USS Sproston (DD-577)
![]() USS Sproston (DDE-577) underway in 1958
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History | |
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Namesake | John G. Sproston |
Ordered | 1940 |
Builder | Consolidated Steel Corporation, Orange, Texas |
Laid down | 1 April 1942 |
Launched | 31 August 1942 |
Commissioned |
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Stricken | 1 October 1968 |
Fate | Sold for scrap, 15 September 1971 |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Fletcher-class destroyer |
Displacement | 2,150 tons, 3,035 tons fully loaded |
Length | 376 ft 6 in (114.7 m) |
Beam | 39 ft 8 in (12.1 m) |
Draft | 17 ft 9 in (5.4 m) |
Propulsion | 60,000 shp (45 MW); 2 propellers |
Speed | 35 knots (65 km/h; 40 mph) |
Range | 6500 nmi. (12,000 km) at 15 kt |
Complement | 273 |
Armament |
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USS Sproston (DD-577) was a
History
Sproston was laid down on 1 April 1942 by the Consolidated Steel Corporation, Orange, Tex.; launched on 31 August 1942; sponsored by Mrs. Aline G. Darst; and commissioned on 19 May 1943.
World War II
Following shakedown off
She spent the next two months in gunnery practice and exercises. On 1 February 1944, Sproston departed Massacre Bay with TF 94 to shell targets in the Kuril Islands. On 4 February, she bombarded Kurabu Point in the Kurabu-Saki area of Paramushiro Island. One month later, the task force sailed north in the Sea of Okhotsk to strike targets in the Kurils again; but, because of extremely heavy seas and poor visibility, the mission was aborted.
Sproston spent the next three months on antisubmarine sweeps and patrols off the Aleutians. On 10 June, she was again underway for the Kuriles where she participated in the pre-dawn bombardment of Matsuwa Island. On the 26th, she shelled Kurabu Zaki airfield on the southern end of Paramushiro Island.
On 8 August, Sproston departed Sweeper Cove, Adak, for a two-week stay in San Francisco before sailing for the
On 25 October, with supporting fire from
In late December 1944 and early January 1945, Sproston patrolled in the Lingayen area of central Luzon. On 8 January, another Japanese plane fell victim to her guns. From Lingayen, she sailed to the Zambales area to support landing operations there. At 12:48 on 29 January, she entered Subic Bay. Sproston was believed to be the first United States warship to enter Subic Bay since the Japanese occupation had begun. She continued operations in the Philippine Islands until 18 February when she was assigned to escort duty. Ordered to Guam for a week, she was in Apra Harbor from 25 February to 1 March when she sailed for Milne Bay. By 13 March, she was back in Leyte Gulf.
On 21 March, she was underway for Kerama Retto and Okinawa Gunto, Ryukyu Islands. Sproston relieved
Sproston received damage to her sonar equipment and the Mk 1A main battery computer on 4 April by the near miss of a bomb which exploded 50 yards (50 m) off her port beam. There were no casualties, and the sonar equipment was quickly repaired, but the main battery could be fired only by local control. She retired to Guam for repair of her Mk 1A computer and was back on station within two weeks. Off Hagushi Beach on 12 May, she fired 16 rounds at an enemy plane which burst into flames and crashed. On 28 May Sproston and
On 28 June, while she was steaming independently toward the United States for overhaul, Sproston was signalled, between
Sproston arrived at San Francisco on 14 July 1945 where she underwent yard overhaul and prepared for inactivation: She moved to
Korean War
After Communist forces invaded
In early 1952, she entered the shipyard for overhaul and then, after refresher training, she sailed, on 2 June, for the Far East.
On 15 June, Sproston was assigned to Task Force 77, the 7th Fleet Striking Force, operating off the east coast of Korea in the Hungnam-Simpo area. During the next six months, she participated in the Taiwan Patrol when not assigned to TF 77.
Sproston returned to Pearl Harbor on 5 December 1952 and began a regular operating schedule as a member of DesRon 25. In the next decade, she made nine cruises to the Far East for operations with the
Vietnam war
In 1962, she was redesignated DD-577. During the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962, Sproston, which was deployed to the Seventh Fleet at the time, was detailed to patrol the straits of Tsushima to block any attempt by Soviet submarines to sortie from the Sea of Japan into the Pacific. The only submarine encountered was the USS Queenfish. During the transit back to Hawaii in December 1962, Sproston was part of the Hornet group which had taken the great circle course across the northern Pacific. Several days prior to their scheduled arrival at Pearl Harbor, the group ran into a heavy gale, with winds in excess of 60 knots, accompanied by towering seas. Damage among the ships of the group was so extensive, they had to put into Midway for voyage repairs. A great circle route is the shortest sailing distance on the earth's spherical surface, and was taken in order to arrive home for Christmas as quickly as possible. However, it was ill-advised to do so in the North Pacific in winter, when storms such as that encountered are the norm. Thus the ships arrived later than if they had sailed the longer southern rhumb line route. "The best laid plans . . . ." Normal operating duties continued through 1963 and 1964. In March 1965, she began a five-month overhaul in the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard. When this was completed, she conducted extensive refresher training to prepare her crew for deployment to the western Pacific.
Sproston departed Pearl Harbor on 27 December with
On 19 January 1966 she rejoined the carrier task group which had moved to Yankee Station in the Gulf of Tonkin. Sproston was detached from 5–11 February to perform trawler surveillance and blocking. During this time, she observed a Russian Okean-class vessel, the Gidrofon, which was believed to be gathering electronic and tactical information. She rejoined the carrier group which returned to Subic Bay until 22 February.
Back at Yankee Station, Sproston was again detached for naval gunfire support duty. She arrived off the coast, in the II Corps area, on 1 March and remained there until the 20th, firing 40 support missions for the 1st Cavalry Division and South Vietnamese Marines. The most eventful came on 9 March when, during a three-hour battle, her guns helped to repulse a battalion-strength Viet Cong attack against Republic of Vietnam Marines near Tam Quan.
On 21 March, she and the Task Group proceeded to
Sproston was detached from the Task Group on 4 May and visited
On 25 August, she was on station off
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/13/USS_Sproston_%28DD-577%29_and_USS_Delta_%28AR-9%29_at_Kaohsiung%2C_Taiwan%2C_on_25_June_1967.jpg/220px-USS_Sproston_%28DD-577%29_and_USS_Delta_%28AR-9%29_at_Kaohsiung%2C_Taiwan%2C_on_25_June_1967.jpg)
In January and February 1967, Sproston conducted local operations to prepare for her 1967 deployment to the Far East. She sailed for Yokosuka on 6 March and, one month later, was back at Yankee Station. She participated in Operation Sea Lion and provided gunfire support until 14 May. She then joined
Sproston and Carpenter departed Vietnam on 4 August for Sydney, Australia, where they participated in a joint ASW exercise with units of the British and New Zealand navies off the coast of New Zealand.
Having steamed almost 40,000 nautical miles (74,000 km) since leaving Pearl Harbor, Sproston returned to her home port on 11 September. She underwent general repairs and conducted local operations until the last of December 1967 when she was ordered to Guam for yard availability.
Upon completion of yard work in mid-March, Sproston returned to Pearl Harbor until 29 July when she sailed for the west coast. When she arrived in San Diego, she was notified that she was to be decommissioned. She sailed to Pearl Harbor late in August and, on 30 September 1968, was placed out of commission. Sproston was struck from the Navy list on 10 October 1968 and sold to Chou's Iron and Steel Co., Taipei, Taiwan, for scrap.
Honors
Sproston received five
References
This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
External links
- DANFS USS Sproston specs
- DANFS USS Sproston history
- Sproston history
- Crew homepage for USS Sproston
- Robert Duane Karl[permanent dead link] (USNA '43), Commanding officer 1944
- Lt. Cmdr. Jack Warren Scheible Sr.[permanent dead link], (USNA '57), Executive officer 1968