Recognition Guide Warships of the Second World War
United States Navy — Destroyer

USS Spence

Fletcher-class destroyer

USS Spence
Unknown author — Official U.S. Navy Bureau of Ships photo BS 42093 from the ship's entry in the U.S. Navy Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS) available at the Naval History and Heritage Command — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons Plate The U.S. Navy destroyer USS Spence (DD-512) off Boston, Massachusetts (USA), on 25 March 1943.

Service

  1. United States Navy8 January 1943 — 19 January 1945742 days of the war
Fletcher-class destroyer Particulars
Name
USS Spence
Namesake
Daniel Spence
Builder
Bath Iron Works
Laid down
18 May 1942
Launched
27 October 1942
Commissioned
8 January 1943
Struck
19 January 1945
Fate
Foundered in Typhoon Cobra, 18 December 1944
By weather (1944)
Status
Wreck

Specifications

Displacement, standard
2,050 long tons (2,083 t)
Length
114.6 m (376 ft)
Beam
11.89 m (39 ft)
Draught
5.18 m (17 ft)
Speed
35 knots (64.8 km/h, 40.3 mph)
Range
6,500 nmi (12,038 km)
Complement
336
Main gun
127 mm (5 in)

USS Spence was a Fletcher-class destroyer, operated by the United States Navy. She was named for Daniel Spence. Bath Iron Works laid her keel on 18 May 1942. Launched on 27 October 1942, she entered service on 8 January 1943.

173 ships of the class were built. The class followed the Gleaves-class destroyer and was succeeded by the Allen M. Sumner-class destroyer.

Displacement was 2,050 long tons. She measured 114.6 m (376 ft) long with a beam of 11.9 m (39 ft). Her designed speed was 35 knots, and she carried a complement of 336. Her main battery was of 127 mm (5 in) calibre.

She was in commission for 742 days of the Second World War. She was struck from the register on 19 January 1945.

She was wrecked on 18 December 1944 by weather.

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

Armament and machinery

Armament and machinery
Propulsion
  • 60,000 shp (45 MW); 2 propellers
Armament
  • 5 × single Mk 12 5 in (127 mm)/38 guns
  • 5 × twin 40 mm (1.6 in) Bofors AA guns
  • 7 × single 20 mm (0.8 in) Oerlikon AA guns
  • 2 × quintuple 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes
  • 6 × single depth charge throwers
  • 2 × depth charge racks

Sister ships

148 more in the class

Sources

  • Facts harvested from USS Spence on Wikipedia. Figures only — no wording is taken from it.
  • Photograph: Unknown author — Official U.S. Navy Bureau of Ships photo BS 42093 from the ship's entry in the U.S. Navy Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS) available at the Naval History and Heritage Command — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons