 1971&ndash;72, she engaged in [[Vietnam War]] operations and visited southern Pacific nations. Further "WestPac" cruises took place in 1973, 1974&ndash;75, 1976&ndash;77 and 1978&ndash;1979. The last deployment also took her into the [[Indian Ocean]], an area of increasing interest to the U.S. Navy as the [[Persian Gulf]] region became unstable.{{citation_needed|date=August 2019}}

In 1981 and again in 1982, ''Decatur'' steamed across the Pacific for more duty with the Seventh Fleet and, in 1983, in the Persian Gulf. At the end of June 1983, several weeks after returning from her last deployment, she was decommissioned and placed in the [[Pacific Reserve Fleet]]. USS ''Decatur'' was stricken from the [[Naval Vessel Register]] in March 1988. Her name was canceled sometime thereafter.{{citation_needed|date=August 2019}}

===1994-2003===
[[File:Self Defense Test Ship USS Decatur (DDG-31) 2003.jpg|thumb|''Decatur'' as the U.S. Navy's [[Self Defense Test Ship]], 2003.]]
However, the ship had a long career ahead of her as [[Self Defense Test Ship]] (SDTS), a role for which she was converted in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The ship had "<sup>E</sup>31" painted on the hull during this time.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=VO8BAdZJ7SsC&dq=navy%20ship%20hull%20e31&pg=PA320 The Naval Institute guide to the ships and aircraft of the U.S. fleet.  By Norman Polmar p. 320]</ref> From 1994 to 2003 she was employed along the Pacific Coast, conducting trials of various systems for countering anti-shipping [[cruise missile]]s and other threats. After being replaced as SDTS by the decommissioned {{USS|Paul F. Foster|DD-964}} she was disposed of in support of Fleet training exercise 22 July 2004.<ref>NVR status date is 21 July 2004, date of actual SINKEX was 22 July 2004.</ref> Decatur appears briefly in background footage in the television crime-drama ''[[NCIS (TV series)|NCIS]]'' (Season 1, Episode 7 "Sub Rosa" (2003) as well as briefly in the background of ''[[JAG (TV series)|JAG]]'' (Season 5 Episode 4 "The Return") {{citation_needed|date=August 2019}}

==References==
*{{DANFS|https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/d/decatur-iv.html}}
*{{Naval Vessel Register|hull=DDG-31}}

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}

*[https://archive.today/20121212210013/http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-usn/usnsh-d/dd936.htm  history.navy.milphotos/: USS ''Decatur'']
*{{Naval Vessel Register URL|id=DDG31|title=Naval Vessel Register entry}} – DDG-31

{{Forrest Sherman class destroyer}}
{{2004 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Decatur (Dd-936)}}
[[Category:Forrest Sherman-class destroyers]]
[[Category:Cold War destroyers of the United States]]
[[Category:Vietnam War destroyers of the United States]]
[[Category:Ships built in Quincy, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:1955 ships]]
[[Category:Experimental ships]]
[[Category:Ships sunk as targets]]
[[Category:Space capsule recovery ships]]