USS Richard E. Byrd (DDG-23)

	USS Richard E. Byrd underway in 1983
History
United States
Name	Richard E. Byrd
Namesake	Richard E. Byrd
Ordered	3 November 1960
Builder	Todd Shipbuilding Corp.
Laid down	12 April 1961
Launched	6 February 1962
Commissioned	7 March 1964
Decommissioned	27 April 1990
Stricken	1 October 1992
Identification	Callsign: NHSN; ; Hull number: DDG-23;
Motto	Inter Utrosque Polos Tridens; (Sea Power from Pole to Pole);
Fate	Sold to Greece for parts; Sunk as target, 19 June 2003;
General characteristics
Class and type	Charles F. Adams-class destroyer
Displacement	3,277 tons standard, 4,526 full load
Length	437 ft (133 m)
Beam	47 ft (14 m)
Draft	15 ft (4.6 m)
Propulsion	2 × Westinghouse steam turbines providing 70,000 shp (52 MW); 2 shafts; 4 × Foster-Wheeler 1,275 psi (8,790 kPa) boilers;
Speed	33 knots (61 km/h; 38 mph)
Range	4,500 nautical miles (8,300 km) at 20 knots (37 km/h)
Complement	354 (24 officers, 330 enlisted)
Sensors and ; processing systems	AN/SPS-39 3D air search radar; AN/SPS-10 surface search radar; AN/SPG-51 missile fire control radar; AN/SPG-53 gunfire control radar; AN/SQS-23 Sonar and the hull mounted SQQ-23 Pair Sonar for DDG-2 through 19; AN/SPS-40 Air Search Radar;
Armament	1 Mk 11 missile launcher (DDG2-14) or Mk 13 single arm missile launcher (DDG-15-24) for RIM-24 Tartar SAM system, or later the RIM-66 Standard (SM-1) and Harpoon antiship missile; 2 × 5 in (127 mm)/54 caliber Mark 42 gun; 1 × RUR-5 ASROC launcher; 6 × 12.8 in (325 mm) ASW torpedo tubes (2 x Mark 32 Surface Vessel Torpedo Tubes);

USS Richard E. Byrd (DDG-23), a Charles F. Adams-class guided missile destroyer of the United States Navy, was named after noted polar explorer Admiral Richard E. Byrd.

The keel for Richard E. Byrd was laid on 12 April 1961 by Todd Shipbuilding Corp. Seattle, Washington. She was launched on 6 February 1962; sponsored by Mrs. Richard E. Byrd, whose daughter, Mrs. Robert G. Breyer, acted as proxy sponsor for the admiral's wife. The ship was commissioned on 7 March 1964, CDR Walter G. Lessman in command. Decommissioned on 27 April 1990, the ship sold to Greece and used for spare parts in 1992 and sunk as a target on 19 June 2003.

Service[]

Following a 45-day fitting out period at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Washington, Richard E. Byrd steamed for her homeport of Norfolk, Virginia, via the Panama Canal, arriving 14 June 1964. Richard E. Byrd deployed to the Mediterranean 6 January 1965 as a unit of Destroyer Division 182.

Late January 1967 Richard E. Byrd moved south to the Jacksonville, Florida operations area, and, while serving as rescue destroyer for the aircraft carrier Lexington, she rescued Lt. (jg) John F. Dickinson, whose aircraft crashed during a landing approach. In May Richard E. Byrd was at sea as part of the screen of the carrier USS America, which force rendezvoused with the damaged USS Liberty on 9 June.

On 6 October 1969 ship and crew participated together with Senator Harry F. Byrd and Virginia Gov. Mills E. Godwin, in the dedication of Richard Evelyn Byrd Hall at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science at Gloucester Point, Virginia.

On 26 January 1975, an advance party landing party of two ship officers were mobbed by an angry demonstration of 4,000 Greeks on the island of Corfu. After being stoned, attempts were made to set their car on fire and lynch the occupants. One Greek was killed in the incident, but police and fire trucks successfully escorted the two back to their ship off shore. Over the next hours the protest demonstration regarding the Cypriot War swelled to 10,000, and Richard E. Byrd ended her port visit.^[1]^[2]^[3]

Early 1985, the start of a six-month North Atlantic cruise involved a port visit to Lisbon, Portugal. At the end of the visit on 28 January about 3 a.m. local GMT, five other NATO ships and Richard E. Byrd at Alcantara dock came under mortar fire from the terrorist group Forças Populares 25 de Abril without damage.^[4]^[5]^[6]^[7]

Decommissioning[]

The guided missile destroyer continued to serve until decommissioned on 27 April 1990. She was struck from the Navy list on 1 October 1992 and officially transferred to the Hellenic Navy on 26 August 1993. The hulk was towed to Salamis, Greece, on 12 October 1993 where she was used for spare parts for the other four Charles F. Adams destroyers in Greek service.

References[]

^ "Observer-Reporter - Google News Archive Search".
^ "Briefs".
^ "The Morning Record - Google News Archive Search".
^ http://fantasian.tripod.com/pf25.html
^ "AROUND THE WORLD; Rebels in Portugal Fire Grenades at NATO Ships". The New York Times. 29 January 1985.
^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 22 October 2014. Retrieved 12 October 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
^ "Page 84 in Navy Cruise Books, 1918-2009".

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
This article includes information collected from the Naval Vessel Register, which, as a U.S. government publication, is in the public domain. The entry can be found here.

External links[]

[1] "Observer-Reporter - Google News Archive Search".

[2] "Briefs".

[3] "The Morning Record - Google News Archive Search".

[4] ttp://fantasian.tripod.com/pf25.html

[5] "AROUND THE WORLD; Rebels in Portugal Fire Grenades at NATO Ships". The New York Times. 29 January 1985.

[6] "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 22 October 2014. Retrieved 12 October 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

[7] "Page 84 in Navy Cruise Books, 1918-2009".

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[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

v t Charles F. Adams-class destroyers
United States Navy	Barney Benjamin Stoddert Berkeley Buchanan Charles F. Adams Claude V. Ricketts (ex-Biddle) Cochrane Conyngham Goldsborough Henry B. Wilson Hoel John King Joseph Strauss Lawrence Lynde McCormick Richard E. Byrd Robison Sampson Sellers Semmes Tattnall Towers Waddell
Royal Australian Navy Perth class	Perth Hobart Brisbane (Goldsborough was purchased by the RAN for spare parts)
German Navy Lütjens class	Lütjens Mölders Rommel
Hellenic Navy Kimon class	Kimon (ex-Semmes) Nearchos (ex-Waddell) Formion (ex-Joseph Strauss) Themistoklis (ex-Berkeley)
Preceded by: Farragut class Followed by: Spruance class
List of destroyers of the United States Navy List of destroyers of the Royal Australian Navy List of destroyers of the German Navy

USS Richard E. Byrd (DDG-23)

Contents

Service[]

Decommissioning[]

See also[]

References[]

External links[]

History
USS Richard E. Byrd underway in 1983
United States
Name	Richard E. Byrd
Namesake	Richard E. Byrd
Ordered	3 November 1960
Builder	Todd Shipbuilding Corp.
Laid down	12 April 1961
Launched	6 February 1962
Commissioned	7 March 1964
Decommissioned	27 April 1990
Stricken	1 October 1992
Identification	Callsign: NHSN Hull number: DDG-23
Motto	Inter Utrosque Polos Tridens (Sea Power from Pole to Pole)
Fate	Sold to Greece for parts Sunk as target, 19 June 2003
General characteristics
Class and type	Charles F. Adams-class destroyer
Displacement	3,277 tons standard, 4,526 full load
Length	437 ft (133 m)
Beam	47 ft (14 m)
Draft	15 ft (4.6 m)
Propulsion	2 × Westinghouse steam turbines providing 70,000 shp (52 MW); 2 shafts 4 × Foster-Wheeler 1,275 psi (8,790 kPa) boilers
Speed	33 knots (61 km/h; 38 mph)
Range	4,500 nautical miles (8,300 km) at 20 knots (37 km/h)
Complement	354 (24 officers, 330 enlisted)
Sensors and processing systems	AN/SPS-39 3D air search radar AN/SPS-10 surface search radar AN/SPG-51 missile fire control radar AN/SPG-53 gunfire control radar AN/SQS-23 Sonar and the hull mounted SQQ-23 Pair Sonar for DDG-2 through 19 AN/SPS-40 Air Search Radar
Armament	1 Mk 11 missile launcher (DDG2-14) or Mk 13 single arm missile launcher (DDG-15-24) for RIM-24 Tartar SAM system, or later the RIM-66 Standard (SM-1) and Harpoon antiship missile 2 × 5 in (127 mm)/54 caliber Mark 42 gun 1 × RUR-5 ASROC launcher 6 × 12.8 in (325 mm) ASW torpedo tubes (2 x Mark 32 Surface Vessel Torpedo Tubes)