USS Gillespie

Benson-class destroyer

Service

United States Navy as USS Gillespie (DD-609)18 September 1942 — 17 April 19461,080 days of the war

Benson-class destroyer Particulars

Name: USS Gillespie
Namesake: Archibald H. Gillespie
Builder: Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation, San Francisco, California
Launched: 8 May 1942
Commissioned: 18 September 1942
Decommissioned: 17 April 1946
Struck: 1 July 1971
Fate: Sunk as a target in 1973 (1973)
Status: Wreck

Specifications

Displacement, standard: 1,620 long tons (1,646 t)
Length: 106.07 m (348 ft)
Beam: 10.97 m (36 ft)
Draught: 3.35 m (11 ft)
Speed: 35 knots (64.8 km/h, 40.3 mph)
Complement: 261
Main gun: 127 mm (5 in)

USS Gillespie was a Benson-class destroyer, operated by the United States Navy. The ship was named after Archibald H. Gillespie. She was built by Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation, San Francisco, California. Launched on 8 May 1942, she entered service on 18 September 1942.

She was one of 30 ships of her class. The class followed the Sims-class destroyer and was succeeded by the Gleaves-class destroyer.

She displaced 1,620 long tons. She measured 106.1 m (348 ft) long with a beam of 11.0 m (36 ft). Her designed speed was 35 knots, and she carried a complement of 261.

Her main battery was four 127 mm (5 in) guns.

She was in commission for 1,080 days of the Second World War. She was decommissioned on 17 April 1946. She was struck from the register on 1 July 1971.

She was expended as a target in 1973. The wreck survives.

Written from the harvested record. Every figure above is sourced; the wording is this site's own.

Armament and machinery

Armament: 4 x 5 in/38 guns, 7 x 20 mm, 5 x 21 inch (533 mm) tt., 6 dcp.

Sister ships

5 more in the class

Sources

Facts harvested from USS Gillespie on Wikipedia. Figures only — no wording is taken from it.
Photograph: USN — Official U.S. Navy Bureau of Ships photo 19-N-35168 available at Destroyerhistory.org — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons